Street dust samples have been collected in different areas in Hong Kong associated
with various levels of traffic and pedestrian flow, and the concentrations of 23 chemical
elements have been determined using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF).
The 23 studied elements were Na, Al, Si, Cl, Ti, Ba, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, K, Ca, Ni,
Cu, Zn, As, Pb, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr and Sn. A profile for average street dust for Hong Kong
has been determined by taking average values for different areas. The values for the
Hong Kong street dust are commensurate with the values derived in previous investigations
or for other countries, except that Hong Kong street dust has much higher Cl, Ca and
As concentrations. A factor analysis gives four sources for the street dust in Hong
Kong: namely, mixture of metallic dust and crustal material, vehicles, road pavement
materials, and mixture of marine aerosols and crustal material.