Metallic pollution in clogging materials of urban porous pavements

Abstract

Porous pavements infiltrated with stormwater are faced with clogging problems: runoff particles seep and clog the pervious surface layer of these structures. Clogging material samples (in the form of sludge) have been collected in cleaning operations on the pervious asphalt. This study aims at characterizing these materials, particle size distribution, heavy metal contents by particle size, and studying interactions between metals and particles. A sequential extraction procedure proposed by the experts of the Community Bureau of Reference (B.C.R.) was applied to provide information about heavy metal distribution on particles and to evaluate interaction strength, and consequently potential metal mobility when chemical variations occurred in the environment. Mainly made up of sand, the materials are polluted with lead, copper, zinc and cadmium. The concentrations appeared to be linked with road traffic intensity. The heavy metal contents by particle size showed that the finer are the particles, the higher are the heavy metal concentrations. Heavy metals were found potentially labile; metals contents in the residual fraction (mineral fraction) represented less than 20 % of the total concentration. Cadmium and zinc were apparently more labile than lead and copper.