Heavy Metal Emissions from Linear Sources and Polluted Soil in The Capital City of Poland

Human activities such as transport contribute to the environmental degradation. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the level of contamination of soils, from different districts of big cities of central Europe, with heavy metals: zinc, lead, and nickel. The samples were taken from the top, sodded soil layer. Each single sample weigh was about 1 kg taken from 1 m2 measuring station. Soil samples were dried at room temperature. The airborne dry soil was thoroughly mixed and sieved through a 1 mm nylon sieve. The study included analysis of which type of metals is washed out under the influence of abiotic factors (bioavailable forms) and demonstrating how spatial development affects the accumulation of selected heavy metals in the soil. The results indicated that heavy metals emitted to the ground layer of the atmosphere accumulate in the immediate vicinity of communication routes. Moreover, based on the analysis of interrelationships of zinc, lead, and nickel concentrations, it has been shown that there is a common source of their emission to soil. Furthermore, the thesis that the concentration of metals was dependent on the soil reaction was not confirmed.