Monitoring and assessment of cadmium, lead, zinc and copper concentrations in arable roadside soils in terms of different traffic conditions

Abstract

Quantification of the contributions from traffic source to arable roadside soil heavy metal loadings is a challenge. The contribution depends on: traffic intensity, road type and distance from the road. At a field scale (3.9 ha), 720 topsoil samples were taken. The aim of the study was to monitor and assess the impact of regional/ local roads with various conditions of traffic and period of use on the distribution of Cd, Zn, Pb and Cu in the arable roadside topsoil in their vicinity. PCA indicated the occurrence of two main gradients of 11 environmental elements influencing the distribution of heavy metals in the soils of the neighbouring land. The first gradient was associated mainly with the distance from the edge of the road. The second gradient was associated with the degree of contamination of the soils and with the road type, defined by the traffic volume and period of being use. Anova reviled lack of influence of the factors for Cu contents. Unlike Cu, for Cd, Pb and Zn, the significant impact was observed for both factors and interactions between them. The concentrations of Cd, Pb and Zn, regardless of the distance from the road were 0.21-0.58 mg Cd kg −1 d.m., 13.60-41.96 mg Pb kg −1 d.m. and 40.31-63.97 mg Zn kg −1 d.m. In case of increasing distance from the road, generally the contents of Pb, Zn and Cd contents were decreasing. However, only in the case the oldest and carrying the highest traffic road was a clear, statistically significant differences noted for following distances from the road on the content of Cd, Pb and Zn. Analysis of spread gave trend curves, for Pb, Cd and Zn they were parabolas. The curves let reduce sapling distances to 65 m, 45 and 47 m for Cd, Pb and Zn, respectively.

Level of Contamination Assessment of Potentially Toxic Elements in the Urban Soils of Volos City (Central Greece)

“…The occurrence of unexpectedly higher concentrations of nickel at the railway station and on the west side of the study area may be related to its geochemical origin, as recorded in a previous study [48]. The Igeo values of class II (0-1) were found for Pb, Co, and Cr near the main city roads, possibly affected by heavy traffic [57][58][59][60].…”

Assessment of the Heavy Metal Contamination of Roadside Soils Alongside Buddha Nullah, Ludhiana, (Punjab) India

“…Soil, being the major sink for the accumulation of different contaminants, such as heavy metals released through anthropogenic practices, needs immediate attention [33]. Hence, it has become imperative to comprehend levels the soil pollution in different areas all over the world.…”

Evaluation of Heavy Metal Accumulations in Plant Organs and Soil White Birch (Betula verrucosa Ehrh.) Plantation

“…Concentrations of heavy metals decreased away from high-traffic areas and toward more protected interior areas. Moreover, other studies have established that increased traffic density results in an increase in heavy metal concentrations (Aricak et al, 2020;Fuganti et al, 2005;Sürücü & Elaltuntaş, 2018;Szwalec et al, 2020).…”