Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Fuxin, China

Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Fuxin, China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Fuxin, China Xiaoliang Zhao, Zhaolin Shen, Fangwei Han, Bandna Bharti, Shaohui Feng, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4736813/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 11 Nov, 2024 Read the published version in Environmental Geochemistry and Health → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Fuxin is located in the atmospheric channel around Bohai Bay, and its geographical location is very special. Few existing studies have studied the pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in atmospheric PM 2.5 in four seasons in Fuxin, so a total of 180 PM 2.5 samples were collected from four sampling sites in Fuxin during the period from December 2021 to November 2022. The seasonal distribution characteristics of V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Sb, Cd and Ba were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), and the source of heavy metals was analyzed by enrichment factor (EF). Health risk model was used to examine the health risk assessment of respiratory exposure in men, women and children in Fuxin. The results reveal that, the annual average mass order of heavy metal in Fuxin PM 2.5 was Zn（0.2947μg·m -3 ）>Pb（0.0664μg·m -3 ）>As（0.0225μg·m -3 ）>Ba（0.0205μg·m -3 ）>Mn（0.0187μg·m -3 ）>Cu（0.0140μg·m -3 ）>Cr（0.0095μg·m -3 ）>V（0.0067μg·m -3 ）>Ni（0.0061μg·m -3 ）>Sb（0.0024μg·m -3 ）>Cd（0.0019μg·m -3 ）>Co（0.0007μg·m -3 . The annual average concentration of As was 3.75 times of the GB3095-2012(China) secondary standard limit, the concentration of hazard quotient (HQ) in PM 2.5 was lower than 1, but the concentration of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) in As was higher than the cancer risk threshold (10 -4 ). These findings indicate the certain risk of cancer in the urban population of Fuxin. Therefore, it is necessary to control the emissions created from the coal-burning to minimize the health risks to the people of Fuxin. PM2.5 Mass concentration Heavy metals Seasonal distribution Health risk assessment Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Figure 5 Figure 6 1. Introduction The rapid progress in industrialization associated with vast urbanization has become the environment issue for the feasible growth which rise an imperative agenda worldwide. Air pollution has gained much attention, because it leads to severe long-term effects on the environment as well as for the public health. The considerable factor of air pollution includes NO x , CO x , SO 2 , ozone and particulate matter. Especially, the consequences of particulates matter are expanding since the particulate matter stimulate to adsorbed and ultimately settled on the respiratory or circulatory system of the humans. Particulate matter with diameter no more than 2.5µm (PM 2.5 ) is the major source of air particulate pollutant and attained much attraction in recent years. (Guan et al. 2018 ; Talbi et al. 2017 ;Min et al.2024). According to the report of WHO’s, annually 3.7 million premature deaths are associated to outdoor pollution specially related with PM 2.5 . PM 2.5 not only causes the environmental problems such as smog (Cheng et al. 2016 ; He et al. 2013 ;Sawaeng et al.2024), but it can also enter into the human body because of its small particles size and thus have direct impact on the human health. Some studies have shown that PM 2.5 present in the atmosphere can enter into the human body through blood circulation, create a direct impact on the human respiratory and nervous system, which results the increased human morbidity (Kioumourtzoglou et al. 2016 ; Samet rt al. 2000; Raaschou et al. 2013 ; HEI 2004;Hao et al. 2024 ). PM 2.5 present in the atmosphere comes mainly from anthropogenic sources such as transportation, industrial emissions, and fuel combustion (Sanguineti 2020;Alhelí et al. 2024). Many researchers have shown that the effects of PM 2.5 on the human body are not only related with its own concentration, but also related with some kinds of heavy metals present in the atmosphere (Hao et al. 2018 ; Wang et al. 2019 ;Pan et al. 2023 ). Heavy metals in PM 2.5 will accumulate in the human body and causes various types of diseases after entering into the human body (Sun et al. 2015 ; Wang et al. 2016 ), therefore, heavy metals in PM 2.5 are also the main objects studied by many researchers at home and abroad. Current studies show that heavy metals in PM 2.5 are mainly derived from industrial sources and road moving sources (Alolayan et al. 2013 ; Massey, Kulshrestha, and Taneja 2013 ; Maina et al. 2018 ; Kermani et al. 2018 ). As a typical coal resource city in northern China, Fuxin is located in the western low mountain and hilly area of Liaoning province, bordering the Horqin Left Back Banner Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Liaohe Plain of Northeast China. The meteorological dynamic conditions are extremely unstable and serve as an important atmospheric link east of the Hu Huanyong line between the Horqin Sandy Land in the north and the Bohai Bay in the south (Zhang and Pan 2020 ;Wang et al. 2023 ). The seasonal bare of farmland soil is obvious, and the synergistic effect of coal-burning soot and north Horqin aeolian dust in heating season affects the quality of atmospheric environment seriously. Haizhou opencast coal mine in Fuxin is famous in all over the world. From 1953 to 2005, large-scale mining stopped production, half a century of mining has formed a huge opencast dumping pit with a volume of about 4 billion m 3 and a waste dump with a volume of nearly 850 million m 3 . At the same time, it is only 3 km south of the urban area. Many studies show that the mine contributes significantly to the atmospheric dust and heavy metal pollution in the urban area (Zhao et al. 2017 a, 2017 b;Zhou et al. 2023 ). There are very few reports on the characteristics of PM 2.5 and heavy metal pollution in Fuxin. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing for 17 days, starting on February 4 and ending on February 20. Fuxin is in the atmospheric channel affecting Beijing's air quality. In order to ensure the air quality during the Winter Olympic Games, therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin city. 2. Materials and methods 2.1.Sample collection In this study, four PM 2.5 sampling sites were set up in Fuxin, as shown in Fig. 1 ,and the routine sites were located in Fuxin environmental monitoring center (121° 40′37.6′′E,42°01′28.7′′N). The temporary monitoring points are coal quality laboratory (121°40′14.8′′ E, 42 ° 01′12.2′′ N), comprehensive performance monitoring station (121°40′13.2′′ E, 42°01′17.9′′ N) and grain and oil monitoring station (121°39′08.6′′ E, 41°59′55.9′′N). According to the national environmental protection standards of the people's Republic of China (HJ618-2011), the height of sampling instruments is 10m. PM 2.5 samples were collected from December 2021 to February 2022(Winter), March 2022 to May 2022(Spring), June 2022 to August 2022(Summer), September 2022 to November 2022(Autumn) with a medium-flow particulate matter sampler of Model lao1108a-1. This sampler is widely used in atmospheric sampling. The sampler is 48cm long, 40cm wide and 1m high, he sampling time was set from 9:00 AM on the same day to 8:30 AM on the next day, and the time was 23.5 hours. The flow rate was 100 L min − 1 . A total of 180 valid samples were collected. The main meteorological parameters during the sampling period were shown in Table 1 . Table 1 Average temperature, humidity and wind speed during sampling Seasons Temperature/℃ Humidity/% Wind Speed/(m/s) winter -9.27 38.13 1.38 spring 0.93 36.8 1.74 summer 26.09 40.2 3.18 autumn 18.6 64.8 1.8 2.2.Sample analysis According to the “technical specification for manual monitoring method (gravimetric method) of ambient air particulate matter (PM 2.5 )”, the filter membrane was balanced in the environment at a temperature of (20 ± 1) °C and humidity (50%±1%) for 48 hours before and after sampling. 1/4 polypropylene filter membrane was cut up with the ceramic scissors and placed in the digestion tank, adding 5 ml of nitric acid (pH = 5.6), 0.05 ml of 40% HF (pH = 5.3). After the addition of these acids, dissolve them properly and reflux at 220°C for 2 hours. Then dilute nitric acid (pH = 5.4) was added for 5ml, and the solution was transferred to 10ml.12 metals such as V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Sb, Cd and Ba (Zhao et al.2020) were analyzed by ICP-MS. Change the membrane before and after each sampling to ensure that the filter membrane is flat, free of burrs and damage. The sampling head shall be cleaned once for 168h. For every 10 samples measured, a blank filter membrane is set. And a single point calibration is conducted to ensure that the blank control samples and quality control samples in each batch of experiments are measured synchronously. Each batch (≤ 20) shall be tested for spiked recovery. The recovery, average relative standard deviation (RSD) and standard curve R 2 of 8 water-soluble ions are 95.5 ~ 105.5%, the < 10% and 0.999 respectively. 3. Results and discussion 3.1.Temporal distribution characteristics of PM 2.5 concentration Measurements of PM 2.5 in the atmosphere were taken synchronously at four sampling sites in Fuxin using the gravimetric method. The results are shown in Fig. 2 . The average annual concentration of PM 2.5 was 39.68 µg·m − 3 in Fuxin during the sampling period from December 2021 to November 2022. Among them, 176 days exceeded the safe concentration limit (10µg·m − 3 ) of PM 2.5 prescribed by the World Health Organization, accounting for 97.8% of the total sampling period. About 80% of the days exceeded the daily average concentration limit of PM 2.5 (35µg·m − 3 ) set by the United States, and 16 days exceeded the daily average concentration standard of PM 2.5 (75µg·m − 3 ) set by China, accounting for 8.9% of the total sampling days. It shows that PM 2.5 pollution in Fuxin has improved (Zhao, Cui, and Zhai 2015 ). The average mass concentration of PM 2.5 was 52.93 µg·m − 3 in winter and 39.18 µg·m − 3 in spring. The average mass concentration of PM 2.5 in spring was about 26% lower than that in winter because, the heating was stopped in Fuxin at the end of March. The average mass concentrations of PM 2.5 in summer and autumn were 32.29 µg·m − 3 and 34.31 µg·m − 3 , respectively. The results were the same as those in Lanzhou and Xi'an (Li et al. 2018 ;Liu et al. 2023 ). The highest concentration of PM 2.5 in Fuxin was recorded on December 18(159µg·m − 3 ), with an average daily humidity of 96%, an air quality index (AQI) of 209 and a prevailing wind direction of 1.02m/s, high humidity and low wind speed provide meteorological conditions for high PM 2.5 pollution. According to the special geographical location in Fuxin, the wind direction has a great influence on the concentration of PM 2.5 . During the sampling period, the lowest PM 2.5 concentration in Fuxin was found on May 11, with no rainfall, relative humidity of 44%, and PM 2.5 concentration decreased to 3µg·m − 3 , which is mainly due to the effect of “Rain in the cloud” on PM 2.5 “Nuclear condensation” and “Scoured below the cloud” on PM 2.5 “collisional coagulation” (Li et al. 2014 ; Xuan, Xue, and Lei 2019 ; Han et al. 2017 ;Bui et al. 2023 ). 