Proposal-doenv-Heavy Metal-Tejendra

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON
ASSESSMENT OF HEAVY METALS CONTAMINATION
IN ROAD DUST FROM DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTAL
SETUPS IN KATHMANDU METROPOLITAN CITY
Submitted to:
Government of Nepal
Ministry of Forest and Environment
Department of Environment,
Babarmahal, Kathmandu
Through:
Central Department of Environmental Science
Tribhuvan University
Kirtipur, Kathmandu
Submitted By:
Tejendra Regmi
M.Sc Environmental Science 4 th Semester
Campus Roll No.: 35
T.U. Registration No: 5-2-23-515-2012
Dec, 2019

Table of Content
Page no.
Table of Content ...................................................................................................... ii
List of Tables .......................................................................................................... iii
List of Figure .......................................................................................................... iii
Abbrevations and Acronyms ................................................................................. iv
1. Introduction ......................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Background .................................................................................................... 1
1.2 Statement of the Problem .............................................................................. 2
1.3 Aims and Objectives ...................................................................................... 2
2. Methods and Materials ........................................................................................ 3
2.1 Study area....................................................................................................... 3
2.2 Methods of Data Collection ........................................................................... 3
2.3 Sampling Procedures ..................................................................................... 6
2.4 Data Analysis .................................................................................................. 6
2.5 Research Matrix ............................................................................................. 7
3. Expected Outcomes ............................................................................................. 8
4. Time Frame ......................................................................................................... 9
5. Budget Allocation .............................................................................................. 10
References: ............................................................................................................ 11
ii

List of Tables
Page No
Table 1: Cd, E i r, RI, the corresponding pollution degree and potential ecological risk
degree ....................................................................................................................... 7
Table 2: Timeline required for the completion of the study ........................................ 9
Table 3: Budget required for carrying out the specified research .............................. 10
List of Figure
Page No
Figure 1: Map of the study site .................................................................................. 3
iii

Abbrevations and Acronyms
°C Degree Celsius
µg /g micro gram per gram
CDES
g
GPS
km
KMC
mg/lit
mL
mm
ppm
RI
Rs.
TU
Central Department of Environmental Science
gram
Global Positioning System
Kilometer
Kathmandu Metropolitan City
milligram per liter
milliliter
milimeter
Parts per Millions
Risk Index
Rupees
Tribhuvan University
iv

1. Introduction
1.1 Background
Due to rapid urbanization and industrialization, road dust has been one of the most
common pollutants in the context of urbanized world. It has been reported that toxic
organic and inorganic pollutants has been the major components mainly trace metals
in urban dust (Saeedi et al., 2012). The major sources of these trace elements in road
dust in urban road may be from industrial dust discharges, traffic emissions,
atmospheric deposition and other anthropogenic activities, as well as natural
geochemical processes (Manasreh, 2010).
The contaminants like Copper (Cu), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn) mainly
concentrated in heavy traffic area and tourism area due to vehicular emission (Wei et
al. 2015). The reason behind the concentration of Cadmium (Cd) and Chromium (Cr)
is due to industrial activities (Martinez & Poleto, 2014). The higher anthropogenic
heavy metals in dust can be mainly from heavy traffic sites and industrial sites (Alkhashman,
2007). The contamination of heavy metals in Road side environment and
their impact on ecosystems can be caused by many natural factors, such as parent
material, climate, and soil processes, and anthropogenic activities such as industry,
agriculture, and transportation (Luo et al., 2007). These elements can exist in urban
environments for a long time or be resuspended into the atmosphere and can be easily
entered the human body likely occurs direct inhalation, ingestion and skin contact
(Kong et al., 2011).
During the recent decades, numbers of studies on toxic metals in road dust have been
done. Some scientist found that the concentration and spatial distribution of toxic
metals in urban road dust were concerned with the urban different land uses and
anthropogenic activities (Wang et al., 2016). Contamination of the soil over the
natural level by Pb, Zn, Cr, and Co could be one of the indicators of anthropogenic
environmental pollution. With the rapid industrialization and population growth and
intensification of road traffic are regarded as causes of ecosystem pollution in urban
areas (Jankiewicz et al., 2010). Vehicular, resuspension and waste incineration were
the most common sources of particulate matter and their associated metal ions at
outdoor points whereas in indoors they are generated due to the fuel combustion
which happens during cooking, frying and the other sources were smoking and house
dust (Kulshrestha et. al., 2019) . The most frequently reported heavy metals of
concern have been Pb, Zn, and Cu in roadside soils are principally derived from
vehicle emissions, and wear and tear on automobile parts (Wang et al., 2007).
The heavy metal contaminations in street dust of Kathmandu metropolitan city show a
considerable decrease from place of high activities to a place of low activities
(mechanical workshops to residential areas) (Tamrakar et.al, 2011). The average
metal concentrations of Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn in dust of all the types of land use in
Kathmandu showed different classes of metal contamination in street dust of
Kathmandu indicating traffic emission, automobiles, construction and demolition
activities and other anthropogenic activities as the potential sources (Shakya et. al,
2019). According to Yadav et al., 2018, the distribution of heavy metals (Cr, Ni, Sb,
Ag, Pb, Cu, and Zn) in dust and soil are mainly affected by anthropogenic sources
particularly traffic emissions, industrial sources, and domestics households materials
whereas Co, Fe, As, Mn and Cd were from the natural sources.
1

