Elemental Contamination in Indoor Floor Dust and Its Correlation with PAHs, Fungi, and Gram+/− Bacteria

• Main Authors: Sharif Arar, Afnan Al-Hunaiti, Mohanad H. Masad, Androniki Maragkidou, Darren Wraith, Tareq Hussein
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2019-09-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: ICP-OES; cluster analysis; Spearman correlation; dwellings; educational building
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/19/3552

In this study, we performed elemental analysis for floor dust samples collected in Jordanian microenvironments (dwellings and educational building). We performed intercorrelation and cluster analysis between the elemental, polyaromatic hydrocarbon (PAH), and microorganism concentrations. In general, the educational building workshops had the highest elemental contamination. The age of the dwelling and its occupancy played a role on the elemental contamination level: older and more occupied dwellingshad greater contamination. The elemental contamination at a dwelling entrance was observed to be higher than in the living room. We found exceptionally high concentrations for Fe and Mn in the educational workshop and additionally, Hg, Cr, and Pb concentrations exceeded the limits set by the Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment. According to the cluster analysis, we found three major groups based on location and contamination. According to the enrichment factor (<i>EF</i>) assessment, Al, Co, Mn, Ti, and Ba had <i>EF</i> &lt; 2 (i.e., minimal enrichment) whereas P, S, Pb, Sb, Mo, Zn, Hg, and Cu had <i>EF</i> &gt; 40 (i.e., extremely enriched). In contrast, Ca and P were geogenically enriched. Furthermore, significant Spearman correlations indicated nine subgroups of elemental contamination combined with PAHs and microbes.