3.2.Influencing factors of PM 2.5 concentration As it can be clear from Fig. 3 that, the annual variation trend of PM 2.5 concentration with NO 2 and SO 2 was stable and relatively synchronous, and the correlation coefficients of PM 2.5 with NO 2 and SO 2 were 0.777 and 0.655, respectively, during the sampling period. The industrial structure of Fuxin is relatively single, and the population in the urban area is only 600,000. Coal-fired smoke emission from power plants and thermal power plants is the main source of PM 2.5 . NO 2 and SO 2 in the urban area of Fuxin, and the concentration of three pollutants is relatively high in winter and spring, and relatively low in summer and autumn There is a large concentration gradient with the same trend between the three pollutant concentrations in summer and autumn, which is mainly due to the lack of the important emission source of heating coal combustion. The emission of PM 2.5 and SO 2 is greatly reduced, and the emission of NO 2 is due to the contribution of motor vehicle exhaust, as compared with the winter and spring season, its concentration did not decrease significantly. At the same time, gaseous precursors such as SO 2 and NO 2 can produce secondary pollutants such as sulfate and nitrate aerosol through homogeneous or heterogeneous (particle surface) reaction, which can increase the concentration of PM 2.5 (3). The variation of PM 2.5 concentration in winter and spring in Fuxin was larger than that in summer and autumn, and the variation of O 3 concentration in winter and spring was smaller than that in winter and spring. The correlation coefficients between PM 2.5 concentration, temperature and O 3 were − 0.166 and − 0.038, respectively. In summer and autumn, the surface temperature is higher than the atmospheric temperature, and the atmospheric convection is favorable for the diffusion and dilution of PM 2.5 . The results showed that evergreen leaves could effectively retain PM 2.5 (Yang et al. 2018 ;Zeng et al. 2023 ). At the same time, the amount of the light radiation increases because of the lower concentration of PM 2.5 . Due to this, it can easily excite the photochemical chain reaction of NO 2 and other tail gas of motor vehicle, and strengthens the concentration level of O 3 . Previous studies have shown that, the concentration of PM 2.5 and O 3 in Fuxin have a staggered peak relationship (Zhao et al. 2021 ). The northern part of Fuxin is the Horqin Sandy Land, bordered by the Liaohe Plain to the east, Nuerhu Mountain to the west, South link to Bohai Bay. It is a transitional zone between the Inner Mongolian steppe and the Rocky Mountains of North China. It presents a semi-enclosed hilly basin landform. The wind roses during sampling are shown in Fig. 4 , southwesterly winds are the dominant wind direction in the Fuxin, and contribute significantly to the rapid accumulation of PM 2.5 in Fuxin (Zhao et al. 2020 ). According to the wind roses of Fuxin during the sampling period, the prevailing winds in the Fuxin region in winter and spring are northerly and Westerly, and the particulate matter in the Horqin Sandy Land, the largest sandy land in the world in the northwest, contributes directly to the PM 2.5 concentration in the Fuxin region. It is easy to construct the phenomenon of temperature inversion, not conducive to the diffusion of pollutants which can promote the rise of atmospheric PM 2.5 concentration. Wind direction will directly affect the air humidity and temperature in Fuxin, and then affect the secondary conversion of gaseous precursors such as SO 2 , NO 2 and also affect the hygroscopic growth of PM 2.5 particles and the fluctuation of PM 2.5 concentration level. 3.3.Concentration level and time distribution of heavy metals in PM 2.5 The measured results of the mass concentrations of heavy metals in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin City during the sampling period are shown in Fig. 5 , and their average annual concentrations were from high to low such as Zn(0.2947µg·m − 3 ) > Pb(0.0664µg·m − 3 ) > As(0.0225µg·m − 3 ) > Ba(0.0205µg·m − 3 ) > Mn(0.0187µg·m − 3 ) > Cu(0.0140µg·m − 3 ) > Cr(0.0095µg·m 3 ) > V(0.0067µg·m 3 ) > Ni(0.0061µg·m 3 ) > Sb(0.0024µg·m 3 ) > Cd(0.0019µg·m − 3 ) > Co(0.0007µg·m − 3 ). And the average concentrations of Pb and As are 1.2 and 3.75 times of the GB3095-2012 secondary standard limits, respectively, which are 3 and 1.13 times of the EU air standard limits. Pb and As can enter into the human body which results in several diseases related with respiratory system. As compared to other cities in Fushun, Jinzhou, Panjin and Anshan (Li 2017 ; Gu et al. 2016 ; Li et al. 2019 ; Wang et al. 2017 ), the concentrations of Cr in PM 2.5 in Fuxin are more than 1.69、2.31、2.25 and 1.13 times of those in Fushun、Jinzhou、Panjin and Anshan, respectively. The possible reason for the increase concentration of Cr is the existence of leather industry which is responsible for the economic growth pole in Fuxin. As, lots of chrome alum and dichromate are used in the leather industry which discharge many leather tanning materials. In Fuxin, this leather industry is located in Xinqiu District which is 6 km apart from the city (Xie, Hou, and Chen 2018 ). The variation range of Zn, Pb, As and Mn with the seasonal concentration was larger, and the maximum average concentration appeared in spring and minimum in summer. With the exception of mica As the main source of Mn, both Zn and As are associated with industrial processes (Tian et al. 2010 ; Jiao et al. 2014 ), with the highest values occurring in spring because of the emissions from coal-fired heating and metal smelting industries. Pb may be closely related to the combustion of fossil fuels in automobiles (Wang et al. 2015 ), the dominant wind direction in spring is northwest, and the Mn may be contributed by the Horqin Sand transported by the northern Horqin Sand Land and southern Bohai Bay Air Passage. 3.4.Source apportionment of heavy metals in PM 2.5 The enrichment factor method (EF) was proposed by Gordon in the 1970s to judge the impact of man-made pollution sources other than natural sources on atmospheric particulate matter. Loska K and others believe that although the method has some shortcomings, it has a standardized formula, so it can still be used as a simple and good method to estimate the enrichment level of elements. The formula is: $$\:\text{EF=}\frac{({C}_{i}\text{/}{\text{C}}_{n}{)}_{\text{particulate\:matter}}}{{\left({C}_{i}\text{/}{\text{C}}_{n}\right)}_{soil}}$$ 1 In the above formula: C i is the concentration of the ith element; C n is the concentration of the selected reference element; The numerator part of the formula represents the amount of elements in particulate matter and the denominator part represents the amount of elements in soil. The reference elements are all elements in particulate matter, and the content in soil is relatively rich. The frequently used reference elements are Al, Fe, Ti. Fe has relatively stable chemical properties and is commonly used reference elements. Therefore, Fe is selected as the reference element in this paper. From Fig. 6 , the concentration index of Cd and Zn in PM 2.5 of Fuxin atmosphere is more than 100 during the sampling period, which indicates that the concentration index of Cu, As, Sb and Pb are all in between 10 and 100. The Enrichment Index of V, Cr, Ni lies in the range of 2 ~ 10, considered as moderate enrichment which means there is less man-made influence. However, the enrichment index of Mn, Co and Ba is less than 2 elements indicating the slight man-made influence. The concentration index of heavy metals in PM 2.5 during winter and spring is generally higher as compared to summer and autumn, and the concentration index of Cd in spring is the highest, reaching 920.88 in the spring, much higher than 100, which shows that the concentration of heavy metals in PM 2.5 during winter and spring is seriously affected by human activities. Zhang Song, You Fang and others have shown that the main source of atmospheric Cd is coal burning (Zhang et al. 2020 ; You et al. 2019 ). As a coal resource city with a century’s mining history, Fuxin has five coal-fired thermal power plants, such as Fuxin power generation, Jinshan district coal gangue thermal power, Eagle cement, Jiechao coal gangue thermal power, Fuxin mining group coal gangue thermal power plants. The enrichment indexes of Zn, Pb and As are 254.98,173.40 and 195.14, respectively, which are very high in spring. The reason for the higher enrichment factor in spring are mainly attributed to coal burning and motor vehicle emissions. The number of vehicles in Fuxin continues to grow, currently reaching 300,000 and the annual increase in motor vehicle emissions may contribute to Zn, Pb and As. Fuxin is prone to the accumulation of air pollutants due to its poor dispersion conditions owing to its “North-facing south “dustpan topography. 3.5.Health risk assessment of heavy metal elements in PM 2.5 Human health risk assessment model was proposed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1983. The risk assessment is divided into four steps: hazard identification, dose response, exposure assessment and risk characterization (US 2002 ). The data collecting from the International Cancer Research Institute and the EPA comprehensive risk information show that the pollutants are classified into carcinogens and non-carcinogens. 