Open Journal of Metal, 2013, 3, 42-50
http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/ojmetal.2013.32A1006 Published Online July 2013 (http://www.scirp.org/journal/ojmetal)
Zinc and Chromium Load in Road Dust, Suspended
Particulate Matter and Foliar Dust Deposits of
Anand City, Gujarat
Tanushree Bhattacharya1*, Sukalyan Chakraborty1, Dhara Tuteja2, Mitul Patel2
1Environmental Science and Engineering Group, Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India
2Department of Environmental Science & Technology, Institute of Science and Technology for
Advanced Studies & Research, Vallabh Vidyanagar, India
Received May 23, 2013; revised June 26, 2013; accepted July 3, 2013
Copyright © 2013 Tanushree Bhattacharya et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
ABSTRACT
Anand, the milk capital of India, is a developing city with increasing vehicles and developmental activities going on at a
fast pace. This study attempts to investigate the zinc and chromium concentration in street dust, suspended particulate
matter and in foliar dust deposits. Ten sampling locations were selected based on the traffic density on the roads and
different anthropogenic activity. Sampling was carried out in the dry months of January to March 2011. The range of Zn
and Cr was 16.82 - 108.29 ppm and 118 - 151.5 ppm in the street dust respectively. Zn concentration in Suspended par-
ticulate matter lies in the range of 12.41 to 86 ppm and Cr concentration between 75 to 130 ppm. The range of Cr in
foliar deposited dust varied from 79.54 ppm to 31 ppm. Whereas, for Zn maximum concentration was in S10 which is
42.34 ppm and minimum was in site S9, 23.73 ppm. ANOVA single factor showed that at 0.05 level of significance site
wise variation of zinc and chromium concentration in SPM, Street dust and foliar deposited dust was not significant
signifying similar source of contamination. Which is further strengthened by the good positive correlation found be-
tween the Zn and Cr concentration of street dust, leaf deposited dust and SPM. The Contamination Factor in the sites
where metal concentration was high was 1.24 in S10 and 1.06 in S5 for Zn. For chromium the value of CF was 1.77 in
S10 and 1.67 in S5. These values indicate that street dust is moderately contaminated with respect to zinc and chromium.
Keywords: Heavy Metal; Street Dust; Contamination; Foliar Deposit; Suspended Particulate Matter
1. Introduction
Soils along road environments typically contain high
concentrations of heavy metals because of non-point con-
tamination sources, most commonly vehicle exhaust and
wear of vehicle parts. To many people, heavy metal pol-
lution is a problem associated with areas of intensive in-
dustry [1]. However, roadways and automobiles now are
considered to be one of the largest sources of heavy met-
als. Zinc, copper, and lead are three of the most common
heavy metals released from road travel, accounting for at
least 90 of the total metals in road run off. Lead concen-
trations; however, consistently have been decreasing
since leaded gasoline was discontinued. Smaller amounts
of many other metals, such as nickel and cadmium, chro-
mium are also found in road runoff and exhaust. About
half of the zinc and copper contribution to the environ-
ment from urbanization is from automobiles. Brakes re-
lease copper, while tire wear releases zinc. Motor oil also
tends to accumulate metals as it comes into contact with
surrounding parts as the engine runs, so oil leaks become
another pathway by which metals enter the environment.
However, chromium comes from the chrome plating of
some of the vehicular parts. Road dust also consists of
deposition of vehicle exhausts and industrial exhausts,
tire and brake wears, dust from paved roads or potholes,
and dust from construction sites [2].
On the road surface, most heavy metals become bound
to the surfaces of road dust or other particulates. During
precipitation, the bound metals will either become solu-
ble (dissolved) or be swept off the roadway with the dust.
In either case, the metals enter the soil or are channeled
into a storm drain. Whether in the soil or aquatic envi-
ronment, metals can be transported by several processes.
These processes are governed by the chemical nature of
*Corresponding author.
C
opyright © 2013 SciRes. OJMetal

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL. 43
metals, soil and sediment particles, and the pH of the
surrounding environment. Dust kicked up by vehicles
traveling on roads may make up 33% of air pollution [3].
