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eISSN: 2083-5906
ISSN: 1230-1485
ISSN: 1230-1485
SHORT COMMUNICATION
Screening Level Carcinogenic Risk Assessment
of Trace Elements in Urban Soils of a Middle-Sized
City of the Central Valley of Chile
1
Department of Animal Science, Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias, Universidad de Concepción,
P.O. Box 537, Chillán, Chile
2
Department of Soils & Natural Resources, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción,
P.O. Box 537, Chillán, Chile
Submission date: 2025-03-06
Final revision date: 2025-06-20
Acceptance date: 2025-08-10
Online publication date: 2025-11-17
Corresponding author
Winfred Eliezer Espejo
Department of Soils & Natural Resources, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box 160-C, 407003, Concepción, Chile
Department of Soils & Natural Resources, Facultad de Agronomía, Universidad de Concepción, PO Box 160-C, 407003, Concepción, Chile
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Recently, the increasing concentration of people in urban areas has raised concerns about
the geochemistry of trace and toxic elements in urban soil. Surface soil plays an important role
in human exposure through ingestion, dermal contact, and inhalation. However, studies on urban
soils associated with trace and toxic elements are quite limited in South America. This work presents
the first geochemical approach to urban soil in the city of Chillán, Chile. The levels of As, Cu, Sr,
and Zn were measured in topsoil (0-10 cm depth) samples (n = 174) collected across a 500-m grid, chosen
to be representative of the entire urban area within the city. The hazard index (HI) and carcinogenic
risk (CR) were used to assess the human health risk of trace and toxic elements. The mean concentrations
for Cu, Zn, As, and Sr were 71.8, 229.8, 11.2, and 234.6 μg/g dw, respectively. The values of HI for
children and adults present a descending order of Cu > Sr > Zn > As. The CR values of As, Cu, Sr, and Zn
were within an acceptable range for both age groups. This information will be useful to implement plans
to prevent possible human exposure to toxic compounds in urban environments in future landscapes.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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