Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace metals in mosque’s carpet dust of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and their health risk implications

The main objectives of this work were to identify and determine the concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and trace metals in carpet dust samples from various mosques of the city of Riyadh and to assess the health risks associated with the exposure to these pollutants. Therefore, 31 samples of mosque’s carpet dust from Riyadh were collected. The results showed that 14 PAHs were present in the dust samples with concentrations ranged from 90 to 22,146 ng g −1 (mean = 4096 ± 4277 ng g −1 ) where low molecular weight compounds were dominant. The presence of PAHs were in the order of naphthalene > chrysene and benzo(b)fluoranthene > benzo(a)pyrene > acenaphthene and benzo(k)fluoranthene > pyrene and the absence of indeno(1,2,3-cd)pyrene and dibenz(a,h)anthracene. The diagnostic ratio coupled with principle component analysis (PCA) revealed mix sources of petrogenic from traffic, stack emission, and pyrogenic inputs from essence and perfumed wood burning. Trace metals were significant in the dust samples, and their concentrations decrease in the order of Zn, Mn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Ni, and V where Zn being the highest (94.4 ± 91.5 μg g −1 ) and indium was the lowest (1.9 ± 9.3 μg g −1 ). The trace metals were major in southern and central parts of Riyadh and followed the order of central Riyadh > southern Riyadh > western Riyadh > eastern Riyadh > northern Riyadh. Estimated risk based on the total PAHs was found to be 4.30 × 10 −11 for adult and 1.56 × 10 −11 for children. Elemental non-cancer risk for adults ranged from 7.9 × 10 −4 for Co to 7.58 × 10 −1 for Li and for children ranged from 3.70 × 10 −3 for Co to 3.54 for Li. Policy implication and mitigations of PAHs in Riyadh and Saudi Arabia were highlighted.