Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207
DOI 10.1007/s10653-006-9065-x
ORIGINAL PAPER
The investigation of metal concentrations in street dust
samples in Aqaba city, Jordan
Omar Ali Al-Khashman
Received: 5 February 2006 / Accepted: 12 October 2006 / Published online: 8 February 2007

Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007
Abstract The concentrations of metals (Fe, Zn,
Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd, Ni, Mn and Co) in 140 street dust
samples were collected from Aqaba city, Jordan.
These samples were determined using flame
atomic absorption spectrophotometry after diges-
tion with aqua regia. The highest levels of metal
concentrations were found in the samples from
heavy traffic. While the lowest levels of metal ions
were noted in the street dust samples from
hospital and health centers and school gardens.
The results of this study were compared with
several cities around the world. The levels of the
metal concentrations found were generally below
the mean world-wide values of street dust sam-
ples. Metal values in urban street dust samples
were several times higher than the control levels.
The statistical analyses were applied to the data
matrix to determine the analytical results and to
identify the possible source of pollution in the
studied area. Correlations between the metal
concentrations of the street dust samples were
obtained. Factor analysis showed that the area
was mainly influenced by three sources, namely
lithogenic, traffic, and industrial.
O. A. Al-Khashman (&)
Prince Faisal Center for Dead Sea, Environmental
and Energy Research, Mutah University, Al-Karak
61710, Jordan
e-mail: omarkhashman@yahoo.com
Keywords Street dust
Metals
Statistical
analysis
Pollution
Traffic
Jordan
Introduction
Human activity increases the levels of metals
contamination in the environment. Metals pol-
lution accumulates in the street dust, soil, and
surface water samples and influences the eco-
system in the world (Al-Radady, Davis, &
French, 1994; Tüzen, 2003). The determination
of metal in environmental samples including
dusts, plants, soils and surface water is very
necessary for monitoring environmental pollu-
tion (Tüzen, 2003; Zhou, Wong, Koh, & Wee,
1997). Metals are released into the biosphere by
natural processes and by anthropogenic activi-
ties. They are predominantly transferred as
molecules or particulate matter via the atmo-
sphere, mostly on large scales. The amount of
anthropogenically derived metals has increased
continuously since the beginning of the indus-
trial revolution, and the awareness and concern
about associated environmental and health risks
has risen sharply over the last few decades
(Gunter & Komarnicki, 2005). In urban areas,
metals may come from many different sources,
including vehicle emission, industrial discharges
and weathered materials (Al-Khashman, 2004;
Al-Khashman & Shawabakh, 2006; Gibson &
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198
Farmer, 1986; Harrison, Laxen, & Wilson, 1981;
Li, Poon, & Pui, 2001; Thornton, 1991). Vehicle
emission is one of the sources of emission of
metals, and street dust metal pollution in urban
areas arises from a multitude of sources via
water transported material from surrounding
soils and slopes, dry and wet atmospheric
deposition, biological inputs, road surface wear,
road paint degradation, vehicle wear and lubri-
cating oil, and particulate emissions (Banerjee,
2003; Sutherland & Tolosa, 2000). Particulate
matter can be attributed to different sources
according to its particle size; on the other hand,
fine particles are derived from the combustion
process and are mainly attributed to anthropo-
genic sources (Gunter & Komarnicki, 2005).
Street dust is environmental material for mon-
itoring the levels of metal ions (Divrikli, Soylak,
Elic, & Dogan, 2003; Ramlan & Badri, 1989).
Two main factors known to influence the levels
Fig. 1 Location map of the study area
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Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207
of trace metals in dust have been reported to be
traffic and industrial activities. The monitoring
of the metals contents of dust samples is an
efficient way of obtaining information on the
current environmental state of large areas
(Divrikli et al., 2003). The main purpose of
the present work was to determine the
concentrations of metals in street dust samples
collected from various stations in Aqaba city
and to identify their natural or anthropogenic
sources.
The study area
The study area is located at the north shore of the
Gulf of Aqaba, in the southwestern part of
Jordan. It is about 51 m above the sea level, and
bounded by latitude 2933¢ N and longitude
350¢ E (Fig. 1). Aqaba is a coastal city with a
population of 120,000 at time of this study
Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207
(Department of Statistics, 2004). The main indus-