12 heavy metals in PM 2.5 in the Fuxin atmosphere during the sampling period are shown in Table 2 . The heavy metal ions which show the noncarcinogenic risks from high to low are Mn, V, Co, Cr, As, Pb, Sb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni and Ba. The non-carcinogenic risk coefficient HQ of 12 heavy metal elements was 1.08 × 10 − 6 ~ 1.85 × 10 − 2 , which was lower than the EPA limit 1 (EPA 1989 ). Non-carcinogenic risk of heavy metals in Fuxin was generally, low during the sampling period, and the risk was gradually reduced in males, females and children. Table 2 Risk of Respiratory Exposure of Heavy Metals to PM 2.5 in Fuxin City during Sampling Period Heavy Metal HQ Adult male HQ Adult female HQ children SF ILCR V 1.33×10 − 2 1.20×10 − 2 1.01×10 − 2 Cr 4.55×10 − 3 4.11×10 − 3 3.46×10 − 3 0.84 9.76×10 − 8 Mn 1.85×10 − 2 1.67×10 − 2 1.40×10 − 2 Co 1.81×10 − 3 1.64×10 − 3 1.38×10 − 3 9.8 8.92×10 − 8 Ni 4.23×10 − 6 3.82×10 − 6 3.21×10 − 6 0.84 6.26×10 − 8 Cu 4.83×10 − 6 4.37×10 − 6 3.68×10 − 6 Zn 1.36×10 − 5 1.23×10 − 5 1.03×10 − 5 As 1.04×10 − 3 9.37×10 − 4 7.88×10 − 4 15.1 4.14×10 − 6 Cd 2.66×10 − 5 2.41×10 − 5 2.03×10 − 5 6.3 1.48×10 − 7 Sb 8.41×10 − 5 7.60×10 − 5 6.40×10 − 5 Pb 2.62×10 − 4 2.37×10 − 4 2.00×10 − 4 Ba 1.42×10 − 6 1.28×10 − 6 1.08×10 − 6 The lifetime cancer risk of five heavy metals in Fuxin PM 2.5 lies in the range of 6.26 × 10 − 8 to 4.14 × 10 − 6 . The heavy metals which show high to low cancer risk are As, Cd, Cr, Co, and Ni, among them As shows the higher cancer risk (4.14 × 10 − 6 ) lies in the range of carcinogenic risk (10 − 6 ~ 10 − 4 ). The results showed that As in PM 2.5 had carcinogenic risk, and the carcinogenic risk values of other heavy metal elements were all lower than the threshold of carcinogenic risk. As is a symbolic element of coal combustion, which may be related to the relatively single energy structure of coal in Fuxin. The Haizhou Mine, once the largest open pit mine in Asia, is located only 3 km south of the urban area of Fuxin, and there are currently more than 200 sites of spontaneous combustion of residual coal, at the same time, a large amount of coal gangue and fly ash are piled up around the open-pit mine. Under the wind disturbance, the concentration of PM 2.5 and As are the identifying elements of the coal-fired source in the urban area are greatly contributed. The results of health risk assessment of heavy metal elements in PM 2.5 in Nanjing and Xi'an respectively showed that the lifetime cancer risk of As exceeded the threshold range of cancer risk (Zhao 2018 ; Zhao 2016 ), there is a certain risk of carcinogenesis to the main population in the region. Excessive As can interfere with the normal metabolism of cells, affect the process of respiration and oxidation, make cells pathological changes, and eventually cause various diseases. Therefore, Fuxin should strengthen the total emission control of coal-burning to reduce PM 2.5 emissions and heavy metals in coal-burning exposure to the health risks of the local population. 4. Conclusion (1)During the sampling period, PM 2.5 in Fuxin City exceeded the daily average secondary concentration standard of PM 2.5 in China (75µg·m − 3 ) was 16 days, accounting for 8.9% of the total sampling days, exceeding the safe concentration limit of PM 2.5 specified by the World Health Organization (10µg·m − 3 ) days were 176 days, accounting for 97.8% of the total sampling days, indicating that although the PM 2.5 pollution situation in Fuxin had been improved to some extent, it still did not reach the level of complete safety. Therefore, Fuxin still needed to continue to control PM 2.5 . (2)During the sampling period, the concentrations of Pb and As in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin exceeded the standard. Compared with cities in Liaoning province such as Fushun, Jinzhou, Panjin and Anshan, the concentration of Cr in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin was significantly higher, which was closely related to the leather industry in Fuxin. (3)The results of enrichment index method show that the enrichment index of Cd and Zn in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin city was greater than 100 during the sampling period, which was seriously affected by human activities. The enrichment index of heavy metals in atmospheric PM 2.5 in winter and spring was generally greater than that in summer and autumn, and the sources of heavy metals were mainly combustion sources and motor vehicle emission sources. (4)The results of health risk assessment showed that the HQ values of 12 heavy metal elements in atmospheric PM 2.5 in Fuxin during the sampling period were lower than the limit value 1 specified by EPA, indicating that heavy metals had no obvious non-carcinogenic risk to people. The risk index order of the five carcinogenic heavy metal elements was As, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni. The health risk value of As exceeded the carcinogenic risk threshold. Therefore, Fuxin city should strengthen the control of total coal emission and reduce the health risk of respiratory exposure of heavy metal elements emitted from coal to local people. Declarations Acknowledgements The authors gratefully thanks for the financial support provided by the sub-project of the scientific research project of Open Project of Collaborative Innovation Center of Mine Major Disaster Prevention and Environmental Restoration（CXZX-2024-01）; The authors also thank the necessary laboratory support provided by the Liaoning Technical University. Funding Open Project of Collaborative Innovation Center of Mine Major Disaster Prevention and Environmental Restoration（CXZX-2024-01）. Data Availability The datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to [REASON(S) WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.]. Author Contributions Xiaoliang Zhao conceptualization, writing, original draft, methodology, writing , review and editing. Zhaolin Shen formal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing , original draft, writing , review and editing. Fangwei Han writing original draft, writing , review and editing. Bandna Bharti writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision. Shaohui Feng writing , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision. Jing Du writing , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision. Yide Li writing , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision. Ethics approval no ethical approval is required. Consent to participate Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Consent to publish Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Competing interests The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. 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Zhang L L, and Pan J H (2020) Spatial-temporal pattern of population exposure risk to PM2.5 in China [In Chinese]. China Environmental Science 40(1):1-12. https://doi.org/10.19674/j.cnki.issn1000-6923.2020.0001. Zhang S, Zheng L G, Chen Y C, Li C, Cheng H (2020) Characteristics and source apportionment of heavy metals in atmospheric particles at the roadside of Huainan mining area [In Chinese]. Environmental Pollution & Control 42(07):912-916+928. https://doi.org/10.15985/j.cnki.1001-3865.2020.07.021. Zhao D Y, Cui T J, and Zhai X L (2015) Study on the evaluation and effectiveness of air quality in Fuxin City [In Chinese]. Environmental Pollution and Control 37(06):111. Doi: CNKI: SUN: HJWR.0.2015-06-025. Zhao P (2016) Pollution characteristics of PM2.5 and health risk assessment of heavy metals in urban, suburban and suburban air of Xi'an City. master's degree, Shaanxi Normal University. Zhao X L, Liu Y B, Han F W (2020) Source profile and health risk assessment of PM2.5 from coal-fired power plants in Fuxin, China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(11):1-9. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-11378-8. Zhao X L, Sun J, Feng Y C, Wang D H, Bi W J, Zheng J (2017) A Study on Concentration Correlation between MODIS AOD and PM2.5 in Fuxin City, China [In Chinese]. Earth and Environment 45(3):283-288. https://doi.org/10.14050/j.cnki.1672-9250.2017.03.005. Zhao X L, Sun Jie, Li J H, Lv X, Xue Y, Shu M, Bi W Y (2017) Pollution Evaluation and Health Risk Assessment of Heavy Metals in Atmospheric Deposition in Fuxin City [In Chinese]. Research of Environmental Sciences 30(9):1346-1354. https://doi.org/10. 13198 /j. issn.1001-6929.2017. 02.78. Zhao X L, Yue Y X, Han F W, Li L, Liu Y B (2021) Elemental Characteristics and Source Analysis of Atmospheric PM2.5 and PM10 in Fuxin City [In Chinese]. Environmental Science and Management 46(02):57-61. https://doi.org/CNKI: SUN: BFHJ.0.2021-02-014. Zhao X L, Yue Y X, Xu D P, Ji Y Q, Li L, Lv M T (2020) The pollution characteristics and source analysis of inorganic elements in PM2.5 during autumn and winter in Fuxin [In Chinese]. China Environmental Science 40(10):4247-4258. https://doi.org/10.19674/j.cnki.issn1000-6923.2020.0472. Zhao Z (2018) The pollution characteristics and health risk assessments of heavy metals in PM2.5 of industrial and urban areas of a typical city in Yangtze River Delta. master's degree, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology. Zhou X,Xie M,Zhao M,Wang Y,Luo J,Lu S, Liu Q.(2023).Pollution characteristics and human health risks of PMsub2.5/sub-bound heavy metals: a 3-year observation in Suzhou, China..Environmental geochemistry and health(7),5145-5162.https://doi.org/10.1007/S10653-023-01568-X. Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. 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2","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":301033,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eDaily average PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration in Fuxin during sampling period\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage2.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/05d5bed4f716881b2d6f176d.png"},{"id":62064763,"identity":"7d21e39e-ae68-4bc0-a600-223c1d8c7d8c","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-09 00:35:26","extension":"png","order_by":3,"title":"Figure 3","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":429769,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eChange of Meteorological Conditions during Sampling Period\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage3.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/40bd334f9984036c37d71fd3.png"},{"id":62064768,"identity":"a95831ac-72bf-436d-8309-9f98c9b06223","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-09 00:35:27","extension":"png","order_by":4,"title":"Figure 4","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":227034,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eWind Rose Map of Fuxin City\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage4.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/3fc4d9c147ac02f156c49e52.png"},{"id":62064761,"identity":"39cb0aa0-8be8-4bfe-ab36-e1799cfde86a","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-09 00:35:26","extension":"png","order_by":5,"title":"Figure 5","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":210935,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eMeasurement of Heavy Metals Concentration in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e of Fuxin City\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage5.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/6ddba565da3cb7965cf15952.png"},{"id":62064767,"identity":"9628e387-c1dc-4cbe-8a4b-561f5cb73b54","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-08-09 00:35:26","extension":"png","order_by":6,"title":"Figure 6","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"figure","size":189937,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"\u003cp\u003eConcentration Index of Heavy Metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e Atmosphere of Fuxin City\u003c/p\u003e","description":"","filename":"floatimage6.png","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/89fa8a4bdf8618b4dc47fbf7.png"},{"id":69274977,"identity":"8beabf02-bca3-405f-9543-fae695240ca0","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-11-18 16:42:20","extension":"pdf","order_by":0,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2293061,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4736813/v1/4c64d558-2eea-4ce3-b41e-8b3d45b1e281.