Assessment of toxicity of heavy metal contaminated dustfall in different city zones of QuanZhou by toxicity characteristic leaching procedure

The contents of some heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr) in dustfall samples from different city zones of Quanzhou were analyzed and their toxicity was assessed by toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), which was developed by USEPA. The TCLP method is a currently recognized international method for evaluation of heavy metal pollution in dustfall. The available levels of Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr were 2.59-63.20, 9.28-3378, 0.15-345.0, 0.08-2.98 and 0.63-9.70 mg·kg^-1, respectively, while their international standard were 15, 25, 5, 0.5 and 5 mg·kg^-1, respectively. The results showed that the dustfall in different city zones of Quanzhou was polluted by Cu, Zn, Pb, Cd and Cr to some extent, especially by Zn and Pb, followed by Cd, Cu and Cr. The available contents of heavy metals by TCLP method presented different correlations with their total contents, with the correlation coefficients ranging from 0.03 to 0.77.