trial activities in Aqaba city are (Jordan Phosphate
C., 1985), cement, petroleum industry, Jordan
Fertilizer industries plant, 1982), and some shells.
The Red Sea port of Aqaba is an important
commercial shipping center. Aqaba has a modern
airport and port facilities sitting alongside the
remains of the ancient city of Eyla. The mean
traffic density in the streets with heavy, medium,
light and low traffic were >500, 300, 150 and <100
vehicles/h respectively.
The climate of Jordan is predominantly
Mediterranean; it is marked by sharp seasonal
variations in both temperature and precipitation.
Aqaba city climate is very hot in the summer and
warm in the winter and is characterized by an
extremely small amount of precipitation, that is,
around (17.0 mm/year). Minimum temperature
in the study area is 9.7C in January and 26.3C
in July (Department of Meteorology, 2004).
The investigated area is located in the northwest
Fig. 2 Geology of the
study area and
surrounding areas
(according to Banat et al.,
2005)
199
part of the Arabian plate, whereas most of Jordan
is located within the stable part of the plate.
Upper cretaceous carbonaceous facies dominated
the central part of the country, whereas ancient
basement (pre-Cambrian) and Cambrian Nubian
sandstone dominated in the southern part of the
country. Basalt desert in the northeast and the rift
valley form Jordan’s western borders (Fig. 2).
Furthermore, the sandy facies within the carbon-
ate rock increases southward through the country
(Banat, Howari, & Al-Hamad, 2005; Bender,
1974). Two geological formations occur predom-
inantly in and around the study area. Jordan’s
oldest rocks (pre-Cambrian age, 570 million years
old) are the main component of the mountains
behind Aqaba. They mainly consist of granite,
which is crisscrossed with sheets of intruded
igneous rock, known as dykes. At the time of
dyke formation, the granitic rocks were deep
below the surface. In this area, sandstones are
present and composed primarily of fine and
123
200
medium-sized quartz grain, small amounts of
kaolinite and illite (Bender, 1974). The sandstone
consists of yellow-brown and red-brown medium
to coarse grained arkosic and subarkosic sand-
stone. The Gulf of Aqaba represents the southern
portion of the Dead Sea fault system (Jordan rift),
which connects the spreading of the Red Sea
seafloor with continental rift propagation
(Al-Zoubi, Abu-Hamatteh, & Abdelalkaderer,
2006).
Materials and methods
Sample collection
A total of 140 street dust samples were collected
from various locations in Aqaba during the period
of June 2004 to August 2004 (Table 1). The
sampling was chosen at the end of the dry
summer months following at least four rainless
months. Rain has no effect on the trace metals,
which accumulated in these months. A sampling
point within each unit was selected at random,
and approximately 250 g of the dust particles that
had accumulated on impervious surfaces (gutter,
road pavement) within a 5-m radius circle around
the selected sampling point were collected
(Baptista and De Miguel, 2005). The dust sam-
pling was carried out from pavement edges using
a plastic dustpan and brushes. Dust samples were
not collected adjacent to site specific pollution
sources e.g. industrial sites and gasoline stations.
Table 1 Description of sampling locations
Location/sampling point Number of
vehicles/h
School gardens (A), S1–S15 (n = 15) 125
Health and hospital centers (B), HS1–HS15 150
(n = 15)
Residential sites (C), R1–R18 (n = 18) 275
Industrial sites (D), IN1–IN16 (n = 16) 300
Parks (E), P1–P18 (n = 18) – Urban parks, highway type road, grass, and some old
Heavy traffic (F), HT1–HT15 (n = 15) >500
Moderate traffic (G), MT1–MT15 (n = 15) 350
Light traffic (H), LT1–LT15 (n = 15) <250
Background sites (I), BG1–BG13 (n = 13) 0 Rural area
123
Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207
Briefly, the samples were collected from both
sides of the road on a dry day and a composite
sample out of the two collected was obtained
after coning and quartering (Table 1). The sam-
ples were transferred to an air-tight polyethylene
bag for transport to the laboratory. The samples
were left to dry at room temperature for 5 days
and were sieved through a 2-mm plastic sieve to
remove extraneous matter such as small pieces of
brick, paving stone, and other debris. Care was
taken to reduce the disturbance of the fine
particles, which are readily lost by resuspension
(Baptista and De Miguel, 2005; Li et al., 2001;
Madrid, Barrientos, & Madrid, 2002; Manta,
Angelone, Bellanca, Neri, & Sprovieri, 2002).
Control samples (n = 13), were collected from the
remote areas outside of Aqaba that were not
affected by traffic and any source of contamina-
tion (background sites). The samples were
collected from this area for comparison purposes.
Preparation for the analysis
Two grams of the sieved sample were weighed
and transferred to a Pyrex tube. Then 10 ml of
