Human Arsenic exposure via dust across the different ecological zones of Pakistan

• Arsenic in paired dust and nail were higher from RDZ and LLZ than other areas.
• Arsenic in dust samples were significantly correlated with altitude.
• Association of paired dust and nail evidencing dust exposure as main source of arsenic.
• HI>1, reflected non-carcinogenic risk for children in all areas and for adults in LLZ and RDZ.
• Carcinogenic risk due to dust-arsenic to the residents of LLZ and RDZ.

The present study aims to assess the arsenic (As) levels into dust samples and its implications for human health, of four ecological zones of Pakistan, which included northern frozen mountains (FMZ), lower Himalyian wet mountains (WMZ), alluvial riverine plains (ARZ), and low lying agricultural areas (LLZ). Human nail samples (N=180) of general population were also collected from the similar areas and all the samples were analysed by using ICP-MS. In general the higher levels (p<0.05) in paired dust and human nail samples were observed from ARZ and LLZ than those of other mountainous areas (i.e., WMZ and FMZ), respectively. Current results suggested that elevated As concentrations were associated to both natural, (e.g. geogenic influences) and anthropogenic sources. Linear regression model values indicated that As levels into dust samples were associated with altitude (r2=0.23), soil carbonate carbon density (SCC; r2=0.33), and population density (PD; r2=0.25). The relationship of paired dust and nail samples was also investigated and associations were found for As-nail and soil organic carbon density (SOC; r2=0.49) and SCC (r2=0.19) in each studied zone, evidencing the dust exposure as an important source of arsenic contamination in Pakistan. Risk estimation reflected higher hazard index (HI) values of non-carcinogenic risk (HI>1) for children populations in all areas (except FMZ), and for adults in LLZ (0.74) and ARZ (0.55), suggesting that caution should be paid about the dust exposure. Similarly, carcinogenic risk assessment also highlighted potential threats to the residents of LLZ and ARZ, as in few cases (5–10%) the values exceeded the range of US-EPA threshold limits (10−6–10−4).