Influence of mobile sources on pollution of runoff waters from roads with high traffic intensity

This paper presents the results of monitoring and evaluating the degree of environmental pollution in gdańsk, Poland, based on the analysis of rainwater and runoff waters from roads with high traffic intensity. Rainwater and road runoff were collected at two sites located in gdańsk. The concentrations of the follow­ing analytes were determined: petroleum hydrocarbons (PH), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (Pah), heavy metals, anions, cations and pH. Road runoff from the two sites was slightly basic with average pH values ranging from 7.04 to 7.45. Heavy metals concentrations in runoff water samples were higher than in rainwater samples. Higher concentrations of heavy metals were observed in precipitation samples and runoff samples during the day, which is connected with traffic intensity. The concentration of ions, PH and PAH in runoff waters was higher than in precipitation waters and increased during the day, together with increasing traffic intensity. Overall, the results confirmed that road runoff waters are heavily polluted and their quality should be monitored.