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.
Highlights
The turn of the twenty-first century seems to be a time of motorization, best suited to the freedom, individuality and entrepreneurship of contemporary human beings
Content below 3 mg Cu kg−1 d.m. was noted in nearly 7% of the results and less than 7.1 mg Cu kg−1 d.m. in nearly 51% of results, while content above 21 mg Cu kg−1 d.m. was observed in only 4% of results
The highest Cu content, i.e. 226.2 mg Cu kg−1 d.m. was noted at a distance of 6 m from the edge of Eastern Jędrzejów Ring road (EJR) road, appears to be random and may be the result of local contamination with pesticides containing this metal or road incident, and does not appear to be linked to the direct impact of the factors under consideration
Summary
The turn of the twenty-first century seems to be a time of motorization, best suited to the freedom, individuality and entrepreneurship of contemporary human beings. Petroleum consumption (petrol or diesel fuel) has been growing much faster in transport than in other sectors. This is due to individuals’ growing need to move from place to place (Chan et al 2010). In India, for example, combined consumption of petroleum and diesel fuel in 1980–2000 increased four times, and road transport was the largest consumer of liquid fuels (nearly 35% combined). Mobility of European Union residents has been growing as well, generating a substantial increase in the number of cars on the roads. According to Schafer and Victor (2000), the total mobility of the world’s citizens at the turn of the millennium was 23 billion km, and will reach 105 billion km in 2039.
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