The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has not only brought considerable and permanent changes to economies and healthcare systems, but it has also greatly changed the habits of almost the entire society. During the lockdowns, people were forced to stay in their dwellings, which served as a catalyst for the initiation of a survey on the estimation of the metallic element content in residential indoor dust in different parts of Latvia. This article presents the study results obtained through the analysis of collected dust samples from 46 dwellings, both in the capital of Latvia, Riga, and in smaller cities. Two methods were employed for indoor dust collection: vacuum sampling and manual sampling with a brush and plastic spatula. After microwave-assisted acid extraction, the samples were analyzed using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in terms of the major (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Al and Fe) and minor (Mn, Ni, Co, Pb, Cr, As, Ba, Li, Be, B, V, Cu, Zn, Se, Rb, Sr, Cd, La, Ce and Bi) elements. For the data analysis, principal component analysis was performed. Among the measured metals, the highest values were determined for the macro and most abundant elements (Na > K > Ca > Fe > Mg > Al). The concentration ranges of the persistently detected elements were as follows: Pb, 0.27–1200 mg kg⁻¹; Cd, 0.01–6.37 mg kg⁻¹; Ni, 0.07–513 mg kg⁻¹; As, 0.01–69.2 mg kg⁻¹; Cu, 5.71–1900 mg kg⁻¹; Zn, 53.6–21,100 mg kg⁻¹; and Cr, 4.93–412 mg kg⁻¹. The critical limit values of metallic elements in soil defined by the legislation of the Republic of Latvia (indicating the level at or above which the functional characteristics of soil are disrupted, or pollution poses a direct threat to human health or the environment) were exceeded in the following numbers of dwellings: Pb = 4, Ni = 2, As = 1, Cu = 16, Cr = 1 and Zn = 28.

Urban runoff is a major pathway for chemical pollutants to enter aquatic ecosystems, yet the occurrences and risks of both conventional pollutants and contaminants of emerging concern (CECs) remain poorly characterized. In this study, we analyzed 34 urban runoff samples from multiple European catchment types using a combination of reversed-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) and hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography (HILIC) coupled with high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS) for characterization of dissolved organic pollutants, alongside inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) for quantification of trace elements. Street runoff was dominated by heavy metals and tire-derived compounds, including 6PPD-quinone (up to 0.57 µg/L) and 1,3-diphenylguanidine (up to 22.4 µg/L). Benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid was found in 91% of samples up to 153 µg/L, significantly higher than previously reported concentrations in urban runoff. Several wastewater-associated compounds were also common, suggesting contributions from pharmaceutical residues and public urination in surface runoff, and misconnected pipes in separated sewage networks. Risk assessment revealed several compounds exceeding predicted no-effect concentrations (PNEC) with the highest risk associated with the metals Al (up to 1.1 × 10⁴ times PNEC), Cu (8.9 × 10³ times PNEC), and Zn (2.7 × 10³ times PNEC). Among CECs, clarithromycin (up to 539 times PNEC), 6PPD-quinone (49 times PNEC), and benzothiazole-2-sulfonic acid (32 times PNEC) posed the greatest risks. Our findings highlight urban runoff as an environmental concern, with metals, pharmaceuticals, and tire compounds as key drivers of ecological risks.

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