Road side soil and vegetation have been shown to be
contaminated with various trace elements primarily from
automobile exhaust. Metals accumulate in street dust and
in the leaves of roadside plants through atmospheric depo-
sition involving sedimentation, impaction and intercep-
tion [4]. Although there have been a considerable number
of studies of heavy metals concentrations in roadside soil
and plants, the vast majority of theses have been carried
out in developed countries with long histories of Indus-
trialization and extensive use of leaded gasoline and very
few studies have been carried out in developing countries
such as India where data on the concentration and dis-
tribution of metals in street dust are scarce. Therefore, this
study examines heavy metal levels in street dust and dust
deposited on plants along major traffic roadways in An-
and city, Gujarat, India.
2. Experimental Work
2.1. Study Area
The sampling locations were in Anand city, popularly
known as the milk capital of India, situated in the state of
Gujarat. It is well known for developing industrial and
commercial sectors, educational hubs.
Anand is located in the eastern part of Gujarat: 22˚34'0''N
- 72˚56'0"E with an urban population exceeding 2,090,276
inhabitants (Census, 2011). While the predominant wind
direction is from the northwest, the wind velocities are
usually low. In winter wind speed is 1.9 - 9.2 km·hr−1 in a
northwest direction and in summer 3.5 - 10.7 km·hr−1 in
south west direction. The region has a semi arid to arid
climate which fosters the transfer of huge amount of
suspended particulate matter into the lower levels of the
atmosphere in the dry seasons. The vehicular pollution is
also growing at an alarming rate with the associated
manifestation of increases efflux of toxic heavy metals
like Pb, Ni, Zn and Cu into the environment. The city’s
industrial belt (Gujarat Industrial Development Corpora-
tion) consisting of chemical, dyes, paints, and engineering
equipment manufacturing industries also contributes to
heavy metal pollution. Samples were collected from ten
major roadways of Anand city and the roadways are
shown in Figure 1. The detailed description is given in
Table 1. Background sample is actually collected from
relatively less trafficked rural roadway near Anand city.
2.2. Sampling
A total number of 20 road dust samples of each road
were collected from 10 major roadways which were the
sampling sites. Samples were collected from both the
sides of the road i.e. east and west sides. Sampling was
Figure 1. Sampling sites.
carried out in the dry months of January to March 2011.
The dust samples were collected from both sides i.e. east
and west side of the road using a plastic dust pan and
brush. A composite sample was prepared out of it by
coning and quartering method. About 100 grams of dust
was collected and stored in small self sealing plastic bags.
Care was taken to reduce the disturbance to the fine par-
ticles to a minimum, as these were readily lost by resus-
pension. Recently soiled surfaces and areas where car or
vehicles were parked or had been parked based on the
presence of oil stains were avoided. Any obvious extra-
neous material, such as cigarette ends or other debris,
was not collected with the sample. Between each sam-
pling brush was cleaned thoroughly [5].
For suspended particulate matter collection 6 hour
sampling was carried out using a commercially available
dust sampler (portable low volume air sampler, Instru-
mex LVS1) during the peak traffic hours in the morning.
Simultaneous measurement of surface meteorological pa-
rameters like temperature, relative humidity, wind speed
and wind direction were also carried out during the sam-
pling period. The particulate pollutant concentrations
were estimated by adopting gravimetric method subse-
quently.
Leaf dust sample was collected carefully from plant by
using soft brush using the methods adopted by. Leaves
were collected carefully in zip lock bags. Care was taken
to not disturb fine dusts that have settled on the leaves.
fter that leaves were washed properly in running water A

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL.
44
Table 1. Sampling sites and their descri ption.
Sampling location Description Vehicles per hour
Anand Vidyanagar Road—S1 Road is 1.5 kms long. Both sides of the road are covered by many shopping and commercial
complexes. Heavy traffic prevails on the road throughout the day. 4700 ± 20
Janta Borsad Cross Road—S2 This road connects Janta Chokdi and Borsad Chokdi covering length of about 3 kms.
Mostly, engineering industries are present in this area. 3500 ± 13
Anand Railway Station Road—S3
2 kms long. This road has Railway station on one end and Ganesh Chkokdi on other end which
is a commercial complex. Big commercial complexes, AMUL dairy office, Super markets, bus
station, Police station, Court and other administrative offices are also present along this road.