There are fundamental proofs that high metal contamination level on environment
mainly causes growth retardation and effect behaviour and intelligence in children, as
well as other chronic diseases in adults (Dietrich et al., 1990). Therefore, road dust
has the capacity to acts as a potential agent to degrade the local environmental quality
and public health (Oskarson et al. 1995).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
The pollution has always been the major issues and problem for the developing
countries like Nepal. Especially in the urban cities of countries like Nepal, dust has
been the major threat for the deterioration of human as well as Environmental health.
So the study regarding the constituent of urban dust is necessary. These types of
research are equally helpful for the concerned bodies in urban development and
planning. This study can acts as the theoretical framework for the future urbanization
and industrialization development in newly places cities according to the Nepal
government planning under urban development.
1.3 Aims and Objectives
Aims
Since, the study is completely concerned with heavy metal assessment, so it gives the
clear pictorial representation of exposure of metal concentration in the urban dust and
the potential threat to the urban environment. The major aim of this study lies in
obtaining the metal concentration in the urban dust with determination of source of
heavy metals in urban dust with their ecological risks. This study serves as a
theoretical source for urban environmental quality monitoring and management.
Objectives
The general objective of the study is to assess heavy metal concentration in Road dust
with detection of their source and determined theirs pollution level on different
environment. The specific objectives of the study are:
i. To determined the heavy metals (Pb, Zn, Cd and Cu) concentration in road
dust from different environmental Setups.
ii. To detect the selected metals possible sources and
iii. To estimate the potential ecological risk index to assess the pollution level of
heavy metals on environment.
2

2. Methods and Materials
2.1 Study area
Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal lies in Province No. 4 is located in central part
of Nepal. Kathmandu Valley is in the Warm Temperate Zone (elevation ranging from
1,200 to 2,300 meters (3,900 to 7,500 ft)), where the climate is fairly temperate,
atypical for the region. This zone is followed by the Cool Temperate Zone with
elevation varying between 2,100 and 3,300 meters (6,900 and 10,800 ft). Under Köppen's
climate classification, portions of the city with lower elevations have a humid
subtropical climate (Cwa), while portions of the city with higher elevations generally
have a subtropical highland climate (Cwb). In the Kathmandu Valley, which is
representative of its valley's climate, the average summer temperature varies from 28
to 30 °C (82 to 86 °F). The average winter temperature is 10.1 °C (50.2 °F).
Kathmandu Valley is growing at 4 percent per year according to World Bank in 2010,
one of the fastest-growing metropolitan areas in South Asia, and the first region in
Nepal to face the unprecedented challenges of rapid urbanization and modernization
at a metropolitan scale.
Figure 1: Map of the study site
2.2 Methods of Data Collection
Primary Data
The primary data will be collected from the field and lab by heavy metal analysis. The
data obtained from it will then use to determine the possible sources of selected
metals. Also, potential ecological risk assessment by Hakanson’s method (1980).
3

