Assessment of metal pollution and its association with human health risk in urban areas of Myanmar

Abstract

This study analysed metals in road dust from urban areas of Yangon and Mandalay and sub-urban areas of Pathein and Wundwin in Myanmar. Concentrations of Al, Se, Cd, Gd, Hg, and Tl in road dust were the highest in Mandalay. In urban areas, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Zn, Ga, and Pb concentrations were significantly higher than suburban areas. Metal pollution in urban areas and regional difference in metal concentrations between the northern region (Mandalay and Wundwin) and the southern region (Yangon and Pathein) were explained by principal component analysis (PCA). Positive matrix factorization model extracted two potential factors of metal sources; one was vehicle emissions and industrial activities by Ag, Zn, Mo, Cd, Cu, and Pb and the other was natural source by Al, Rb, Sr, Gd, and Tl. Moreover, those factors supported above site specific difference in metal and PCA results, suggesting urban metal pollution in Yangon and Pathein and background difference in metal concentrations between the North and the South. Geomean of Hazard Index (HI) for adults and children were less than one. However, a study location conducted in Yangon revealed that the HI for children exceeded the acceptable level, suggesting few human health risk in the studied areas of Myanmar is considered in general.