## 1 Introduction  
In China, due to dust particles, the rapid growth in urbanization and industrialization has increased the risk of pollution in road areas. The fine particles can be suspended into the atmosphere again through the action of wind, pedestrians, and traffic [1, 2]. Most of the pollutants are persistent in road dust, and road dust resuspension is a source of air pollution [3, 4]. Several studies mentioned that road dust particle suspension has a significant impact on human health in Kuwait [5], India [6], and Korea [7]. Road dust may cause direct and indirect adverse effects on fauna, flora, and human health on the regional scale [8]. Road dust also has a socioeconomic impact on health [9], the oil sector [10], and photovoltaic energy efficiency [11]. Studies have shown that road fine dust particles (<63 \(\upmu\)m radius diameter dust particles) can not only be suspended into the atmosphere but also be exposed more easily to humans [12]. Due to the diverse components and complex sources of urban road dust, it carries a large number of heavy metal elements and has also become the main research object of heavy metal pollution in the urban environment [13], and the content of heavy metals enriched in urban road dust is significantly higher in comparison to that in urban surface soil [14]. Besides, urban road dust has various components and complex sources. It contains many toxic, universal, and persistent heavy metal elements. Heavy metals are absorbed by the human body and will continue to bioaccumulate in key organs (such as the brain, liver and kidney) for a long time, which will have adverse effects on health [15, 16, 17, 18]. Therefore, it is necessary to estimate the harm of heavy metal pollutants caused by urban dust to human health through different exposure pathways. Since the 1970s, research on urban dust pollution has been carried out on a global scale, focusing on the characteristics, sources, and health risks of heavy metals in the dust on urban roads [19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24]. The current research concentrates on the distribution characteristics, source identification, accumulation rules, potential risks to human health, and environmental effects of heavy metals in road dust, and it usually focuses on large cities with dense populations, developed economies and industries, and high urbanization. At present, the most concerning heavy metal elements are Cd, Cu, Cr, Ni, Pb, and Zn, among which Cu, Pb, and Zn are also called \"urban elements\" [25; 26; 27]. Inevitably, a large volume of wastewater containing Cr, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, and other metal elements is discharged by the electroplating industry [28]. Cu may cause serious damages or necrotizing changes to the liver, kidney, and central nervous system [29]. Cr, Cd, Ni, and Pb can induce cancer to a certain extent [30]. Since the implementation of China's rural revitalization strategy, the economy has achieved great development [31]. For example, Yangxin County, Hubei Province, combined with its advantageous industries, actively docked industrial patents in developed regions and made full use of the national major regional strategy to the county. In addition, it has a leading role in strengthening investment promotion, and thus, the economy of Yangxin County has achieved dramatic development. Yangxin County has a population more than one million. However, with the rapid development of the economy and urbanization, the contradiction between economic development and environmental pollution has become increasingly obvious. Yangxin County is a typical copper-rich and zinc-rich mineral area with frequent smelting activities, which emit significant dust and slag rich in toxic heavy metals into the surrounding environment. This study took Yangxin County as the object and selected different types of roads in the old town (OT), the Economic Development Zone (EDZ), and the Chengdong New District (CND). It collected dust samples and tested the content of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, V, Pb, and Zn) in road dust.