Roadside contamination (of air, soils and organisms) by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was examined in an arable field and a mature forest (central France). Measured contents accounted for minute fractions of the cumulative vehicular exhaust emissions. The fate of vehicular PAHs was affected by many factors, including: atmospheric load dispersal, deposition on soils and vegetation, incorporation into water and organic matter cycles, and accumulation in species. Given these empirical results, we evaluated the consistency of a set of well-known diagnostic ratios. This effort has revealed that: i) most diagnostic ratio values vary considerably across roadside samples, including exhaust emissions; and ii) the first few meters from the carriageway or the road verge/forest interface or remote areas where surface water accumulates actually define turning or inflection points in the ratio profiles. These variations constitute a major obstacle to delimitating the extent of roadside contamination due to PAHs, in addition to raising questions over the applicability of ratios routinely used to designate sources. New ratios, namely (Flt+BkF)/(Pyr+BbF) and (Flt+BkF+BghiP)/Σ10PAH, have been specifically developed to address this challenge. The higher consistencies exhibited among environmental compartments as well as between surface soil and exhaust emissions still yield differentiated values relative to several industrial sources.
Keywords: Diagnostic ratios; Leaching; Organic matter; PAH; Roadside contamination.
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