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. 2025 Oct 9;47(11):483.
doi: 10.1007/s10653-025-02800-6.

Effect of rainfall environmental characteristics on the release of road dust pollutants and health risk assessment in coastal areas: a case study of Lianyungang, Jiangsu

Wenbo Wu  1 , Liang Du  1 , Hui Luo  2   3 , Rubin Han  1 , Hongxiu Leng  1 , Yunrui Zhao  1 , Bukai Song  1 , Bao-Jie He  4   5   6   7
Affiliations

Effect of rainfall environmental characteristics on the release of road dust pollutants and health risk assessment in coastal areas: a case study of Lianyungang, Jiangsu

Wenbo Wu et al. Environ Geochem Health. .

Abstract

This study investigates the pollution risks of heavy metals in road dust in Haizhou District, Lianyungang, as well as the impact of different precipitation conditions on pollutant release. It analyzes the concentrations and distribution characteristics of six elements: total nitrogen, total phosphorus, lead, zinc, copper, and cadmium. Three pollution assessment methods were employed to evaluate the heavy metal pollution levels in the traffic roads of Haizhou District, and the health risk assessment model proposed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) was used for health risk assessment. The release effects of heavy metals under different rainfall conditions (including pH, salinity, and temperature) were simulated, with corresponding water quality assessment and correlation analysis conducted. The results showed that there was a risk of heavy metal pollution in road dust in Haizhou District, among which cadmium and lead pollution were the most serious, and these heavy metals posed significant threats to the ecological environment and human health. The results of the health risk assessment indicated that the carcinogenic risks of Pb and Cd are worthy of attention, with the risk to the child population being particularly prominent. In addition, the migration and release of four pollutants (TN, TP, Pb, and Zn) are significantly affected by pH, salinity, and temperature. Within the same oscillation time, the concentrations of TN and TP first decreased and then increased with the increase in pH, while the concentrations of Pb and Zn decreased as the pH value increased. The concentrations of these four pollutants all increase under higher salinity and temperature conditions. The pollution levels obtained by the Nemerow index method show a similar trend to the concentration change trend. Correlation analysis indicated that there is a significant negative correlation between Pb, Zn and rainfall pH, while salinity and temperature show a significant positive correlation with the release of TN, TP, Pb and Zn.

Keywords: Ecological risk; Heavy metals; Road dust; Salinity; Temperature; pH value.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Consent to participate: Not applicable. Ethics approval: All authors have read, understood, and have complied as applicable with the statement on “Ethical responsibilities of Authors” as found in the Instructions for Authors.

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