Urban ecological risk assessment using the sediment quality triad

Rapid urbanization has occurred all over the world in recent years. It has both provided reliable infrastructures and better living conditions, as well as resulted in numerous urban ecological and environmental problems. Ecological risk assessment has been proposed and applied in many cities. The sediment quality triad, consisting of different lines of evidence, comprises a weight-of-evidence framework for regional risk assessment. As a preliminary study, this paper measures the concentration of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in five dust samples collected in Nanjing via chemical tests. Our results demonstrate that dust from different functional areas contains different compositions and concentrations of PAHs.