2900 ± 16
New Bus Station Road—S4 1 km long. Bus station and other commercial complexes are situated beside this road. 2274 ± 33
Gujarat Industrial Development
Corporation (GIDC) Road—S5
The GIDC area is spread over 3.5 km2. Engineering, paints and dye, pesticides, fertilizers,
metal processing industries are situated in this area. 1223 ± 17
Vadtal Road—S6 4 km long. Mainly agricultural fields are present on roadside with some residential areas. 913 ± 12
Iskon Road—S7 1 km long. Iskon temple, student hostels and residential areas. 2140 ± 26
University Circle Road—S8 Sardar Patel University, student hostels and residential areas. 1856 ± 21
Lambhel-Sk Road—S9 4 kms long. Connecting road to Nadiad. Few residential complexes, commercial complexes
and agricultural land exists. 1663 ± 17
Express Highway—S10 Connecting two major cities Ahmedabad-Vadodara. Mainly agricultural field exists beside the
highway with some commercial joints. 2295 ± 24
and kept in oven for 2 days for drying. Dried leaves were
crushed into fine powder by using mixture grinder avail-
able and that leaf powder was stored in small plastic bags
for further analysis [6]. Collected dust was stored in
small zip lock plastic bags for further analysis. Species
selection is done based on dominate species present at
that site.
Dust pH and EC was measured in 1:5 dust to water ra-
tio. They were measured using calibrated meters. Or-
ganic carbon is determined by following modified Jack-
son method [7]. For bringing out heavy metals present in
the dust into solution Aqua rigea method was followed.
In this 0.5 gm dust sample was taken and then HNO3:
HCl was added in 3:1 ratio. After that 3 ml perchloric
acid was added. In case of dust collected from leaves 5
ml perchloric acid was added. After the digestion is over
remove the flask from hot plate and allow it to cool. For
leaf samples 0.5 gm dried leaf sample was digested with
HNO3:HCl in 9:4 ratio [8].
Zn and Cr was analysed by AAS (Perkin Elmeyer
model) using an air-acetylene gas mixture using hollow
cathode lamp. Statistical analysis viz. correlation and
principal component analysis was done is SPSS software
version 11.
To assess the extent of contamination of heavy metals
in road dust and also provide a measure of the degree of
overall contamination along a particular road, contamina-
tion factor and pollution load index has been applied. The
contamination Factor (CF) parameter is expressed as:
CF = Cmetal/C background
where CF is the contamination factor, Cmetal is the con-
centration of pollutant in sediment Cbackground is the back-
ground value for the metal and n is the number of metals.
3. Results and Discussions
Table 2 shows that pH ranges from 6.5 to 8.5. On the
road surface, most heavy metals become bound to the
surfaces of road dust or other particulates. During pre-
cipitation, the bound metals will either become soluble
(dissolved) or be swept off the roadway with the dust. In
either case, the metals enter the soil or are channeled into
a storm drain. Whether in the soil or aquatic environment,
metals can be transported by several processes. These
processes are governed by the chemical nature of metals,
soil and sediment particles, and the pH of the surround-
ing environment. pH tends to be a master variable in this
whole process. In acid conditions, there are enough H+
ions in to occupy many of the negatively charged sur-
faces of clay and organic matter. Little room is left to
bind metals, and as a result, more metals remain in the
soluble phase [9]. In the present study the pH varies from
acidic to slightly alkaline. Except site 1, in all the other
sites the pH was slightly alkaline. So mobility due to
acidic conditions must be limited in the present study
condition. According to two-factor ANOVA at 0.05
(F0.05 level = 0.139 between east and west side and F0.05 level
= 2.29 within sampling locations) level of significance
there is no significant difference between the pH of street
dust of the roadways in all the sites and between both the
sides of the road.
Electrical conductivity of roadside dust samples are
represented in Table 2 . Result lies in the range of 3.02 to

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL. 45
Table 2. Result of pH, EC and organic carbon of street dust samples of various sites.
