Abstract
In order to evaluate the degree of air pollution, soils from 125 and 60points of main streets of Seoul and Daejeon, respectively, were sampled and analyzed for the contents of lead, copper, iron and zinc by nitric acid($HNO_3$) extraction followed by atomic absorption spectrophotometry during June and September, 1990. The Pb contents of Seoul and Daejeon were 350.2$\mu$g/g and 175.9$\mu$g/g, respectively, which were 14.5times and 7.3times respectively higher than the control(24.0). In Seoul, the commercial area gave the highest value followed by resdential and industrial areas in the decreasing order, while the order in Daejeon was Industrial, commercial and residential areas. The Cu contents in Seoul and Daejeon were very similar(236.6 and 234.6, respectively) each other, and about 11times higher than the control(20.9). The concentration was highest in industrial, followed by commercial and the lowest in residential areas in Seoul, while the order in Daejeon was industrial, residential and commercial areas. The Fe contents were 25716.5 in Seoul and 22838.6 in Daejeon, both being similar to the control value(22537.0). The value was highest in industrial and next in commercial areas and the lowest in residential area both in Seoul and Daejeon. The Zn contents in Seoul and Daejeon were 728.2 and 404.0, respectively, wihch were 6.3 and 3.6times higher than the control(113.3). The value was highest in commercial and next in industrial areas and the lowest in residental area in Seoul, while the order was industrial, residential and commercial areas in Daejeon. The heavy metal content was higher in the soil of main streets than that of minor streets in Seoul. The content of lead in Seoul was higher in the streets of Chongro-ku(525.9) and Chung-ku(684.8), the central area of the city which had a heavy traffic, than those in Nowon-ku(320.3) and Kwanak-ku(312.6) which had relatively less traffic crowd. The similar pattern was observed in the content of zinc; it was higher in Chongro-ku(1305.0) and Chung-ku(1335.4) than in Nowon-ku(489.1) and Kwanak-ku(569.8). In Daejeon, the contents of lead and zinc were decreasing as the distance from Daejeon Railroad Station increased : they were respectively 157.8 and 447.7 within 2km from the station, 157.6 and 235.7 with in 2-4km, and 63.5 and 156.2 within 4-6km and 58.7 and 142.2 within 6-8km. In summary, the contents of lead, copper and zinc were generally higher in the central area of the city, areas of heavy traffic and areas of industry and commerce.