Characteristics of particle size distribution and related contaminants of highway-deposited sediment, Maanshan City, China.

Road-deposited sediment (RDS) has been identified as both the source and sink of various pollutants. In this study, the highway-deposited sediment (HDS) in Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter was characterized. On average, the mass proportions of particles with the size of 830-4750 μm, 500-830 μm, 250-500 μm, 150-250 μm, 63-150 μm and < 63 μm were 23.6 ± 8.6%, 16.9 ± 3.4%, 28.4 ± 3.5%, 10.0 ± 4.3%, 15.7 ± 5.8% and 5.3 ± 2.0%, respectively, wherein the HDS of 63-830 μm accounted for 71% of the total mass load. It was observed that the particle size distribution of HDS could be described using the gamma distribution function based on gravimetric and cumulative basis (R2 (determination coefficient) = 0.9960-0.9995). The bulk pollutant contents of HDS showed seasonal variation with the mean of COD (chemical oxygen demand), nitrogen, phosphorus, Zn (zinc), Pb (lead) and Cd (cadmium) as 57 g/kg, 839 mg/kg, 97 mg/kg, 627 mg/kg, 110 mg/kg and 1.00 mg/kg and the highest COD of 83 g/kg in Autumn, nitrogen 1164 mg/kg Autumn, phosphorus 133 mg/kg Winter, Zn 801 mg/kg Summer, Pb 133 mg/kg Spring and the highest Cd of 1.36 mg/kg in Summer, respectively. The contents of Zn, Pb and Cd in HDS were significantly above their local soil background values. Moreover, the size fractional pollutant contents overall increased as particles' size increased. Averagely, 40-52% pollutant loads were associated with the particles < 250 μm, which can be moved easily by runoff. This study suggests that the behaviors of HDS different from city RDS should be considered as nonpoint source pollution control is performed.