Recent years have witnessed intensification of road traffic and, with it, the amount of substances emitted by vehicles. Such emissions need to be monitored for public health purposes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of the highway traffic on the total content and bioavailability of Zn, Cu, Ni, Cd, Cr and Pb in nearby soils as well as influence of an acoustic screen on spatial distribution of the metals. The material included 40 soil samples collected from 15 research points located 5, 10, 25 and 50 m away from the road acoustic screen and from 4 points between the screen and the highway. Additionally, 5 research points were located next to the metal barrier. Selected physicochemical properties of soils were determined: soil texture, soil pH, TOC and CaCO3 content. The total content of heavy metals in the soils was determined by AAS after digestion in aqua regia and bioavailable forms in 1 M diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid. The research found low impact of the highway traffic on the content of heavy metals in soils; however, due to a very short period of this potential impact (5 years), the moderately polluted category of geo-accumulation index of cadmium and high bioavailability of lead indicate the need of repeating the research within the next several years. Furthermore, the road acoustic screen significantly influenced spatial distribution of the metals in soils.

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<p>Sulphur occurs in many environmental compounds. Source of this element may be natural as also anthropogenic origin, for example related with the development of road traffic. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of traffic on the content of total and sulphate sulphur in forest soils and plant material. The selected physicochemical properties of soils were determined: soil texture by laser diffraction method, soil pH by potentiometric method, total organic carbon (TOC) by Tiurin method. The content of total and sulphate sulphur in research material was determined by Bardsley-Lancaster method modified by COMN-IUNG. All analyses were performed in three replicates and the verification of the results was based on the certified material Till-3. Statistical analysis of the results were performed in Statistica 12.0 for Windows Pl software. Examined research material was characterized by medium, high and anthropogenic origin content of total and sulphate sulphur. Undertaken studies showed that the traffic could have an adverse influence on the content of sulphur in soils and plant material.</p>