aqua regia (1HNO3 and 3 HCL) was added. The
sample was transferred to a heating block for 8 h
to complete digestion, then centrifuged and
transferred to a volumetric flask and made up to
25 ml with 1 M HNO3 (Divrikli et al., 2003).
Metals in the final solutions were determined
using a Shimadzu atomic absorption spectropho-
tometer (model AA-6200). The pH was measured
Description
Residential area, low traffic
Low traffic, beside the parks
Residential areas, medium traffic
Major industries: phosphate, cement, and
petrochemicals
trees
Heavy traffic areas
Medium traffic areas
Low traffic areas
Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207
in 1 (sample, w):2.5 (distilled water, v) mixtures
(Banerjee, 2003; Okalebo, Gathua, & Woomer,
1993). The percentage of the organic matter of
selective samples was determined by the chromic
acid digestion method (Jackson, 1973). Standard
stock solutions for all the elements were procured
from Merck as well as prepared in the laboratory
following the procedures as described in APHA
(1989). To minimize the sources of error, blanks
were run simultaneously for analysis of all the
elements (Banerjee, 2003). Reagent blanks and
duplicate samples were used in the analytical
programs to assess contamination, precision and
bias. The precision and bias in the analysis were
generally <7%. The glassware used was Pyrex,
which was washed several times with soap,
distilled water and diluted nitric acid to remove
any impurities. All procedures of sampling and
handling were carried out without contact with
the metals, to avoid potential contamination of
the samples.
Statistical analysis
Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS for
Windows 10.0.5. Data were log-transformed prior
to principle component analysis (PCA) to reduce
the influence of high data (Moller, Muller,
Abdullah, Abdelgawad, & Utermann, 2005).
Principle Component Analysis was conducted
using factor extraction with an eigenvalue larger
than 1 after varimax rotation. Pearson’s correla-
tion coefficient was used to measure the degree of
correlation between logarithms of the metal data
(Garcia & Millan, 1998).
Results and discussion
Physico-chemical parameters
Street dust is also potentially a source of metals
for people living in urban communities. The
values of metals in street dust samples collected
from Aqaba city were determined using a
Shimadzu atomic absorption spectrophotometer
after digestion with aqua regia (one part concen-
trated HNO3 and three parts concentrated HCL).
The values of different metals in the street dust
201
vary greatly according to the strength and direc-
tion of wind, composition of dust and pH values.
The pH values show relatively equal distribution
in the area, with their higher values in the street
dust samples collected in the residential area. The
pH values were relatively similar across the area,
with higher values in street dust samples collected
closer to a workplace with construction materials.
The relatively high average pH values measured
in this area is due to the neutralization of acidity
in the dust by carbonate. The higher pH > 7,
removal metals from aqueous phase to solid
phase. The organic matter in dust samples ranged
from 1.23 to 1.96%. The highest value of organic
matter was found in the northeast of the inves-
tigated area; however, the distribution pattern of
organic matter reflects the variable dust of veg-
etation and plant cover in the investigated area.
Concentration of metals
The concentrations of metals in street dust
samples are given in Table 2. The street dust
samples in the investigated area were classified
into nine groups, i.e., schools and gardens, health
and hospital centers, residential, industrial, parks,
streets with heavy traffic, streets with moderate
traffic, streets with light traffic and control sam-
ples out of Aqaba city. The pH value varied from
7.6 in moderate traffic stations (MT10) to 8.20 in
light traffic stations (LT4) beside the construction
material site (Table 2), which suggests neutral to
sub-alkaline conditions for all the dust samples.
The mean values of the metals are shows in Fig 2.
The highest levels of metal ions were found in the
samples from street dust of the heavy traffic area,
except for manganese and cobalt, the highest
level of which were found in the samples from the
industrial areas. As shown in Table 2, the mean
metal concentration values are arranged in the
following order: CFe > CZn > CPb > CNi > CMn >
CCu > CCr > CCo > CCd where C stands for
concentration. The lowest mean values of metals
were observed at school gardens compared with
the other sites in the investigated area. Lead
pollution in the environmental samples including
soil, dust, sediment and natural water comes from
combustion of gasoline that contains tetraethyl
lead as an anti-knock agent (Tüzen, 2003). The
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202 Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207

