RESUMO
Dust intake is an important source of children's metal exposure. To explore the contamination level and health risk of toxic metals in kindergartens, surface dust samples were collected with self-made sampler in representative kindergartens in urban Beijing and concentrations of Pb, Hg, Cd, As were analyzed. It was found that Cd, Hg, Pb accumulated in indoor dust in different degrees with a significant seasonal variation. The geometric means of Pb, Cd, Hg, As concentrations were 63.12 microg x g(-1), 1.67 microg x g(-1), 0.06 microg x g(-1), 0.22 microg x g(-1) in summer and 117.40 microg x g(-1), 4.52 microg x g(-1), 0.95 microg x g(-1), 0.88 microg x g(-1) in winter, respectively. Geo-accumulation indexes calculated for each metal showed a severe contamination of Pb and Cd in indoor surface dusts. The results of exposure and health risk assessment of target substances displayed that the oral intake of dust metals was much higher than that of dermal pathways for children. However, no obvious carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks were found for all metals. The Pb, against other species, had the highest non-carcinogenic risk to children, Hazard Index of which was 0.12. Therefore, the health risk of Ph in indoor dust should raise the concern.
