Pollution characteristics and human health risk from trace metals in roadside soil and road dust around major urban parks in Delhi city

This study characterizes trace metal content in roadside soil and road dust in and around parks of Delhi. Parks in Delhi are generally built in proximity to major traffic roads due to lack of planning and land scarcity. The results indicate similar distribution pattern of trace metals in roadside soil and road dust, in the order Fe > Mn > Zn > Cu > Pb > Ni > Co. The finer fraction (  1; for road dust) can pose non-carcinogenic risk to exposed children. Carcinogenic risk from particularly Ni exposure was found to be high for all the possible pathways, i.e. ingestion, inhalation and dermal. Risk calculated for exposed population revealed that children are more susceptible to non-cancer risk than the adults. The observed health risk by Ni indicates high carcinogenic risk for the urban population.