Mercury content and distribution in household dust and soil in the town of Sid

Abstract

Mercury (Hg) and potentially toxic elements (PTEs) are components of household dust and are a risk for human health. The aim of this study was to determine the concentrations of Hg and PTEs in household dust in individual housing facilities in the town of Sid, Serbia and their correlation to the content of the elements found in the surrounding garden soil. Total of 64 samples of household dust were collected from 16 locations of individual housing facilities on 4 occasions. Samples of surrounding yard and garden soil were simultaneously collected. None of the 64 analysed soil samples exceeded the threshold limit (TL) prescribed by law for non-agricultural soil, which is 0.3 mg kg-1 DM. Content of Hg in household dust was much higher than in the surrounding soil and ranged from 0.005 to 1.566 mg kg-1 DM. The resulting values of PTEs (As, B, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and Zn) in household dust had a significantly higher range than in the soil. Contents of Hg, B, Cu, and Zn were much higher in household dust than in the soil. According to the results of correlations of the analysed elements in household dust and surrounding soil, and according to the analysed locations, direct effect of Hg and PTEs contents on the content of the same elements in household dust was not confirmed.