Assessing human exposure to aluminium, chromium and vanadium through outdoor dust ingestion in the Bassin Minier de Provence, France.

The Western part of the "Bassin Minier de Provence", a former coal mining area, is still occupied by old polluting industries such as a coal-fired power plant and an alumina factory. The identified pollution sources that raise more concern in the population are the emission of gases and dusts, as well as the storage of raw and transformed materials. In 2011, a preliminary survey was carried out in the area as the first step to an exposure and health risk-assessment study. This first survey intends to assess human exposure through ingestion and health risk associated with potentially harmful elements (PHEs) in ground-level dusts collected in recreational areas used by children. Dust samples were taken at 19 sites distributed across the study area, depending on the location of public parks, public gardens, playgrounds and schools. Pseudo-total concentrations of 53 elements were determined by ICP-MS. Bioaccessible concentrations were estimated using the unified bioaccessibility method. This study presents the results obtained for Al, V and Cr, which seem to be related with industry and show similar distribution patterns. PHEs presumably related to traffic or other urban pollution sources are not discussed in this study. The highest total concentrations occur in dusts near the alumina plant that have significant amounts of Al mineral phases (gibbsite and alumina). However, in these dusts only small fractions of the elements under study are in bioaccessible forms. The highest bioaccessible fractions occur in dusts collected near the coal-fired power plant. Further investigation is required to assess potential pathways of exposure and health risk in this area.