Assessment of heavy metal toxicants in the roadside soil along the N-5, National Highway, Pakistan

Wang

Science of The Total Environment

et al. 2015

147

• Cr, Zn, Cu, As, Cd, and Pb in soils along the highway are related to the traffic.• There are three distribution patterns of the traffic-related metals in soils.• Regional differences had significant relationship with the enrichment levels.• Cd was the prior metal and the TTH was the key area for soil environment monitoring. The road transportation could affect roadside soils environment detrimentally, including heavy metal enrichment. In order to identify and evaluate the enrichment of heavy metals resulted from road transportation on the Tibetan Plateau, the 11 heavy metals (V, Cr, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Cd, Rb, Pb and Tl) in the topsoil (0-10 cm depth) from four sites along the Qinghai-Tibet highway were discussed in this study. Our results indicate that heavy metals such as Cr, Cu, Zn, As, Cd and Pb are related to road transportation. The content of most of these heavy metals in roadside soils decreased exponentially with the distance from the road, as did some of the Nemero Synthesis Indexes (PN values). The contamination factor for the traffic-related metals ranged from 0.56 (no pollution) to 5.67 (considerable pollution) and the Nemero Synthesis Indexes of these heavy metals ranged from 0.80 (no pollution) to 4.49 (severe pollution). Cd was of priority concern as it had the highest contamination factor. The highest PN value for these traffic-related heavy metals was found in soils at site TTH (alpine steppe). Although transportation contributed to the high contents of these traffic-related metals in roadside environments, regional differences such as wind and the terrain also had significant relationship with their enrichment in these roadside soils. The roadside distance at which there is a potential risk to livestock and wildlife from the contamination of soils by heavy metals should be determined scientifically along the Qinghai-Tibet highway, based on the different natural environments found in the region. a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o

Section: Interrelationships Among Heavy Metals In Soils Along the Qinmentioning

confidence: 99%

Identification of traffic-related metals and the effects of different environments on their enrichment in roadside soils along the Qinghai–Tibet highway

Wang

Science of The Total Environment

et al. 2015

147

“…Motto et al 1970;Laxen and Harrison 1977;Warren and Birtch 1987;Sansalone and Buchberger 1997;Legret and Pagotto 1999;Turer 2001;Bäckström et al 2004b;Preciado and Li 2006;Roulier et al 2008;Khan et al 2011). Nonetheless, investigations of pollutants in roadside soils are still a subject of major interest due to the rapid development of road traffic systems and increasing traffic all over the world.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Heavy metal pattern and solute concentration in soils along the oldest highway of the world – the AVUS Autobahn

Kluge

Wessolek

2011

Environ Monit Assess

Highways and main roads are a potential source of contamination for the surrounding environment. High traffic rates result in elevated heavy metal concentrations in road runoff, soil and water seepage, which has attracted much attention in the recent past. Nonetheless, investigations of pollutants in roadside soils are still a subject of major interest due to the rapid development of traffic systems and increasing traffic all over the world. The accumulation of the heavy metals Pb, Cd, Cu and Zn in soils along the oldest federal highway of the world has been studied by sampling a roadside transect of 125 by 10 m. In addition, heavy metal concentrations of Pb, Cd, Zn, Cu, Ni and Cr in soil solutions from different distances (2.5, 5 and 10 m) from the hard shoulder of the highway and from three soil depths (10, 30, and 50 cm) were investigated. The results show that heavy metal concentrations are up to 20 times increased compared to the geochemical background levels and a reference site of 800-m distance from the roadside. Soil matrix concentrations in the topsoil (0-10 cm) mostly exceeded the precautionary values of the German Federal Soil Protection and Contamination Ordinance (BBodSchV). The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn in the soil matrix tended to decrease with distance from the roadside edge, whereas the concentrations in the soil solution increased at a distance of 10 m onwards due to a lower soil pH. Because of both high pH values and a high sorption capacity of the soils, soil solution concentrations seldom exceeded the trigger values of the German Federal Soil Protection and Contamination Ordinance (BBodSchV) for transferring soil solution to groundwater.

Int. J. Environ. Sci. Technol.

“…Highest average concentration of 396.41 mg kg -1 lead was recorded in S3 which exceeds Canadian residential soil quality guidelines (CEQG 2002), but these levels were within the limits set by European Union (2002). Major sources of Pb in the atmosphere are combustion of petrol containing Pb additives, smelting, vehicular exhaust emissions related to urban transportation (Khan et al 2011;Khillare et al 2004). Approximately 75 % of Pb contained in leaded gasoline gets emitted directly into the atmosphere.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evaluation of heavy metal and total petroleum hydrocarbon contamination of roadside surface soil

Khan

Kathi

2014

The present study was conducted along three major highways namely State Highway (SH49), National Highway (NH66 and 45A) connecting Puducherry (India) for assessing heavy metals and total petroleum hydrocarbon contamination from surface soils in close proximity at a depth of 0-15 cm into automobile repair workshops and agricultural fields located beside the highways. Contamination levels of copper, lead, zinc, manganese, cadmium and chromium were assessed in the surface sediments soil on the basis of geoaccumulation index, contamination factors and spatial variability. The results revealed that sampling sites in the proximity to automobile workshops were moderately to considerably pollution impacted as compared to soil from agricultural fields along highways suggesting a direct influence of anthropogenic activities on levels of contamination. Pearson correlation indicated a strong association of total petroleum hydrocarbon with copper, lead and zinc suggesting that the metal contaminants from roadside surface soil had emanated from a common source.