Special Issue "Trace Metals in the Urban Environment and Human Health Risks"

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sustainability and Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2021.

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Efstratios Kelepertzis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geology and Geoenvironment, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 15784 Athens, Greece
Interests: urban geochemistry; soil and water contamination; environmental geology
Dr. Fotini Botsou
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens 15784, Greece
Interests: water, sediment, and soil quality, speciation of trace metals, trace metal processes, environmental magnetism

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Over the course of the last century, the majority of world’s population has become urban and projections show that nearly all of the expected population growth in the next decades will take place in urban areas. The rapid urbanization, often accompanying industrialization, has led to a large release of numerous hazardous compounds, including toxic and carcinogenic trace metals (e.g., Pb, Cd, Hg, As, Zn, Cu, Ni, Cr, Sb). Past and present accumulation of trace metals in a variety of environmental media, such as air, soil, dust, and water may have great impact on the health and well-being of urban residents. Among the major challenges for the scientific community are the assessment and evaluation of the occurrence, sources and dispersion mechanisms of trace metals, and related exposure pathways to urban populations.

For this Special Issue, we invite researchers to submit original articles or reviews addressing the environmental quality at the urban scale with respect to trace metals in diverse environmental media (e.g., particulate matter, soil, road dust, indoor dust, water, plants) and their implications to human health. The ambition of this Special Issue is to cover all aspects of the biogeochemical cycles of trace metals, including their sources, mobility, dispersion, and fate within urban settings. Special focus will be given to the interconnection and interaction of trace metals between the various sampling media, advancing our understanding of their environmental behavior within the complex environment of urban agglomerations.   

Editors will consider articles that will include but are not limited to the following topics:

  • source identification and apportionment of trace metals
  • trace metal speciation, mobility, oral and respiratory bioaccessibility
  • quantification of trace metals in plants within the urban environment
  • air and indoor environmental quality
  • water and sediment quality of urban watersheds
  • health risk assessments to urban population

Dr. Efstratios Kelepertzis
Dr. Fotini Botsou
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • urban geochemistry
  • potentially toxic elements
  • urban dust
  • house dust
  • particulate matter
  • urban agriculture
  • urban atmosphere

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

Article
Preliminary Evaluation of Heavy Metal Contamination and Source Identification in Kuala Lumpur SMART Stormwater Pond Sediments Using Pb Isotopic Signature
Sustainability 2021, 13(16), 9020; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169020 - 12 Aug 2021
Viewed by 357
Abstract
Uncontrolled urbanization and growing industrialization are major sources of pollutants that affect the urban stormwater quality and, therefore, the receiving aquatic environment. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and Pb isotope ratios in surface sediment [...] Read more.
Uncontrolled urbanization and growing industrialization are major sources of pollutants that affect the urban stormwater quality and, therefore, the receiving aquatic environment. The concentrations of heavy metals (As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Ni, Pb, and Zn), and Pb isotope ratios in surface sediment samples obtained from SMART holding and storage ponds located in Kuala Lumpur were investigated using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The highest metal concentrations were found at the SMART holding pond (SHP), the first recipient of urban stormwater runoff from the SMART system catchment area. As, Cd, Pb, and Zn are the dominant metal contaminants in the sediments of both SMART ponds, with values exceeding the average shale values. According to contamination indices applied to evaluate the environmental risk caused by heavy metals, As had the highest values among the metals examined, denoting moderate contamination. Hence, it can frequently cause harmful effects on the sediment-living species. The Pb isotope ratios (206Pb/207Pb and 208Pb/207Pb) indicated that coal combustion was the foremost source of anthropogenic Pb in the sediments of both SMART ponds. The control of coal combustion and sites undergoing intensive human activities should be given priority in the foreseeable future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Trace Metals in the Urban Environment and Human Health Risks)
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