Abstract:

In order to assess the health risk of heavy metals in urban soils to the children (6~12 years old),the health risks of heavy metals were assessed based on the model of health risk assessment and a total of 47 soil samples were collected from street in Yibin City.Pb,Zn and Cu were analyzed by Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (GFAAS),and As was determined using Hydride Generation Atomic Fluorescence Spectroscopy (HGAFS).The results indicated that the accumulation of Pb,Zn and Cu in urban soils was significant (〖WTBX〗p=0000) compared to the background values of heavy metals in Sichuan Province.The concentration of As was significantly lower than the background value (p=002).Using baselines value as the criterion of assessment,the 326%,297% and 511% of the samples in urban soils were above the soil baseline values for Pb,Zn and Cu,respectively.None of the soil samples were beyond the soil baseline value for As.For the nonecancer risk,the highest hazard index (HI) of the heavy metals in street soils was As，followed by Pb,Cu and Zn.The total hazard index (THI) was 346×10-1.HI and 〖WTBX〗THI were below the threshold value of 1,which fell in acceptable level.The total cancer risk of As was 872×10-6,that fell within the range of threshold values(10-6~10-4).The health risk assessment showed heavy metals in urban soils did not have hazard and cancer risk to the children in Yibin.