Secondary Data
The secondary will be collected for journals, articles, broachers, and different relevant
literature in order to compare the results with other research studies.
2.3 Sampling Procedures
A total of 30 road dust samples will be collected from different environmental setups
in KMC during the dry weather period, i.e., industrial area (N=5), business area
(N=5), traffic area (N=5), educational area (N=5), residential area (N=5) and public
area (N=5). In this study, 1m×1m grids will be applied on each traffic road surface
edge, a mixture of multi-point samples will be collected in polyethylene bags by
sweeping with a clean plastic brush to be representative of each grid.
The dust samples will be air-dried naturally in the laboratory for at least 2 weeks and
then will sieve through a 0.84 mm nylon sieve to remove extraneous matter such as
small paving stones, hair and other impurities. Then each dried dust sample will be
separated using the quartering method and sieved through a 0.149 mm nylon sieve,
and finally all the samples respectively will store in polyethylene bags, which aims to
prevent cross-contamination. Determination the concentration of total heavy metals
(Pb, Zn, Cd, Cu) will be carried out using atomic absorption spectrometry (ASS) -
Flame Photometry. All analyses were performed in triplicate.
2.4 Data Analysis
Metal concentration will be calculated using the working formula given below:
Concentration of metal, μg Observed conc. (ppm) ∗ Vol. of sample prepared (mL)
=
g
Wt. of dust sample (g)
I will use the concentration for undisturbed areas from the current study as
background value (control) metal contents. The selected undisturbed areas are lands
without evidence of past and current anthropogenic activities and no signals of
disturbances were observed during the sampling.
In this study, the description statistical of heavy metals in the samples from different
environmental areas, including mean concentration, maximum, minimum and
coefficient of variation (CV) will be calculated with R software. To identify the
source and to determine the relationship among the heavy metals, the correlation
coefficient analysis (CA) and principal component analysis (PCA) will be also
performed within R software (Version 3.6.0).
Hakanson’s method (1980) will use to reflect potential ecological risk of each metal
and associates their contamination level and toxicity level in dust (Ogunkunle &
Fatoba, 2013). The calculation method as follows:
Ci r = Ci/Cn ……………………………….(1)
Cd= Σ Ci r
E i r= Tr * Ci r
RI= Σ E i r
……………………………….(2)
……………………………….(3)
……………………………….(4)
where, Ci is the measured concentration of a road dust sample, Cn is the background
value, Ci r corresponds to the pollution factor for each metal and Cd corresponds to the
pollution factor of multiple heavy metals, E i r shows the potential ecological risk of
each metal, RI is the potential ecological risk index of multiple heavy metals, Tr is the
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toxic response coefficient that are Hg (40), Cd (30), As (10), Cu (5), Pb (5), Ni (5), Cr
(2), Zn (1), respectively. Classification of heavy metal contamination and potential
ecological risk assessment are showed in Table 1.
Table 1: Cd, E i r, RI, the corresponding pollution degree and potential ecological
risk degree
C d E i r RI
Value Category Value Category Value Category
<8 Low <40 Low <150 Low
8-16 Moderate 40-80 Moderate 150-300 Moderate
16-32 Considerable 80-160 Considerable 300-600 Considerable
>=32 Very High 160-320 High >=600 Very High
>=320 Very High
Source: (Ogunkunle & Fatoba, 2013)
2.5 Research Matrix
Objectives Methodology Statistical Analysis
To determined the heavy Atomic absorption ‣ Mean concentration,
metals (Pb, Zn, Cd and spectrometry (ASS) - ‣ Maximum,
Cu) concentration in road Flame Photometry
Minimum and
dust from different
‣ Coefficient of
environmental Setups
Variation (CV)
To detect the selected
metals possible sources
Description
Methods
statistical
‣ Coefficient Analysis
(CA)
‣ Principal Component
Analysis (PCA)
To estimate the potential
ecological risk index to
assess the pollution level
of heavy metals on
environment
Hakanson’s
(1980)
method
‣ Pollution factor
‣ potential ecological
risk index
7

3. Expected Outcomes
‣ Heavy metals concentration in road dust of KMC can be estimated which reflects
the exposure of human and environment to their potential threat.
‣ Identifications of major sources of metals in the studied dust can be helpful for
the concerned bodies to get remedies for the impacts.
‣ Measurement of potential ecological risk index to estimate the pollution level of
heavy metals to the exposure environment.
‣ Study can be theoretical model for the city planning and development for
developing countries like Nepal
‣ This research could be platform for Environmental quality monitoring and
management issue of urban area
8

4. Time Frame
Table 2: Timeline required for the completion of the study
SN
1
2
3
4
Activities of the
research
Issue
identification
Literature
Review
Consultation with
the supervisor
Collection of the
reference
materials
2019 AD 2020 AD
Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun
5 Field activities
6
7
8
Data analysis and
interpretation
Report writing
initiation
Report
submission
9

5. Budget Allocation
Table 3: Budget required for carrying out the specified research
S.N. Particulars Qty. unit Rate
(NRs)
Amount
(NRs)
Remarks
1 Literature review 1500 Photocopy , Digital data and
other expenses are included
for the collection of
literature
2. Field visit:
Transportation
Fooding
1 30 500 15000 It includes field trips, 10
days including researcher
and field assistance
4 Consultation with
local level and
experts
1 4 500 2000 Consultation with key
informant, experts,
Government officers
5. Stationary Expenses 1 5 1000 5000 Cost required for printing
and binding of the final
report etc.
6. Lab Cost 30 4 500 60000 Different chemicals and
instruments
Total cost 83500
10

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