Table 2 Mean and standard deviation for the descriptive parameters of street dust samples (lg g–1), n = 140 samples
Site pH OM% Fe Zn Cu Cr Pb Cd Ni Mn Co

A 8.1 ± 0.1 1.4 ± 0.1 4,540 ± 9.2 103 ± 2.1 21 ± 1.2 11 ± 0.1 93 ± 7.1 2.5 ± 0.4 53 ± 3.1 51 ± 2.1 15 ± 2.1
B 7.9 ± 0.2 1.8 ± 0.3 4,999 ± 8.7 106 ± 4.7 24 ± 8.2 16 ± 0.4 109 ± 5.2 2.2 ± 0.3 60 ± 4.3 54 ± 3.2 10 ± 0.1
C 8.1 ± 0.3 1.7 ± 0.2 5,125 ± 6.4 114 ± 4.1 26 ± 4.5 20 ± 2.4 138 ± 6.2 2.0 ± 0.1 51 ± 5.5 59 ± 1.5 11 ± 0.8
D 7.8 ± 0.1 1.9 ± 0.2 5,343 ± 9.1 118 ± 3.2 29 ± 1.9 22 ± 6.5 145 ± 5.1 2.1 ± 0.2 65 ± 2.6 90 ± 1.6 18 ± 0.8
E 7.9 ± 0.1 1.7 ± 0.1 5,477 ± 6.1 127 ± 3.5 24 ± 4.3 36 ± 7.5 164 ± 6.2 2.6 ± 0.1 70 ± 4.5 76 ± 1.9 19 ± 0.1
F 7.7 ± 0.2 1.6 ± 0.2 6,865 ± 0.1 160 ± 3.2 56 ± 2.1 41 ± 7.1 212 ± 6.8 2.9 ± 0.1 115 ± 4.5 107 ± 3.5 21.4 ± 0.6
G 7.6 ± 0.1 1.3 ± 0.1 5,678 ± 5.7 146 ± 4.1 50 ± 4.9 32 ± 4.5 194 ± 1.5 2.1 ± 0.2 66 ± 4.1 65 ± 2.6 16 ± 0.2
H 8.2 ± 0.6 1.2 ± 0.1 5,126 ± 5.5 126 ± 2.5 32 ± 4.5 21 ± 2.7 103 ± 4.5 1.9 ± 0.1 55 ± 1.5 48 ± 1.4 18 ± 0.7
I 7.9 ± 0.2 1.7 ± 0.3 3,340 ± 7.5 48 ± 1.5 1.4 ± 0.1 2.1 ± 0.1 19 ± 0.5 1.2 ± 0.2 10.2 ± 1.1 32 ± 1.8 5.3 ± 0.1
A: School gardens
B: Health and hospital centers
C: Residential areas
D: Industrial areas
E: Parks
F: Heavy traffic
G: Moderate traffic
H: Light traffic
I: Background sites

