Document Type
Dissertation
Date of Award
12-2021
School/College
College of Science, Engineering, and Technology (COSET)
Degree Name
Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology
Committee Chairperson
Hyun-Min Hwang
Committee Member 1
Jason Rosenzweig
Committee Member 2
Abate Wolde-Kirkos
Committee Member 3
Tuan Phan
Keywords
Environmental Justice, Houston Metropolitan, ICP-MS, Trace Metals, Urban soil contamination, XRF
Abstract
Urban surface soils are contaminated by trace metals from various anthropogenic sources such as traffic and industrial facilities. Socio-economically disadvantaged communities are generally located closer to these sources and likely exposed more to toxic metals. This study aims to investigate the surface soil contamination by trace metals. Surface soils were collected from parks (n=75) and playgrounds of elementary schools (n=6) located in 33 postal codes split into four groups with different economic status (average annual household income) and industrial emissions (releases reported to the Toxic Release Inventory). Postal codes were ordered into high/middle income (> $40,000/year) without emissions, high/middle income with emissions, low income (< $40,000/year) without emissions, and low income with emissions. Collected soil samples were analyzed for trace metals (Al, As, Cd, Cr, Co, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn) using microwave digester with nitric acid and ICP-MS. A confirmatory analysis was performed by XRF. The results showed that disadvantaged neighborhoods at the proximity of industrial facilities displayed the highest levels of Fe, Pb, Cu, Zn, Cd, Cr, Co, Ni and Mn with the respective mean concentrations of 1.40%, 33.1 mg/kg, 12.7 mg/kg, 94.2 mg/kg, 0.26 mg/kg, 11.7 mg/kg, 4.07 mg/kg, 8.35 mg/kg, and 228 mg/kg. While the lowest mean concentrations of 1.40%, 0.48% 13.6 mg/g, 6.70 mg/kg, 38.1 mg/kg, 0.08 mg/kg, 4.96 mg/kg, 2.11 mg/kg and 3.76 mg/kg for Al, Fe, Pb, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Cr, Co, and Ni were detected in the samples collected in affluent neighborhoods located far from industries. This study shows that closeness to industrial facilities is likely to be an important factor for the health risk of children living in economically disadvantaged communities.
Copyright
Copyright © for this work is retained by the author. Any documents and information presented are protected by copyright under US Copyright laws and are the property of the author. All Rights Reserved. For permission to use this content please contact the author or the Graduate School at Texas Southern University (graduate.school@tsu.edu).
Recommended Citation
Dama, Sanata, "Correlation of Economic Status and Trace Metals Concentrations in Surface Soils in the Houston Metropolitan Area." (2021). Dissertations (2016-Present). 29.
https://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/dissertations/29