Spatial analysis of industrial contamination using road sediment in a heavily urbanized area

Northern Lake County, Indiana, United States, is a heavily industrialized area, containing steel mills, oil refineries, and chemical manufacturers surrounded by extensive residential neighborhoods. In this study, 387 road sediment samples were collected from 332 sampling sites in Northern Lake County across two years. The samples underwent particle-induced x-ray emission and gamma-ray emission spectroscopy at the University of Notre Dame to quantify up to 25 elements in each sample. Empirical Bayesian Kriging geospatial analysis and Positive Matrix Factorization were completed to identify potential contamination hotspots and sources using geoaccumulation indices and contamination factor calculations. This dataset includes processed elemental concentrations for all samples, in addition to calculated geoaccumulation indices and contamination factors. Latitude and longitude data is not included to protect the privacy of residents who live near sampling sites, but is available upon request.