Parameters
Site
pH EC Organic carbon (%)
East side West side East side West side East side West side
S1 6.66 ± 0.22 6.69 ± 1.99 3.02 ± 0.29 2.45 ± 0.45 1.09 ± 0.26 1.02 ± 0.67
S2 7.09 ± 0.54 8.24 ± 0.67 1.59 ± 0.65 1.58 ± 0.54 1.49 ± 0.45 1.15 ± 0.34
S3 8.3 ± 0.16 7.81 ± 0.55 2.45 ± 0.33 2.972 ± 0.23 2.24 ± 0.99 2.11 ± 0.45
S4 7.72 ± 1.04 7.78 ± 1.39 1.57 ± 0.78 1.948 ± 0.68 1.02 ± 0.80 0.85 ± 0.52
S5 7.13 ± 1.43 7.16 ± 0.32 2.75 ± 0.47 2.77 ± 0.50 0.81 ± 0.03 0.64 ± 0.67
S6 7.06 ± 0.89 7.17 ± 0.76 0.84 ± 0.33 0.90 ± 0.30 1.17 ± 0.87 1.02 ± 0.11
S7 7.9 ± 0.55 7.66 ± 0.65 0.90 ± 0.21 1.09 ± 0.43 1.54 ± 0.34 1.92 ± 0.45
S8 7.84 ± 1.78 8.01 ± 1.21 0.89 ± 0.56 1.09 ± 0.67 1.13 ± 0.78 1.39 ± 0.48
S9 7.47 ± 0.99 7.49 ± 0.58 1.54 ± 0.49 1.56 ± 0.39 0.94 ± 0.15 0.85 ± 0.23
S10 7.0 ± 0.10 7.5 ± 0.27 0.88 ± 0.49 0.90 ± 0.54 0.75 ± 0.07 0.54 ± 0.16
Background soil 7.83 ± 0.54 6.83 ± 0.52 0.709 ± 0.33 1.038 ± 0.41 1.17 ± 0.12 0.96 ± 0.32
Two-factor ANOVA = non-significant variation
0.5 milli S. The decreasing order of EC in street dust
samples of all the sites is S1 > S5 > S3 > S4 > S2 > S9 > S7
> S8 > S10 > S1. ANOVA shows that at 0.05 level of sig-
nificance there is no significant difference in the data of
Electrical Conductivity of the street dust samples of east
and west side of the road , but significant variation lies
within the ten sampling locations (F0.05 level = 1.49 be-
tween east and west side and F0.05 level = 30.86 within
sampling locations). Electrical conductivity gives a rough
idea about the dissolved metal and salt status. Variations
within the sampling locations were may be due to this.
Table 2 also shows the percentage organic carbon in
the street dust samples. S3 which is Railway station Amul
dairy road shows maximum reading as the entire road
have good vegetation cover on the both sides of the road
and Anand’s biggest vegetable market is also present on
this road. On the other hand S10 which is Expressway
shows the minimum reading as least vegetation us pre-
sent on the site. The decreasing order of in street dust
samples of all the sites is S3 > S7 > S2 > S8 > S6 > S1 > S4
> S9 > S8 > S10. ANOVA shows that at 0.05 level of sig-
nificance there is no significant difference in the data of
Organic Carbon of the street dust samples of east and
Westside of the roads where as sitewise variation of ten
different sites was significant (F0.05 level = 1.62 between
east and west side and F0.05 level = 17.58 within sampling
locations). Organic matter content can bind metals and
reduces mobility of metal. So it can be inferred that dust
samples having more organic carbon will have less mo-
bile metal fraction. However detailed solid phase speci-
ation is needed to confirm this.
3.1. Zinc in and Chromium in Street Dust
Figure 2 shows Zn content in the street dust. Among the
different sites studied, Zn content is found highest in S10
(108.29 ppm) which is the Express highway followed by
S5 (92.19 ppm) which is the GIDC area. The range of Zn
was 16.82 - 108.29 ppm in the street dust. The decreasing
order of Zn content in street dust is in the following order
S10 > S5 > S2 > S4 > S1 > S3 > S7 > S6 > S9 > S8. Major
sources of Zn are Tire wear, Motor oil, Grease, Brake
emissions, Corrosion of galvanized parts [10-12]. At Ex-
press highway (S10) vegetation cover was less so micro-
climatic difference due to shading effect of trees was
negligible. So, road temperature was very high which
leads to high amount of tire wear of vehicles passing
form the highway. GIDC (S5) area has industrial sources
Zn concentra tion in street dust
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
S1 S2 S3
S4 S5 S6
S7 S8
S9
S10
background
site s
Zn concentration (ppm)
East SideWest Side
Figure 2. Zn concentrations in street dust.