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Fuxin, China","fulltext":[{"header":"1. Introduction","content":"\u003cp\u003eThe rapid progress in industrialization associated with vast urbanization has become the environment issue for the feasible growth which rise an imperative agenda worldwide. Air pollution has gained much attention, because it leads to severe long-term effects on the environment as well as for the public health. The considerable factor of air pollution includes NO\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003e, CO\u003csub\u003ex\u003c/sub\u003e, SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, ozone and particulate matter. Especially, the consequences of particulates matter are expanding since the particulate matter stimulate to adsorbed and ultimately settled on the respiratory or circulatory system of the humans. Particulate matter with diameter no more than 2.5\u0026micro;m (PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e) is the major source of air particulate pollutant and attained much attraction in recent years. (Guan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR7\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Talbi et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR31\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e;Min et al.2024). According to the report of WHO\u0026rsquo;s, annually 3.7\u0026nbsp;million premature deaths are associated to outdoor pollution specially related with PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e. PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e not only causes the environmental problems such as smog (Cheng et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR4\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; He et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR11\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e;Sawaeng et al.2024), but it can also enter into the human body because of its small particles size and thus have direct impact on the human health. Some studies have shown that PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e present in the atmosphere can enter into the human body through blood circulation, create a direct impact on the human respiratory and nervous system, which results the increased human morbidity (Kioumourtzoglou et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR15\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Samet rt al. 2000; Raaschou et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR25\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; HEI 2004;Hao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR8\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2024\u003c/span\u003e). PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e present in the atmosphere comes mainly from anthropogenic sources such as transportation, industrial emissions, and fuel combustion (Sanguineti 2020;Alhel\u0026iacute; et al. 2024).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMany researchers have shown that the effects of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e on the human body are not only related with its own concentration, but also related with some kinds of heavy metals present in the atmosphere (Hao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR10\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR35\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e;Pan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR24\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). Heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e will accumulate in the human body and causes various types of diseases after entering into the human body (Sun et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR30\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR34\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), therefore, heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e are also the main objects studied by many researchers at home and abroad. Current studies show that heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e are mainly derived from industrial sources and road moving sources (Alolayan et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR2\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Massey, Kulshrestha, and Taneja \u003cspan citationid=\"CR22\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2013\u003c/span\u003e; Maina et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR21\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Kermani et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR14\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs a typical coal resource city in northern China, Fuxin is located in the western low mountain and hilly area of Liaoning province, bordering the Horqin Left Back Banner Sandy Land of Inner Mongolia Plateau and the Liaohe Plain of Northeast China. The meteorological dynamic conditions are extremely unstable and serve as an important atmospheric link east of the Hu Huanyong line between the Horqin Sandy Land in the north and the Bohai Bay in the south (Zhang and Pan \u003cspan citationid=\"CR44\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e;Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR38\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). The seasonal bare of farmland soil is obvious, and the synergistic effect of coal-burning soot and north Horqin aeolian dust in heating season affects the quality of atmospheric environment seriously. Haizhou opencast coal mine in Fuxin is famous in all over the world. From 1953 to 2005, large-scale mining stopped production, half a century of mining has formed a huge opencast dumping pit with a volume of about 4\u0026nbsp;billion m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e and a waste dump with a volume of nearly 850\u0026nbsp;million m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e. At the same time, it is only 3 km south of the urban area. Many studies show that the mine contributes significantly to the atmospheric dust and heavy metal pollution in the urban area (Zhao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003ea, \u003cspan citationid=\"CR49\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003eb;Zhou et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR54\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). There are very few reports on the characteristics of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e and heavy metal pollution in Fuxin. The 2022 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Beijing for 17 days, starting on February 4 and ending on February 20. Fuxin is in the atmospheric channel affecting Beijing's air quality. In order to ensure the air quality during the Winter Olympic Games, therefore, it is of great practical significance to study the pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin city.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"2. Materials and methods","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec3\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.1.Sample collection\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this study, four PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e sampling sites were set up in Fuxin, as shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig7\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e,and the routine sites were located in Fuxin environmental monitoring center (121\u0026deg; 40\u0026prime;37.6\u0026prime;\u0026prime;E,42\u0026deg;01\u0026prime;28.7\u0026prime;\u0026prime;N). The temporary monitoring points are coal quality laboratory (121\u0026deg;40\u0026prime;14.8\u0026prime;\u0026prime; E, 42 \u0026deg; 01\u0026prime;12.2\u0026prime;\u0026prime; N), comprehensive performance monitoring station (121\u0026deg;40\u0026prime;13.2\u0026prime;\u0026prime; E, 42\u0026deg;01\u0026prime;17.9\u0026prime;\u0026prime; N) and grain and oil monitoring station (121\u0026deg;39\u0026prime;08.6\u0026prime;\u0026prime; E, 41\u0026deg;59\u0026prime;55.9\u0026prime;\u0026prime;N). According to the national environmental protection standards of the people's Republic of China (HJ618-2011), the height of sampling instruments is 10m.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003ePM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e samples were collected from December 2021 to February 2022(Winter), March 2022 to May 2022(Spring), June 2022 to August 2022(Summer), September 2022 to November 2022(Autumn) with a medium-flow particulate matter sampler of Model lao1108a-1. This sampler is widely used in atmospheric sampling. The sampler is 48cm long, 40cm wide and 1m high, he sampling time was set from 9:00 AM on the same day to 8:30 AM on the next day, and the time was 23.5 hours. The flow rate was 100 L min\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;1\u003c/sup\u003e. A total of 180 valid samples were collected. The main meteorological parameters during the sampling period were shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab1\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e1\u003c/span\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab1\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 1\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAverage temperature, humidity and wind speed during sampling\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"4\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSeasons\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eTemperature/℃\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHumidity/%\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eWind Speed/(m/s)\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ewinter\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e-9.27\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e38.13\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.38\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003espring\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.93\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e36.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.74\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003esummer\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e26.09\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e40.2\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.18\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eautumn\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e18.6\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e64.