In the past few decades, contamination of urban children's parks (UCPs) with potentially toxic elements (PTEs) has been attracting more and more interest; however, assessment of eco-environmental and child exposure risks particularly in developing countries remains limited. The current study investigated PTE (Cr, Ni, Zn, As, Cd, and Pb) concentrations, potential sources, and their health risk assessment in UCP soils of 12 major cities in Pakistan. The results showed that the mean concentration of Ni exceeded the SEPA-permissible limit in all UCP sites, while other PTEs were found to be within acceptable limits. The soil properties such as pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter, and soil particles size were determined in UCPs soils. The contamination factor and pollution load index results indicated low to moderate pollution levels (CF < 3) and (PLI<1) for all PTEs except Ni in some of the selected cities. Quantile-quantile (Q-Q) plotting determined the normal distribution line for all PTEs in the UCPs. Principal component analysis showed the mixed sources of contamination from industrial emissions, fossil fuel combustion, vehicular emissions, wastewater irrigation, as well as solid waste disposal and natural sources of soil parent materials in all park sites. ANOVA results showed that all the PTEs except Cd had moderate to higher contamination values than the reference site. The risk assessment study revealed that children had high exposure to the selected PTEs via all exposure pathways. The hazard index (HI) mean value (1.82E+00) of Ni for all exposure pathways was greater than 1, while total risk value of Cr (1.00E-03) had exceeded USEPA limit, indicating cancer risk. Consequently, the study of UCPs soils revealed PTEs contamination that could pose a potential health risk to the local population in the studied UCPs regions of Pakistan. Thus, the present study recommends that the influx of PTEs originating from natural and anthropogenic sources should be mitigated and government should implement strict enforcement of environmental regulations and proper management, as well as air quality monitoring guidelines for public health should be strictly adopted to reduce traffic- and industrial emission-related to PTEs in metropolitan areas.

College of Marine and Life Science Ocean University of China Qingdao 266100 China

Department of Agronomy The University of Agriculture Peshawar Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Biological Geological and Environmental Sciences Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna 40126 Bologna Italy

Department of Environmental Sciences Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Pakistan

Department of Environmental Sciences Kohat University of Science and Technology Kohat 26000 Pakistan

Department of Environmental Sciences University of Peshawar Peshawar 25120 Pakistan

Department of Environmental Sciences University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences Lahore Pakistan

Department of Horticulture The University of Agriculture Peshawar Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Pharmacy Abdul Wali Khan University Mardan Pakistan

Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences The University of Agriculture Peshawar Peshawar Pakistan

Department of Water and Environmental Engineering Nangarhar University Jalalabad 2600 Afghanistan

Faculty of Environmental Sciences Czech University of Life Sciences Prague 16500 Prague Czech Republic

School of Environmental Sciences China University of Geosciences Wuhan 430074 China

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