Effects of highway pollutants on a small Norwegian lake

The effects of motorway runoff on freshwater ecosystems: 1. Field study

“…Consequently, if road runoff does have a detrimental effect on receiving-water quality, this should be most apparent where motorway runoff directly enters small watercourses. Despite the potential impact that road runoff may have on the biota of receiving waters [20,21], relatively few studies have assessed the effect of road runoff on freshwater communities [22,23] and none have investigated the implications of changes in community structure for ecosystem functioning. Many of the contaminants in road runoff are associated with particulate material and accumulate in the sediments of receiving waters where they may reach concentrations orders of magnitude greater than those present in the overlying water [24,25].…”

Assessing biological effects from highway-runoff constituents

“…Several studies by a British research group found that PAHs were the most toxic of all the highway runoff constituents measured in highwayrunoff sediments collected from a British stream (Boxall and others, 1993;Maltby, Boxall, and others, 1995;Maltby, Forrow, andothers, 1995, Boxall and. A different European study found tissue enrichment of organic compounds in benthic invertebrates and fish that was up to five times higher than tissue concentrations at background sites (Baekken, 1994). A recent study in California (Cooper and others, 1996), however, did not detect PAHs in road runoff, receiving waters, and the tissue of aquatic biota at the detection limits of 5 parts per billion for the water samples and 2 parts per million for the tissue samples.…”

“…Concentrations and availability of constituents in highway runoff depend on the physical and chemical characteristics of the roadway, vehicular sources, precipitation, and deposition from background sources in the study area (Young and others, 1996; Irish and others, 1996). Concentrations and availability of constituents in receiving waters depend on dilution by receiving waters (Dupuis, Kaster, and others, 1985;Horner and Mar, 1985;Driscoll and others, 1990;Cooper and others, 1996), the physical and chemical characteristics of local receiving waters (Driscoll and others, 1990;Bricker, 1999), the magnitude of background sources (Dupuis, Kaster, and others, 1985;Shively, and others 1986;Davis and George, 1987), and biological uptake and processing in the local ecosystem (Birdsall and others, 1986;Baekken, 1994;Maltby, Boxall, and others, 1995;Cooper and others, 1996;Schafer and others, 1998). Field research and resultant highway-runoff quality models indicate that, in general, event mean concentrations of pollutants in runoff and receiving waters are not acutely toxic (Dupuis, Kaster, and others, 1985;Driscoll and others, 1990;Maltby, Forrow, and others, 1995;Dutka and others, 1998).…”

“…Metals, as environmental contaminants, were mentioned in 32 of the studies reviewed (table 2). In many studies, increased metal concentrations were detected in the tissues of animals and plants exposed to soils and sediments in highway environments (Gish and Christensen, 1973;Dupuis, Kaster, and others, 1985;Birdsall and others, 1986;Davis and George, 1987;Baekken, 1994;Cooper and others, 1996;Dupuis and others, 1999). Although these studies did not define the toxicity of the metals to these organisms, several studies noted the potential for bioaccumulation of metals higher in the food chain (Gish and Christensen, 1973;Birdsall and others, 1986;Cooper and others, 1996).…”

The role of inter-event time definition and recovery of initial/depression loss for the accuracy in quantitative simulations of highway runoff

“…During rainfall many particles deposited on the road surface will be dislodged, and many of them are toxic micropollutants such as heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Hoffman et al 1984, Sansalone and Buchberger 1997. These micropollutants are reported to have considerable impacts on aquatic community such as lakes and streams (Baekken 1994, Maltby et al 1995. Thus the management of quantity and quality of runoff from road/ highway is an increasingly important environmental issue for urban communities.…”