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec4\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e2.2.Sample analysis\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the \u0026ldquo;technical specification for manual monitoring method (gravimetric method) of ambient air particulate matter (PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e)\u0026rdquo;, the filter membrane was balanced in the environment at a temperature of (20\u0026thinsp;\u0026plusmn;\u0026thinsp;1) \u0026deg;C and humidity (50%\u0026plusmn;1%) for 48 hours before and after sampling. 1/4 polypropylene filter membrane was cut up with the ceramic scissors and placed in the digestion tank, adding 5 ml of nitric acid (pH\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.6), 0.05 ml of 40% HF (pH\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.3). After the addition of these acids, dissolve them properly and reflux at 220\u0026deg;C for 2 hours. Then dilute nitric acid (pH\u0026thinsp;=\u0026thinsp;5.4) was added for 5ml, and the solution was transferred to 10ml.12 metals such as V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Sb, Cd and Ba (Zhao et al.2020) were analyzed by ICP-MS.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eChange the membrane before and after each sampling to ensure that the filter membrane is flat, free of burrs and damage. The sampling head shall be cleaned once for 168h. For every 10 samples measured, a blank filter membrane is set. And a single point calibration is conducted to ensure that the blank control samples and quality control samples in each batch of experiments are measured synchronously. Each batch (\u0026le;\u0026thinsp;20) shall be tested for spiked recovery. The recovery, average relative standard deviation (RSD) and standard curve \u003cem\u003eR\u003c/em\u003e\u003csup\u003e2\u003c/sup\u003e of 8 water-soluble ions are 95.5\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;105.5%, the \u0026lt;\u0026thinsp;10% and 0.999 respectively.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"3. Results and discussion","content":"\u003cdiv id=\"Sec6\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.1.Temporal distribution characteristics of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eMeasurements of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in the atmosphere were taken synchronously at four sampling sites in Fuxin using the gravimetric method. The results are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig8\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. The average annual concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e was 39.68 \u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e in Fuxin during the sampling period from December 2021 to November 2022. Among them, 176 days exceeded the safe concentration limit (10\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e prescribed by the World Health Organization, accounting for 97.8% of the total sampling period. About 80% of the days exceeded the daily average concentration limit of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e(35\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) set by the United States, and 16 days exceeded the daily average concentration standard of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e(75\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) set by China, accounting for 8.9% of the total sampling days. It shows that PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e pollution in Fuxin has improved (Zhao, Cui, and Zhai \u003cspan citationid=\"CR46\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e). The average mass concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e was 52.93 \u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e in winter and 39.18 \u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e in spring. The average mass concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in spring was about 26% lower than that in winter because, the heating was stopped in Fuxin at the end of March. The average mass concentrations of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in summer and autumn were 32.29 \u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e and 34.31 \u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e, respectively. The results were the same as those in Lanzhou and Xi'an (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR16\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e;Liu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR20\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). The highest concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin was recorded on December 18(159\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e), with an average daily humidity of 96%, an air quality index (AQI) of 209 and a prevailing wind direction of 1.02m/s, high humidity and low wind speed provide meteorological conditions for high PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e pollution. According to the special geographical location in Fuxin, the wind direction has a great influence on the concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e. During the sampling period, the lowest PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration in Fuxin was found on May 11, with no rainfall, relative humidity of 44%, and PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration decreased to 3\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e, which is mainly due to the effect of \u0026ldquo;Rain in the cloud\u0026rdquo; on PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026ldquo;Nuclear condensation\u0026rdquo; and \u0026ldquo;Scoured below the cloud\u0026rdquo; on PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e\u0026ldquo;collisional coagulation\u0026rdquo; (Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR18\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e; Xuan, Xue, and Lei \u003cspan citationid=\"CR40\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Han et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR9\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e;Bui et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR3\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec7\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.2.Influencing factors of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs it can be clear from Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig9\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e3\u003c/span\u003e that, the annual variation trend of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration with NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e was stable and relatively synchronous, and the correlation coefficients of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e with NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e were 0.777 and 0.655, respectively, during the sampling period. The industrial structure of Fuxin is relatively single, and the population in the urban area is only 600,000. Coal-fired smoke emission from power plants and thermal power plants is the main source of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e. NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e in the urban area of Fuxin, and the concentration of three pollutants is relatively high in winter and spring, and relatively low in summer and autumn There is a large concentration gradient with the same trend between the three pollutant concentrations in summer and autumn, which is mainly due to the lack of the important emission source of heating coal combustion. The emission of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e and SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is greatly reduced, and the emission of NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e is due to the contribution of motor vehicle exhaust, as compared with the winter and spring season, its concentration did not decrease significantly. At the same time, gaseous precursors such as SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e can produce secondary pollutants such as sulfate and nitrate aerosol through homogeneous or heterogeneous (particle surface) reaction, which can increase the concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e (3).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe variation of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration in winter and spring in Fuxin was larger than that in summer and autumn, and the variation of O\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e concentration in winter and spring was smaller than that in winter and spring. The correlation coefficients between PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration, temperature and O\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e were \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.166 and \u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;0.038, respectively. In summer and autumn, the surface temperature is higher than the atmospheric temperature, and the atmospheric convection is favorable for the diffusion and dilution of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e. The results showed that evergreen leaves could effectively retain PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e (Yang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR41\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e;Zeng et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR43\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2023\u003c/span\u003e). At the same time, the amount of the light radiation increases because of the lower concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e. Due to this, it can easily excite the photochemical chain reaction of NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and other tail gas of motor vehicle, and strengthens the concentration level of O\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e. Previous studies have shown that, the concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e and O\u003csub\u003e3\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin have a staggered peak relationship (Zhao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR51\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2021\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe northern part of Fuxin is the Horqin Sandy Land, bordered by the Liaohe Plain to the east, Nuerhu Mountain to the west, South link to Bohai Bay. It is a transitional zone between the Inner Mongolian steppe and the Rocky Mountains of North China. It presents a semi-enclosed hilly basin landform. The wind roses during sampling are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig10\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e4\u003c/span\u003e, southwesterly winds are the dominant wind direction in the Fuxin, and contribute significantly to the rapid accumulation of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin (Zhao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR52\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAccording to the wind roses of Fuxin during the sampling period, the prevailing winds in the Fuxin region in winter and spring are northerly and Westerly, and the particulate matter in the Horqin Sandy Land, the largest sandy land in the world in the northwest, contributes directly to the PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration in the Fuxin region. It is easy to construct the phenomenon of temperature inversion, not conducive to the diffusion of pollutants which can promote the rise of atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration. Wind direction will directly affect the air humidity and temperature in Fuxin, and then affect the secondary conversion of gaseous precursors such as SO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e, NO\u003csub\u003e2\u003c/sub\u003e and also affect the hygroscopic growth of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e particles and the fluctuation of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e concentration level.