Contribution of atmospheric dry deposition to stormwater loads for PAHs and trace metals in a small and highly trafficked urban road catchment

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 24; no. 34; pp. 26497 - 26512
• Main Authors: Al Ali, Saja, Debade, Xavier, Chebbo, Ghassan, Béchet, Béatrice, Bonhomme, Céline
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.12.2017; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Air pollution; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric models; Atmospheric pollution deposition; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Chains; Contamination; Deposition; Dry deposition; Dust; Dust storms; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Environmental Sciences; Indoor air pollution; Loads (forces); Pollutant deposition; Pollutants; Pollution load; Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; Rainfall; Receiving waters; Research Article; Roads; Runoff; Storm runoff; Stormwater; Stormwater management; Stormwater quality; Surface runoff; Trace elements; Trace metals; Waste Water Technology; Water analysis; Water Management; Water pollution; Water Pollution Control; Water sampling; Street dust; PAHs; Urban catchment; Atmospheric deposition; Stormwater; Trace metal
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-017-0238-1

A deep understanding of pollutant buildup and wash-off is essential for accurate urban stormwater quality modeling and for the development of stormwater management practices, knowing the potential adverse impacts of runoff pollution on receiving waters. In the context of quantifying the contribution of airborne pollutants to the contamination of stormwater runoff and assessing the need of developing an integrated AIR-WATER modeling chain, loads of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and metal trace elements (MTEs) are calculated in atmospheric dry deposits, stormwater runoff, and surface dust stock within a small yet highly trafficked urban road catchment (~ 30,000 vehicles per day) near Paris. Despite the important traffic load and according to the current definition of “atmospheric” source, atmospheric deposition did not account for more than 10% of the PAHs and trace metal loads in stormwater samples for the majority of the events, based on the ratio of deposition to stormwater. This result shows that atmospheric deposition is not a major source of pollutants in stormwater, and thus, linking the air and water compartment in a modeling chain to have more accurate estimates of pollutant loads in stormwater runoff might not be relevant. Comparison of road dust with water samples demonstrates that only the fine fraction of the available stock is eroded during a rainfall event. Even if the atmosphere mostly generates fine particles, the existence of other sources of fine particles to stormwater runoff is highlighted.