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL.
46
of Zn along with the above sources, as many electroplat-
ing industries and galvanization industries are present
here. Standard error bars in the Figure shows the varia-
tion in the sampling. The background concentration of
Zn is around 15 ppm. Less trafficked area like University
circle road, Vadtal, Lambhel Sk road shows less Zn con-
centration. The maximum acceptable limit for Zn in soil
is 300 μg/g, however there is no such limit for street dust.
None of the sites in our city exceeds this limit [13]. Es-
pecially our data of Zn matches with many reported stud-
ies [14-16].
Figure 3 shows Cr content in the street dust of differ-
ent sites. Among the different sites studied Cr content
was found highest in S5 (151.50 ppm) which is the GIDC
area followed by S10 (146.25 ppm) which is the Express
highway. The range of Cr was 118 - 151.5 ppm. Major
sources of Cr are Air conditioning coolants, Engine parts,
Brake emissions, wear and tear of chrome plated vehicu-
lar parts, yellow paints on the roads used for marking and
metal industries [17]. GIDC has industrial sources of Cr
along with the vehicular emissions. At express highway
Cr content is high because of high number of vehicles.
The decreasing order of Cr content in street dust is in the
following order S5 > S10 > S1 > S2 > S3 > S4 > S8 > S7 >
S6 > S9. The background concentration of Cr is around
110 ppm, which is high. So, some geogenic inputs can
also be one of the causes of elevated Cr concentration.
ANOVA single factor showed that at 0.05 level of sig-
nificance site wise variation of zinc and chromium con-
centration in street dust was not significant (F = 0.46).
This indicates that may be origin or source of these two
metals are same which may be anthropogenic vehicular
emissions. Less trafficked and rural areas like University
circle road, Vdatal, Lambhel Sk road, Iskon road shows
less Cr concentration. Cr content in the street dust is in
accordance with globally reported studies [18-21].
Comparison with different reported studies is shown in
Table 3.
3.2. Zinc and Chromium in Suspended
Particulate Matter (SPM)
Figure 4 shows that Zn concentration in SPM lies in the
range of 12.41 to 86 ppm. High Zn concentration is
found in S10 (85.75 ppm) followed by S5 (61.54 ppm) and
S2 (49.16 ppm) in SPM. The sources of Zn in SPM are
similar as described in street dust sources. The data was
also represented in nano gm/m3 i.e. nano gm of Zn pre-
sent in SPM/m3 volume of air. The decreasing order of
Zn content in SPM is in the following order S10 > S5 > S2
> S1 > S7 > S3 > S4 > S6 > S9 >S8. The results were com-
pared with several Global and Indian studies and it was
found that the Zn content is in accordance with some
global and Indian studies which are compared [22].
Figure 5 shows the Cr concentration in SPM in Anand
Table 3. Comparison with different reported studies.
Study area Zn (ppm) Cr (ppm) Reference
Dhaka,
Bangladesh 169 77 - 160 Ahmed et al., 2006 [1]
Calcutta, India159 54 Chaterjee et al.,
1999 [4]
Delhi, India 120 - 380 100 - 1350 Banerjee et al.,
2003 [5]
Islamabad
Pakistan 116 - Faiz et al., 2009 [8]
Islam Sahar,
Tehran, Iran 78.2 - 162.2560.3 - 117.2 Yazdi et al., 2009 [14]
Kano, Nigeria167.53 - 270.131.75 - 62.53 Alhassan et al.,
2012 [15]
Adamawa State,
Nigeria 102.22 - 705.81.22 - 5.40 Shinggu et al., 2007 [16]
Xian, China 421 167 Yongming et al.,
[17]
Ketu-South,
Ghana 18.20 - 406.5284.0 - 4106.0 Addo et al., 2012, [18]
Yazgat, Turkey226 - 1852 - Divrikli et al,
2003 [19]
Brimingham, UK534 - Charlesworth et
al., 2003 [20]
Zagazig City,
Egypt 163.83 - 282.5159.17 - 78.86 ElShayep et al., 2001 [21]
Anand City,
Gujarat, India16.82 - 108.29118 - 151.5 Present study
C r concentration i n stree t dust
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
S1 S2 S3 S4 S5 S6 S7 S8 S9
S10
background
site s
Cr concentration (ppm)
East SideWest Side
Figure 3. Cr concentrations in street dust
city ranges between 75 to 130 ppm. High Cr content is
found in S5 followed by S9 and then S1 sites which is
GIDC area, Sk lambhel road, and Anand Vidyanagar
road respectively. The sources of Cr are similar as de-
scribed for street dust sources. The data was represented
in nano gm/m3 i.e. nano gm of Cr/m3 volume of air The
decreasing order of Cr content in SPM is in the following
order S5 > S9 > S2 > S1 > S4 > S6 > S10 > S3 > S7 > S8.
