HEAVY-METAL POLLUTION IN CHILDREN PLAYGROUNDS IN HONG-KONG AND ITS HEALTH IMPLICATIONS

Due to the scarcity of land in Hong Kong, most of the children playgro unds are being built on marginal lands which may be subjected to serio us atmospheric emission. Hence, children playing in these playgrounds are exposed to a potential health risk. The aim of this study was to e valuate heavy metal pollution in children playgrounds using surface du sts and soils as indicators. Surface dust and soil samples were collec ted from seven selected playgrounds with different levels of traffic v olume and urban development for the determination of total Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations. The mean Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn concentrations of su rface dusts were 2.63, 201, 302 and 1517 mg kg(-1) respectively, where as for soils they were 2.30, 28.4, 195 and 237 mg kg(-1). The results indicated elevated concentrations of Cd, Cu, Fb and Zn in both dust an d soil samples especially for those samples collected from busy commer cial and industrial areas i.e., Mei Foe, Tsim Sha Tsui and North Point . Surface dusts were enriched relative to soils in each metal, on aver age, by factors ranging from 1.1 to 7.1. The metal contents in dust an d soil samples were significantly correlated with traffic volume. Sign ificant correlations were also noted among all the metals studied indi cating that Pb and Zn in the samples may be due to the same source i.e ., automobile. The soil Pb and Zn contents of Mei Foo and North Point were higher than the investigation level of the Dutch Criteria for the se two metals which indicated that further investigation is required t o confirm their health hazard on children playing in these playgrounds .