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec8\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.3.Concentration level and time distribution of heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe measured results of the mass concentrations of heavy metals in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin City during the sampling period are shown in Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig11\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e5\u003c/span\u003e, and their average annual concentrations were from high to low such as Zn(0.2947\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Pb(0.0664\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;As(0.0225\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Ba(0.0205\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Mn(0.0187\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cu(0.0140\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cr(0.0095\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;V(0.0067\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Ni(0.0061\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Sb(0.0024\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Cd(0.0019\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e)\u0026thinsp;\u0026gt;\u0026thinsp;Co(0.0007\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e). And the average concentrations of Pb and As are 1.2 and 3.75 times of the GB3095-2012 secondary standard limits, respectively, which are 3 and 1.13 times of the EU air standard limits. Pb and As can enter into the human body which results in several diseases related with respiratory system. As compared to other cities in Fushun, Jinzhou, Panjin and Anshan (Li \u003cspan citationid=\"CR17\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e; Gu et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR6\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e; Li et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR19\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e; Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR36\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2017\u003c/span\u003e), the concentrations of Cr in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin are more than 1.69、2.31、2.25 and 1.13 times of those in Fushun、Jinzhou、Panjin and Anshan, respectively. The possible reason for the increase concentration of Cr is the existence of leather industry which is responsible for the economic growth pole in Fuxin. As, lots of chrome alum and dichromate are used in the leather industry which discharge many leather tanning materials. In Fuxin, this leather industry is located in Xinqiu District which is 6 km apart from the city (Xie, Hou, and Chen \u003cspan citationid=\"CR39\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e).\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe variation range of Zn, Pb, As and Mn with the seasonal concentration was larger, and the maximum average concentration appeared in spring and minimum in summer. With the exception of mica As the main source of Mn, both Zn and As are associated with industrial processes (Tian et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR32\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2010\u003c/span\u003e; Jiao et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR13\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2014\u003c/span\u003e), with the highest values occurring in spring because of the emissions from coal-fired heating and metal smelting industries. Pb may be closely related to the combustion of fossil fuels in automobiles (Wang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR37\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2015\u003c/span\u003e), the dominant wind direction in spring is northwest, and the Mn may be contributed by the Horqin Sand transported by the northern Horqin Sand Land and southern Bohai Bay Air Passage.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec9\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.4.Source apportionment of heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe enrichment factor method (EF) was proposed by Gordon in the 1970s to judge the impact of man-made pollution sources other than natural sources on atmospheric particulate matter. Loska K and others believe that although the method has some shortcomings, it has a standardized formula, so it can still be used as a simple and good method to estimate the enrichment level of elements. The formula is:\u003cdiv id=\"Equ1\" class=\"Equation\"\u003e\u003cdiv format=\"TEX\" class=\"mathdisplay\" id=\"FileID_Equ1\" name=\"EquationSource\"\u003e\n$$\\:\\text{EF=}\\frac{({C}_{i}\\text{/}{\\text{C}}_{n}{)}_{\\text{particulate\\:matter}}}{{\\left({C}_{i}\\text{/}{\\text{C}}_{n}\\right)}_{soil}}$$\u003c/div\u003e\u003cdiv class=\"EquationNumber\"\u003e1\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/div\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn the above formula: C\u003csub\u003ei\u003c/sub\u003e is the concentration of the ith element; C\u003csub\u003en\u003c/sub\u003e is the concentration of the selected reference element; The numerator part of the formula represents the amount of elements in particulate matter and the denominator part represents the amount of elements in soil. The reference elements are all elements in particulate matter, and the content in soil is relatively rich. The frequently used reference elements are Al, Fe, Ti. Fe has relatively stable chemical properties and is commonly used reference elements. Therefore, Fe is selected as the reference element in this paper.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eFrom Fig.\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Fig12\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e6\u003c/span\u003e, the concentration index of Cd and Zn in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e of Fuxin atmosphere is more than 100 during the sampling period, which indicates that the concentration index of Cu, As, Sb and Pb are all in between 10 and 100. The Enrichment Index of V, Cr, Ni lies in the range of 2\u0026thinsp;~\u0026thinsp;10, considered as moderate enrichment which means there is less man-made influence. However, the enrichment index of Mn, Co and Ba is less than 2 elements indicating the slight man-made influence.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe concentration index of heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e during winter and spring is generally higher as compared to summer and autumn, and the concentration index of Cd in spring is the highest, reaching 920.88 in the spring, much higher than 100, which shows that the concentration of heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e during winter and spring is seriously affected by human activities. Zhang Song, You Fang and others have shown that the main source of atmospheric Cd is coal burning (Zhang et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR45\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2020\u003c/span\u003e; You et al. \u003cspan citationid=\"CR42\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2019\u003c/span\u003e). As a coal resource city with a century\u0026rsquo;s mining history, Fuxin has five coal-fired thermal power plants, such as Fuxin power generation, Jinshan district coal gangue thermal power, Eagle cement, Jiechao coal gangue thermal power, Fuxin mining group coal gangue thermal power plants. The enrichment indexes of Zn, Pb and As are 254.98,173.40 and 195.14, respectively, which are very high in spring. The reason for the higher enrichment factor in spring are mainly attributed to coal burning and motor vehicle emissions. The number of vehicles in Fuxin continues to grow, currently reaching 300,000 and the annual increase in motor vehicle emissions may contribute to Zn, Pb and As. Fuxin is prone to the accumulation of air pollutants due to its poor dispersion conditions owing to its \u0026ldquo;North-facing south \u0026ldquo;dustpan topography.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv id=\"Sec10\" class=\"Section2\"\u003e \u003ch2\u003e3.5.Health risk assessment of heavy metal elements in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e\u003c/h2\u003e \u003cp\u003eHuman health risk assessment model was proposed by Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in 1983. The risk assessment is divided into four steps: hazard identification, dose response, exposure assessment and risk characterization (US \u003cspan citationid=\"CR33\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2002\u003c/span\u003e). The data collecting from the International Cancer Research Institute and the EPA comprehensive risk information show that the pollutants are classified into carcinogens and non-carcinogens.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e12 heavy metals in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in the Fuxin atmosphere during the sampling period are shown in Table\u0026nbsp;\u003cspan refid=\"Tab2\" class=\"InternalRef\"\u003e2\u003c/span\u003e. The heavy metal ions which show the noncarcinogenic risks from high to low are Mn, V, Co, Cr, As, Pb, Sb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni and Ba. The non-carcinogenic risk coefficient HQ of 12 heavy metal elements was 1.08 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e ~ 1.85 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e, which was lower than the EPA limit 1 (EPA \u003cspan citationid=\"CR5\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e1989\u003c/span\u003e). Non-carcinogenic risk of heavy metals in Fuxin was generally, low during the sampling period, and the risk was gradually reduced in males, females and children.