Characterizing petroleum hydrocarbons deposited on road surfaces in urban environments

Abstract

Petroleum hydrocarbons are a toxic pollutant group, primarily including volatile organic compounds (VOC), semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) and non-volatile organic compounds (NVOC). These pollutants can be accumulated on urban roads during dry periods and then washed-off by stormwater runoff in rainy days. Unlike heavy metals and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, petroleum hydrocarbons have not received an equal attention in the field of stormwater pollutant processes. This paper investigated characteristics of VOC, SVOC and NVOC pollutant loads deposited on urban roads and their influential factors using a forward stepwise regression and PROMETHEE-GAIA analysis techniques. The results indicate that the loads deposited on urban roads were NVOC > SVOC > VOC. It is also noted that the degrees of factors in influencing petroleum hydrocarbons deposited on urban roads did not equal and their order was total solids > land use type > vehicular traffic > roughness of road surfaces. The research results also showed that petroleum hydrocarbons on urban road surfaces tend to be source limiting rather than transport limiting. These outcomes can contribute to petroleum hydrocarbons polluted stormwater management, such as treatment system design and stormwater modelling approach improvement.