Traffic-related microplastic particles, metals, and organic pollutants in an urban area under reconstruction.

In urban environments, particularly areas under reconstruction, metals, organic pollutants (OP), and microplastics (MP), are released in large amounts due to heavy traffic. Road runoff, a major transport route for urban pollutants, contributes significantly to a deteriorated water quality in receiving waters. This study was conducted in Gothenburg, Sweden, and is unique because it simultaneously investigates the occurrence of OP, metals, and MP on roads and in stormwater from an urban area under reconstruction.

Occurrence of tire and bitumen wear microplastics on urban streets and in sweepsand and washwater.

Tire and road wear particles have been identified as a potential major source of microplastics in the environment. However, more knowledge of the emissions and their further fate in the environment is needed, and the effectiveness and benefits of potential measures must be investigated to support future risk management efforts. Here the concentrations of tire and bitumen microplastic particles (TBMP) on roads and in nearby in stormwater, sweepsand and washwater were measured for the first time within the same area and time period.

Organic pollutants, nano- and microparticles in street sweeping road dust and washwater.

Road areas are pollution hotspots where many metals, organic pollutants (OPs) and nano/microparticles accumulate before being transported to receiving waters. Particles on roads originate from e.g.

Measuring solids concentrations in urban stormwater and snowmelt: a new operational procedure.

A comparative study of five methods measuring suspended sediment or solid concentrations in water-sediment mixtures indicated that, depending on the method used, broadly varying results can be obtained. For water-sediment mixtures containing sand size particles, the standard TSS method produced negatively biased results, accounting for 0 to 90% of the present solids; the negative bias directly depended on the magnitude of the sand fraction in the water-sediment mixture. The main reason for the differences between the TSS and the rest of the methods laid in the handling of samples; in the former methods, whole samples were analysed, whereas the TSS analysis was performed on sub-samples withdrawn from the water sample, the withdrawal process tending to exclude large particles.