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"gridtable\"\u003e\u003ctable float=\"Yes\" id=\"Tab2\" border=\"1\"\u003e \u003ccaption language=\"En\"\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionNumber\"\u003eTable 2\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv class=\"CaptionContent\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eRisk of Respiratory Exposure of Heavy Metals to PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin City during Sampling Period\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e \u003c/caption\u003e \u003ccolgroup cols=\"6\"\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"left\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c1\" colnum=\"1\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c2\" colnum=\"2\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c3\" colnum=\"3\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c4\" colnum=\"4\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\".\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c5\" colnum=\"5\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cdiv align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" class=\"colspec\" colname=\"c6\" colnum=\"6\"\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003cthead\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHeavy Metal\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHQ Adult male\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHQ Adult female\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eHQ children\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSF\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003cth align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eILCR\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/th\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/thead\u003e \u003ctbody\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eV\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.33\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.20\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.01\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCr\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.55\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.11\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.46\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.76\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;8\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eMn\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.85\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.67\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.40\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;2\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCo\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.81\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.64\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.38\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.8\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.92\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;8\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eNi\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.23\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.82\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.21\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e0.84\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.26\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;8\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCu\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.83\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.37\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e3.68\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eZn\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.36\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.23\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.03\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.04\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e9.37\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.88\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e15.1\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e4.14\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eCd\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.66\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.41\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.03\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\".\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.3\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.48\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;7\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eSb\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e8.41\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e7.60\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e6.40\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;5\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003ePb\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.62\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.37\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e2.00\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003ctr\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c1\"\u003e \u003cp\u003eBa\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c2\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.42\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c3\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.28\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"char\" char=\"\u0026times;\" colname=\"c4\"\u003e \u003cp\u003e1.08\u0026times;10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c5\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003ctd align=\"left\" colname=\"c6\"\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/td\u003e \u003c/tr\u003e \u003c/tbody\u003e \u003c/colgroup\u003e \u003c/table\u003e\u003c/div\u003e \u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eThe lifetime cancer risk of five heavy metals in Fuxin PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e lies in the range of 6.26 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;8\u003c/sup\u003e to 4.14 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e. The heavy metals which show high to low cancer risk are As, Cd, Cr, Co, and Ni, among them As shows the higher cancer risk (4.14 \u0026times; 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e) lies in the range of carcinogenic risk (10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;6\u003c/sup\u003e ~ 10\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;4\u003c/sup\u003e). The results showed that As in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e had carcinogenic risk, and the carcinogenic risk values of other heavy metal elements were all lower than the threshold of carcinogenic risk. As is a symbolic element of coal combustion, which may be related to the relatively single energy structure of coal in Fuxin. The Haizhou Mine, once the largest open pit mine in Asia, is located only 3 km south of the urban area of Fuxin, and there are currently more than 200 sites of spontaneous combustion of residual coal, at the same time, a large amount of coal gangue and fly ash are piled up around the open-pit mine. Under the wind disturbance, the concentration of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e and As are the identifying elements of the coal-fired source in the urban area are greatly contributed. The results of health risk assessment of heavy metal elements in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Nanjing and Xi'an respectively showed that the lifetime cancer risk of As exceeded the threshold range of cancer risk (Zhao \u003cspan citationid=\"CR53\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2018\u003c/span\u003e; Zhao \u003cspan citationid=\"CR47\" class=\"CitationRef\"\u003e2016\u003c/span\u003e), there is a certain risk of carcinogenesis to the main population in the region. Excessive As can interfere with the normal metabolism of cells, affect the process of respiration and oxidation, make cells pathological changes, and eventually cause various diseases. Therefore, Fuxin should strengthen the total emission control of coal-burning to reduce PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e emissions and heavy metals in coal-burning exposure to the health risks of the local population.\u003c/p\u003e \u003c/div\u003e"},{"header":"4. Conclusion","content":"\u003cp\u003e(1)During the sampling period, PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin City exceeded the daily average secondary concentration standard of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in China (75\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) was 16 days, accounting for 8.9% of the total sampling days, exceeding the safe concentration limit of PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e specified by the World Health Organization (10\u0026micro;g\u0026middot;m\u003csup\u003e\u0026minus;\u0026thinsp;3\u003c/sup\u003e) days were 176 days, accounting for 97.8% of the total sampling days, indicating that although the PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e pollution situation in Fuxin had been improved to some extent, it still did not reach the level of complete safety. Therefore, Fuxin still needed to continue to control PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(2)During the sampling period, the concentrations of Pb and As in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin exceeded the standard. Compared with cities in Liaoning province such as Fushun, Jinzhou, Panjin and Anshan, the concentration of Cr in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin was significantly higher, which was closely related to the leather industry in Fuxin.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(3)The results of enrichment index method show that the enrichment index of Cd and Zn in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin city was greater than 100 during the sampling period, which was seriously affected by human activities. The enrichment index of heavy metals in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in winter and spring was generally greater than that in summer and autumn, and the sources of heavy metals were mainly combustion sources and motor vehicle emission sources.\u003c/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e(4)The results of health risk assessment showed that the HQ values of 12 heavy metal elements in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in Fuxin during the sampling period were lower than the limit value 1 specified by EPA, indicating that heavy metals had no obvious non-carcinogenic risk to people. The risk index order of the five carcinogenic heavy metal elements was As, Cd, Cr, Co and Ni. The health risk value of As exceeded the carcinogenic risk threshold. Therefore, Fuxin city should strengthen the control of total coal emission and reduce the health risk of respiratory exposure of heavy metal elements emitted from coal to local people.