highest lead values have been detected in dust
collected from streets carrying heavy traffic
(Divrikli et al., 2003; Fergusson, 1991). As shown
in Table 2, the minimum mean lead concentration
found in street dust samples from school gardens
was 93 lg g–1 (Fig. 3). The concentrations of lead
in the dust samples was highest in dust from
streets with heavy traffic (mean = 372.9 lg g–1).
The high value of lead in the dust samples from
heavy traffic sites comes from traffic, because all
the samples were in the street dust with high
traffic levels (>500 v/h).
However, the mean concentration of lead for
street dust samples was lower than for dust
samples reported by other literature, such as
697.2 lg g–1 for Bahrain, 230.5 lg g–1 for Xian,
China, 514 lg g–1 for Aviles, Spain, 1,030 lg g–1
for London, UK, 265 lg g–1 for Manchester, UK,
and 236 lg g–1 for Amman, Jordan. On the other
hand, the mean concentration of lead in street
dust from Aqaba city was higher than reported by
other literature, such as 48 lg g–1 for Bursa,
Turkey, 69.2 lg g–1 for Yozgat, Turkey and
47.1 lg g–1 for Coventry, UK. The mean contents
of copper in the dust samples was within the
range of 21–56 lg g–1. While the lowest mean
value of copper was found in the samples from
school gardens, the highest mean copper value
was found in the samples from heavy traffic areas
(Fig. 3). The source of copper in the street dust
was indicated by research as being due to corro-
sion of metallic parts of cars derived from engine
wear, thrust bearing, brushing, and bearing metals
(Al-Khashman, 2004; Al-Khashman & Shaw-
abkeh, 2006; Divrikli et al., 2003; Jaradat &
Momani, 1999; Thornton, 1991). The levels of
copper in the samples from Aqaba city were
generally lower than the world-wide values (100–
300 lg g–1; Fergusson, 1991). The present study
found that copper levels were low compared with
several cities in the world (Table 3). The level of
chromium in the dust samples was found to be
within the range of 11 lg g–1 in school gardens to
41 lg g–1 in heavy traffic sites (Fig. 2). The
chromium in dust was associated with the chrome
plating of some motor vehicle parts (Al-Shayep &
Seaward, 2001). Chromium highest concentra-
tions were observed in the samples from streets
with heavy traffic (51 lg g–1). On the other hand,
the lowest value for chromium was observed in
school gardens (Fig. 3). The level of chromium in
the investigated area was generally lower than
those determined in other cities in developed
countries, except Luanda in Angola (Table 3).

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Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207 203

0.12
0.1 Mn

0.08
0.06

ppm
0.05 0.06
0.04 Cu
ppm

0.03 0.04
0.02
0.02
0.01
0 0
A B C D E F G H I A B C D E F G H I
Sites Sites

0.05
Cr 7000 Fe
0.04 6000
ppm

0.03 5000

ppm
4000
0.02 3000
0.01 2000
1000
0 0
A B C D E F G H I A B C D E F G H I
Sites Sites

0.025
Co
0.25 0.02
Pb
ppm

0.2 0.015
ppm

0.15
0.01
0.1
0.05 0.005

0 0
A B C D E F G H I A B C D E F G H I
Sites Sites

0.003 0.16 Zn
Cd
0.14
0.0025
0.12
0.002 0.1
ppm
ppm

0.0015 0.08
0.001
0.06
0.04
0.0005 0.02
0 0
A B C D E F G H I A B C D E F G H I
Sites Sites

0.15
Ni

0.1
ppm

0.05

0
A B C D E F G H I
Sites

Fig. 3 Mean concentrations of the metals in the street dust samples. A school gardens, B health and hospital centers,
C residential areas, D industrial areas, E parks, F heavy traffic, G moderate traffic, H light traffic, I background sites

Higher concentrations of zinc and cadmium in 2003). The highest mean cadmium content was
heavy traffic zones indicates that fragmentation of found in the streets with heavy traffic (2.9 lg g–1).
car tires is a likely source of these metals (Elik, The cadmium is released as a combustion product

123
204 Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207

Table 3 Mean concentration of metals (lg g–1) in street dust in several cities
City Fe Cu Cd Pb Zn Cr Co Mn Ni Digestion

Ammana 7,132 177 1.7 236 358 – – – 88 HCL+HNO3

Avilesb 42,200 183 22.3 514 4,829 41.6 – – – HCL+HNO3
Bahrainc – – 72 697.2 151.8 144.4 – – – HCL+HNO3
Birminghamd – 466.9 1.6 48 534 – – – – HCLO4+HNO3+H2SO4
Coventrye – 226.4 .9 47.1 385 – – – – HCLO4+HNO3+H2SO4
Kayserif – 66.7 10.1 165.5 – 72.8 26.1 274 57 HNO3
Londong 26,000 155 3.5 1,030 680 – – – – HCL+HNO3
Manchesterh 8,767 113 – 265 653 – – – – HNO3
LuandaI 11,572 42 1.1 315 317 26 2.9 258 10 HCL+HNO3
Tokatj – 38 5.4 266 98 41 22 415 128 HCL+HNO3
Xiank – 94.9 – 230.5 421.4 167.3 – 687 – HCLO4+HNO3+H2SO4
Yozgatl – 37.7 2.97 69.2 – 32.7 24.3 852 77 HNO3
a
Al-Khashman (2006); b Ordonez, Loredo, De Miguel, & Charlesworth (2003); c Akhter and Madany (1993); d Charlesworth
et al., (2003); e Charlesworth et al., (2003); f Divrikli et al., (2003); g Schwar, Moorcroft, Laxen, Thompson, & Armorgie
(1988); h Robertson, Taylor, & Hoon (2003); I Baptista and De Miguel (2005); j Tüzen (2003); k Yongming et al., (2006); l
Divrikli et al., (2003)

