Notice of RetractionCadmium, Lead and Chromium Levels in TSP at a Traffic Junction in Guangzhou, China

Notice of Retraction

After careful and considered review of the content of this paper by a duly constituted expert committee, this paper has been found to be in violation of IEEE´s Publication Principles.

We hereby retract the content of this paper. Reasonable effort should be made to remove all past references to this paper.

The presenting author of this paper has the option to appeal this decision by contacting TPII@ieee.org.

Heavy metals cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb) and chromium (Cr) in total suspended particulates (TSP) at a traffic junction from September 2005 to February 2006 in Guangzhou, China were measured. Results showed that the 6-month average Cd concentration of 199.7 ng/m³ was 40 times higher than the safety limited value for WHO Air Quality Guidelines and 3289 times that of the values reported at other traffic sites in mega cities worldwide. Monthly average Pb concentration was 673.6 ng/m³, which have not decreased markedly after the phase-out of leaded gasoline since 1997 in Guangzhou. 6-month average of Cr 66.7 ng/m³ was below the limited value for WHO Air Quality Guidelines. Therefore, the Cd and Pb exposure has become a particularly significant public health problem and environmental damage in Guangzhou, China.