\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"Declarations","content":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAcknowledgements\u003c/strong\u003e\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors gratefully thanks for the financial support provided by the sub-project of the scientific research project of Open Project of Collaborative Innovation Center of Mine Major Disaster Prevention and Environmental Restoration（CXZX-2024-01）; The authors also thank the necessary laboratory support provided by the Liaoning Technical University.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFunding\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOpen Project of Collaborative Innovation Center of Mine Major Disaster Prevention and Environmental Restoration（CXZX-2024-01）.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eData Availability\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe datasets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to [REASON(S) WHY DATA ARE NOT PUBLIC] but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.].\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAuthor Contributions Xiaoliang Zhao\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003econceptualization, writing, original draft, methodology, writing , review and editing. \u003cstrong\u003eZhaolin Shen\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eformal analysis, investigation, data curation, writing , original draft, writing , review and editing.\u003cstrong\u003eFangwei Han\u003c/strong\u003e writing original draft, writing , review and editing.\u003cstrong\u003eBandna Bharti\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003ewriting , review and editing, visualization, supervision.\u003cstrong\u003eShaohui Feng\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003ewriting , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision.\u003cstrong\u003eJing Du\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003ewriting , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision.\u003cstrong\u003eYide Li\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003ewriting , original draft, writing , review and editing, visualization, supervision.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eEthics approval\u0026nbsp;\u003c/strong\u003eno ethical approval is required.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to participate\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConsent to publish\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInformed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCompeting interests\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eOpen Access\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attri- bution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adapta- tion, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article\u0026apos;s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article\u0026apos;s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.\u0026nbsp;\u003c/p\u003e"},{"header":"References","content":"\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlhel\u0026iacute; B H,Hugo S N,Mauricio R R,Maria L G B,Mario A M T,Mariana R A, Jos\u0026eacute; d J F L.(2024).Risk Estimation of Heavy Metals Associated with PM 2.5in the Urban Area of Cuernavaca, M\u0026eacute;xico.Atmosphere(4),https://doi.org/10.3390/ATMOS15040409.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eAlolayan M A, Brown K W, Evans J S, Bouhamra W S., Koutrakis P (2013) Source apportionment of fine particles in Kuwait City. 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Environmental Science and Management 46(02):57-61. https://doi.org/CNKI: SUN: BFHJ.0.2021-02-014.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZhao X L, Yue Y X, Xu D P, Ji Y Q, Li L, Lv M T (2020) The pollution characteristics and source analysis of inorganic elements in PM2.5 during autumn and winter in Fuxin [In Chinese]. China Environmental Science 40(10):4247-4258. https://doi.org/10.19674/j.cnki.issn1000-6923.2020.0472.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZhao Z (2018) The pollution characteristics and health risk assessments of heavy metals in PM2.5 of industrial and urban areas of a typical city in Yangtze River Delta. master\u0026apos;s degree, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eZhou X,Xie M,Zhao M,Wang Y,Luo J,Lu S, Liu Q.(2023).Pollution characteristics and human health risks of PMsub2.5/sub-bound heavy metals: a 3-year observation in Suzhou, China..Environmental geochemistry and health(7),5145-5162.https://doi.org/10.1007/S10653-023-01568-X.\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ol\u003e"}],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":true,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":false,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":false,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-geochemistry-and-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"egah","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Geochemistry and Health](https://www.springer.com/journal/10653)","snPcode":"10653","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10653/3","title":"Environmental Geochemistry and Health","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false},"keywords":"PM2.5, Mass concentration, Heavy metals, Seasonal distribution, Health risk assessment","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4736813/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4736813/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eFuxin is located in the atmospheric channel around Bohai Bay, and its geographical location is very special. Few existing studies have studied the pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in atmospheric PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e in four seasons in Fuxin, so a total of 180 PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e samples were collected from four sampling sites in Fuxin during the period from December 2021 to November 2022. The seasonal distribution characteristics of V, Cr, Mn, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Pb, As, Sb, Cd and Ba were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectroscopy (ICP-MS), and the source of heavy metals was analyzed by enrichment factor (EF). Health risk model was used to examine the health risk assessment of respiratory exposure in men, women and children in Fuxin. The results reveal that, the annual average mass order of heavy metal in Fuxin PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e was Zn（0.2947μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Pb（0.0664μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;As（0.0225μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Ba（0.0205μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Mn（0.0187μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Cu（0.0140μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Cr（0.0095μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;V（0.0067μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Ni（0.0061μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Sb（0.0024μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Cd（0.0019μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e）\u0026gt;Co（0.0007μg·m\u003csup\u003e-3\u003c/sup\u003e. The annual average concentration of As was 3.75 times of the GB3095-2012(China) secondary standard limit, the concentration of hazard quotient (HQ) in PM\u003csub\u003e2.5\u003c/sub\u003e was lower than 1, but the concentration of incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) in As was higher than the cancer risk threshold (10\u003csup\u003e-4\u003c/sup\u003e). These findings indicate the certain risk of cancer in the urban population of Fuxin. Therefore, it is necessary to control the emissions created from the coal-burning to minimize the health risks to the people of Fuxin.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Pollution characteristics and health risk assessment of heavy metals in PM2.5 in Fuxin, China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2024-08-09 00:35:21","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4736813/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"decision","content":"Revision requested","date":"2024-07-31T07:02:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-07-31T03:31:50+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorInvitedReview","content":"","date":"2024-07-28T10:56:45+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"291068294794569784330495601293697411795","date":"2024-07-24T10:15:18+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"195940598491122822006660201353566856428","date":"2024-07-22T08:02:57+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewerAgreed","content":"310826629471626970488259876209723558711","date":"2024-07-22T07:10:24+00:00","index":"hide","fulltext":""},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2024-07-22T06:34:02+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2024-07-19T14:18:35+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2024-07-16T12:44:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Environmental Geochemistry and Health","date":"2024-07-14T02:43:18+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"environmental-geochemistry-and-health","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"egah","sideBox":"Learn more about [Environmental Geochemistry and Health](https://www.springer.com/journal/10653)","snPcode":"10653","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/10653/3","title":"Environmental Geochemistry and Health","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"Springer Hybrid","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":false}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"eeae1f79-b529-4167-98d0-8cd687bed6f3","owner":[],"postedDate":"August 9th, 2024","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"published-in-journal","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2024-11-18T16:00:59+00:00","versionOfRecord":{"articleIdentity":"rs-4736813","link":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-02275-x","journal":{"identity":"environmental-geochemistry-and-health","isVorOnly":false,"title":"Environmental Geochemistry and Health"},"publishedOn":"2024-11-11 15:57:19","publishedOnDateReadable":"November 11th, 2024"},"versionCreatedAt":"2024-08-09 00:35:21","video":"","vorDoi":"10.1007/s10653-024-02275-x","vorDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-024-02275-x","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-4736813","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-4736813","identity":"rs-4736813","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"qtupq5eGEP_6zYnWcrvyt","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}