in the accumulators of motor vehicles or in
carburetors (Charlesworth, Everett, McCarthy,
Ordonez, & de Miguel, 2003; Divrikli et al., 2003).
The value of cadmium in street dust samples from
Amman, Jordan was reported to be within the
range of 1.01–2.9 lg g–1 (Al-Khashman, 2006).
Many researchers have reported the mean con-
centration of cadmium in several cities (Table 3).
The range of the median value of cadmium in
street dust samples world-wide has been exam-
ined as being 0.5–4.0 lg g–1 (Fergusson & Kim,
1991). In general, the high values of Cr, Cd, Ni,
and Cu were found in Aqaba city, which might be
due to the phosphate handling activities of the
port of Aqaba, which emits phosphate aerosol
through the atmosphere. The zinc concentration
was found in the range of 103–160 lg g–1. The
zinc levels found in the present study were lower
than those determined in other cities in develop-
ing countries (Table 3). Iron was the most abun-
dant metal content in street dust. The possible
source of iron particles were brake lining material
(brake dust; Adachi & Tainosho, 2004; Garg
et al., 2000; Hildemann, Markowski, & Cass,
1991). The highest mean iron level was found in
the streets with heavy traffic (6,865 lg g–1).
However, the mean concentration of iron in
street dust samples was lower than determined
in several cities in developing countries (Table 3).
Manganese content in the dust samples was found
to be within the range of 48–107 lg g–1. The main
source of manganese in dust samples was from the
geological material in Aqaba city (lithogenic
source), from traffic, and from tire wear (Divrikli
et al., 2003). The mean manganese concentration
in street dust samples was 300–800 lg g–1
(Fergusson, 1991). The concentration of cobalt
in dust samples was within the range of 17.8–
22.3 lg g–1. The major source of manganese is
considered to be natural, sandstone and basement
rock being the main source of manganese in dust
samples. The highest mean level of cobalt was
found in heavy traffic sites (21.4 lg g–1). The level
of cobalt in dust samples was found to be higher
than mean values around the world, and the level
of cobalt in the present study does not vary much
from the investigated area in other localities.
Also, the source of cobalt in the dust samples
from heavy traffic comes from the corrosion of
metallic parts of vehicles.
Nickel values in dust samples were found to be
within the range of 51–114.6 lg g–1.The highest
mean value of nickel was found in the street dust
samples and the lowest mean value of nickel was
found in the control site. The range of mean
nickel concentration in world-wide street dust
samples was 50–100 lg g–1 (Fergusson & Kim,
1991). Nickel pollution on a local scale is caused
by emissions from vehicle engines that use nickel
gasolene and by the abrasion and corrosion of
nickel from vehicle parts (Al-Shayeb & Seaward,
2001).

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Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207 205

