Street wash-off behaviour of heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons and nitrophenols

During three storm events, the run-off from a busy road junction in Bayreuth was analysed for dissolved and particle-bound concentrations of heavy metals, polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and nitrophenols, as well as for general hydrochemical parameters (pH, EC, SS, DOC, POC). Nitrophenols are found to be totally dissolved, whereas heavy metals, especially lead, and PAH are primarily associated with suspended solids. The partitioning of cadmium and copper is significantly governed by organic carbon. Based on the chemographs and the results of the principal component analysis, we suggest the following three wash-off mechanisms for the selected contaminants: solution of easily water-soluble compounds, particle wash-off and mobilisation of oil films.