ANOVA single factor showed that at 0.05 level of sig-

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL. 47
Figure 4. Cr concentrations in street dust.
Figure 5. Cr concentration in suspended particulate matter
in ng/m3 and in ppm.
nificance site wise variation of zinc and chromium con-
centration in SPM was not significant (F = 0.23), signi-
fying same origin of these two metals in SPM.
PM10 was sampled for the zinc and chromium load
calculation in the suspended particulate matter. However,
further analysis of PM2.5 should be done to predict the
health impacts. Zn and Cr content in SPM is less com-
pared to metropolitan cities of India like Delhi (185 -
1320 ppm Zn; 112 - 131 ppm Cr), Calcutta (750 - 5160
ppm Zn, 130 - 197 ppm), and Madras (2720 - 3930 ppm
Zn, 170 - 280 ppm Cr), Cochin (2350 - 4925 ppm Zn,
175 - 285 ppm Cr) [23].
3.3. Heavy Metal Concentration of Dust
Deposited on Leaf
To estimate the foliar deposition and the effect of atmos-
pheric dust fall out on the leaf surface metal concentra-
tion were analyzed on the leaf deposited dust and the
results found were given in Table 4. Site wise the de-
creasing order of Cr concentration in leaf deposited dust
was as follows. S5 > S10 > S2 > S1 > S4 > S6 > S3 > S8 >
S7 > S9. However, ANOVA single factor showed that at
0.05 level of significance site wise variation of zinc and
chromium concentration in deposited leaf was not sig-
nificant (F = 1.24) indicating same source of metals. The
range of Cr concentration varied from 79.54 ppm to 31
ppm. It was found that maximum Zn concentration was
in S10 which was 42.34 ppm and minimum in site S9,
23.73 ppm. Sources of Cr in the deposited dust may be
due to natural weathering and wind deflation or anthro-
pogenic emission from the industries and vehicles. The
trend of Cr concentration in leaf deposited dust was
similar to the trend found in street dust. Foliar deposition
of dust depends largely on meteorological conditions and
dust capturing capacity of the leaves of the plants grow-
ing beside the roadways. Minimum wind speed during
sampling period was 1.6 km/hr (0.44 m/s) and maximum
wind speed was 4.4 km/hr (1.2 m/s). When data of wind
speed were compared with Beaufort scale it was found
that wind condition was light and calm throughout the
sampling period. Direction of wind was from south
mainly. No precipitation was found at the time of sam-
pling so washing of street and leaves did not occur,
which gives actual results. All these meteorological pa-
rameters favored the deposition of dusts on leaf surface
and street.
3.4. Correlation Analysis
Pearson’s correlation coefficients for metal elements in
street dusts, deposited dust on leaf and in air in Anand
city are summarized in Table 5. Inter-element relation-
ship and inter-segment relationship provides interesting
information on the sources and pathways of metals. Inter
element relationship between leaf deposited dust was
Table 4. Metal concentrations in leaf deposite d dust.
Sampling sitesCr Zn
S1 52.94 ± 3.04 40.46 ± 2.09
S2 58.94 ± 1.12 32.26 ± 1.03
S3 41.54 ± 2.13 28.82 ± 2.04
S4 49.35 ± 3.04 24.54 ± 1.04
S5 79.54 ± 4.04 43.90 ± 4.22
S6 42.86 ± 2.01 27.01 ± 2.11
S7 34.09 ± 1.32 23.90 ± 3.03
S8 39.01 ± 0.56 25.37 ± 1.11
S9 31.00 ± 1.82 23.73 ± 2.05
S10 60.21 ± 2.54 42.34 ± 2.14

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL.
48
Table 5. Correlation analysis.