Statistical analyses and data treatment
Correlation coefficient analysis
Pearson’s correlation coefficient can be used to
measure the degree of correlation between loga-
rithms of the metal data (Garcia & Millan, 1998).
The correlations of metals in street dust samples
of Aqaba city are depicted in Table 4. Highly
significant correlation data (>0.65) were found
between Cu and Cr, Cu and Pb, Cr and Ni, Pb and
Co, and Cd and Mn (Table 4). These high
correlations show that the origin of the metals
in the investigated area is highly related to the
heavy traffic, industrial activities, structure of the
soils, and street dust emissions. Lead values
showed very weak positive correlations with
Mn, Zn, Ni, and Cd varying from 0.194 to 0.402.
A meaningful correlation has not been found
between Mn and Pb. The source of Pb in the
street dust samples may be from heavy traffic
activities in the studied area. The Mn–Co (0.113)
and Mn–Cr (0.224) pairs were weakly correlated
at 95% confidence level.
Principle component analysis
Statistical analyses were performed with SPSS for
Windows 10.0.5. Data were log-transformed prior
to PCA to reduce the influence of high data
(Moller et al., 2005). PCA was used to help
identify the source of pollutants more accurately
using factor extraction with an eigenvalue larger
than 1 after varimax rotation. The results of
statistical analysis are tabulated in Table 5.
Table 5 displays the factor loadings with a
varimax rotation, as well as the eigenvalues. The
results show that two eigenvalues are greater than
1 and the total variance for the two factors is
about 74%. The third eigenvalue, which is 1.11,
explains about 10% of the total variance, which is
a significant contribution toward the explanation
of cumulative variance. Factor 1 was dominated
by Cu, Cr, Cd, Ni, Co, and Zn, and accounts for
41.12% of the total variance, in this case. Zn and
Cd loadings (0.625 and 0.676 respectively) are not
as high as the loadings of the other elements in
the group; such a domination may be caused by
the behavior of the metals within the group. This
factor represents pollution caused by industrial
activities and emissions from traffic (Banerjee,
2003; Chen, Wong, Zhou, & Wong, 1997). The
second factor is highly dominated by pH, OM and
Fe and Mn and accounts for 23.24% of the total
variance. This factor was composed of the char-
acteristics of street dust pH and organic matter
and metals (Fe and Mn), and represents the
contribution of metals from lithogenic and
anthropogenic sources. This factor’s high loadings
of the elements Fe and Mn suggest the influence
of natural sources and some anthropogenic input.
Relatively, the high loadings of Fe and Mn in the

Table 4 Correlation matrix between metals in urban samples; cells show the Pearson correlation coefficient and the
corresponding P value, n = 140 samples
Cu Cr Pb Cd Ni Mn Co Fe

Cr 0.851
0.000
Pb 0.722 0.762
0.000 0.000
Cd 0.51 0.313 0.201
0.000 0.000 0.000
Ni 0.552 0.692 0.402 0.384
0.003 0.000 0.001 0.001
Mn 0.410 0.224 0.194 0.692 0.564
0.000 0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000
Co 0.144 0.232 0.764 0.522 0.070 0.113
0.002 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.001 0.000
Fe 0.521 0.434 0.681 0.404 0.184 0.007
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002
Zn 0.281 0.223 0.344 0.481 0.390 0.310 0.401 0.321
0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.002 0.000 0.001

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206 Environ Geochem Health (2007) 29:197–207

Table 5 Factor loadings for varimax rotated PCA of in school gardens and hospital and health
metal data in street dust samples (loadings in bold type are centers. The mean concentrations of the studied
statistically significant)
metals were as follows: CFe > CZn > CPb > CNi >
Parameters Factor Factor Factor Communities CMn > CCu > CCr > CCo > CCd where C stands
1 2 3 for concentration. Results showed that dust
pH –1.370 0.908 –2.264 0.825 samples contained significant levels of the metals
OM –0.803 0.775 –0.335 0.765 studied with the control values. The statistical
Cu 0.823 0.222 –0.232 0.780 analysis, metal value analysis, and correlation
Cr 0.805 –0.164 0.323 0.781 analysis were applied as an effective tool to
Pb –9.652 –1.619 0.973 0.876
Cd 0.676 0.414 –0.152 0.633 identify the source of metals in street dust
Ni 0.881 0.129 –0.250 0.855 samples. The examined elements were classified
Mn –0.126 0.908 0.245 0.901 into three main groups according to their
Co 0.745 0.338 –0.162 0.696 sources: natural, traffic, and industrial. PCA
Fe 0.290 0.672 0.537
Zn 0.625 0.332 0.199 0.540 analysis coupled with correlation analysis was
Eigenvalues 4.523 2.556 1.109 used to gain additional insight into the origin of
% Variance 41.122 23.238 10.082 these metals in street dust samples from Aqaba
% 41.122 64.359 74.441 city. The trend of increasing industrial and traffic
Cumulative
activities in the city indicates the need for
pollution control in the city environment.
dusts are interpreted here to be the result of
natural enrichment by weathering and pedogen-
esis (Al-Khashman, 2006). The third factor was
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