Cr in Street
dust
Zn in street
dust
Zn in deposited
dust on leaf
Cr in deposited
dust on leaf Cr in SPMZn in SPM pH EC OC
Cr in street dust 1
Zn in street dust 0.433 1.000
Zn in deposited dust on leaf 0.483 -0.388 1.000
Cr in deposited dust on leaf 0.569 -0.187 0.855* 1.000
Cr in SPM 0.997* 0.443 0.465 0.559 1.000
Zn in SPM 0.352 −0.387 0.749 0.651 0.331 1.000
pH −0.608 0.101 −0.719 −0.566 −0.575 −0.500 1
EC 0.606 0.261 0.514 0.457 0.589 0.152 −0.285 1.000
OC −0.394 −0.074 −0.375 −0.377 −0.415 −0.284 0.535 0.1371
*Signifies strong significant correlation, underlined values signifies moderate correlation.
found positive in all the cases. This can be interpreted as;
if any of the two metals concentration increases other
will also increase. This gives an idea that both may have
common origin such as industrial, vehicular or natural
origin. Good correlation exists between the Zn and Cr
concentration of street dust, leaf deposited dust and SPM.
Furthermore, strong positive correlation exist between
leaf deposited Zn and chromium. This fact also depict
that the sources are common for these metals in street
dust, air and atmospheric fallout and in leaf deposition.
The metal concentrations do not correlate significantly
with pH, organic carbon and EC. Owing to the narrow
range of these parameters in the samples, so these pa-
rameters have limited importance on metal distribution.
3.5. Contamination Factor
As per the formula of contamination factor (CF) dis-
cussed in experimental section, the CF in the sites where
metal concentration was high was 1.24 in S10 and 1.06 in
S5 for Zn. For chromium the value of CF was 1.77 in S10
and 1.67 in S5. The CF reflects the metal enrichment in
the dust. The geochemical background values in conti-
nental crust averages of the trace metals under considera-
tion are taken as 95 ppm for Zn and 90 ppm for Cr [24].
The CF was classified into four groups. Where the con-
tamination factor CF < 1 refers to low contamination; 1 ≤
CF < 3 means moderate contamination; 3 ≤ CF ≤ 6 indi-
cates considerable contamination and CF > 6 indicates
very high contamination. So the results, indicates that
street dust is moderately contaminated with respect to Zn
and chromium. The sites with relatively less traffic and
the rural background area had CF less than 1.
Zinc is essential at very low concentrations for life be-
cause they have important roles in metabolic processes
taking place in living cells. The presence of these metals
ions at elevated levels in the environment is often toxic
to living organisms. This involves blocking essential
functional groups, displacing essential metal ions, or
modifying the active confirmation of biological mole-
cules resulting in the inhibition of a variety of metabolic
as well as enzyme activities in living organisms. The
metal toxicity has a direct effect on various physiological
and biochemical processes such as photosynthesis, chlo-
rophyll content and reduction in plant growth. Water
soluble zinc that is located in soils can contaminate
groundwater. Zinc ions may also increase the acidity of
water. The metal that enters the bodies of plants and
animals is able to bio-magnify up the food chain. Chro-
mium(III) is an essential element at trace level whereas
Chromium(VI) is mainly toxic to living organisms. High
concentrations of chromium can cause respiratory prob-
lems in animals, a lower ability to fight disease, birth
defects, infertility and tumor formation [25].
4. Conclusion
Anand city has developed in a rapid pace in past few
years. The number of vehicles also increased in past few
years at an alarming rate. Many commercial areas and
construction activities along with industrial activities
have also taken place within a short time span. So, heavy
metal pollution due to anthropogenic inputs is most likely
increasing with the developmental activities. Zinc and
Chromium concentration were moderately high in the
street dust. Contamination factor in the industrial area
and highly trafficked area was also found moderately
high. The heavy metal contaminations in street dust show
a considerable decrease from place of high traffic activi-
ties to a place of low traffic activities. SPM and foliar
deposited dust also showed similar trends as street dust.
From street dust the bioavailable and soluble portion of

T. BHATTACHARYA ET AL. 49
zinc and chromium can find its way to groundwater and
surface water bodies and can enter food chain. If they are
present in suspended dust fraction PM2.5 then it can be
inhaled too. Finally, results obtained from this research
work would now provide significant reference value for
future studies.
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