Investigation of Heavy Metal Sources on Railways: Ballast Layer and Herbicides

Abstract

Railway operation can result in the significant environment contamination with heavy metals. The aim of the study was to broaden the knowledge about the railway transport as a source of heavy metals. Railway ballast stones and herbicides were chosen as the objects of the research since these contamination sources on railways are hardly investigated. The location of sampling the ballast stones was a passenger station, which is characterized by the high traffic intensity. The three most common glyphosate-based herbicides and two combination system herbicides of burn-down with other active agents were chosen for the analysis. The heavy metal content in the railway ballast stones was detected by means of XRF, in the herbicides-by means of MP-AES. The railway ballast stones did not contain a sufficient amount of Cd, Co, Mo, Pd, Sn and W for detection. Pb and As were detected at the low concentration of less than 35 ppm only in several samples. The research results showed that the investigated railway ballast contained a significant amount of Fe, Mn, Cu, Cr and Ni. According to the absolute content of HMs in the contaminated ballast layer, they can be arranged in the following sequence: Fe > Mn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Zn > Pb > As. The content of Fe in the contaminated ballast stones was strongly correlated with that of Ni (r = 0.972), Cr (r = 0.954) and Mn (r = 0.943). These metals are components of the railway steel. Therefore, their source can be the abrasion of rails and wheels. All the investigated herbicides contained Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn. The highest content of Cd, Cr, Ni and Pb was detected in the "Anti field bindweed" herbicide, which can be related to its complicated composition. Compared to the heavy metal content in the ballast stones, the herbicides can be considered a negligible source of these pollutants.

Source Apportionment and Risk Assessment of Soil Heavy Metals due to Railroad Activity Using a Positive Matrix Factorization Approach

“…Thus, the operation of railways was considered to be the main anthropogenic source of these elements in the soil. These results are supported by previous studies [40][41][42][43][44]. It can be clearly noticed that factor one had a high loading of these heavy metals.…”

Impact of Railroad Transport on Physical and Chemical Properties of Soils in the Railway Junction Zduńska Wola – Karsznice (Central Poland)

“…Analyzing the study of Samarska et al (2020), the Fe content in soil samples from railroad areas was strongly correlated with Ni, Cr and Mn content. The values of element concentrations in the studied soils were arranged in the following order: Fe > Mn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Zn > Pb > As.…”

“…The values of element concentrations in the studied soils were arranged in the following order: Fe > Mn > Cu > Cr > Ni > Zn > Pb > As. These metals are components of railroad steel, as noted by Samarska et al (2020), and may be derived from rail and wheel abrasion.…”

Levantamento de brownfields das antigas estações, terminais e pátios abandonados pela Rede Ferroviária Federal S/A (RFFSA) no estado de São Paulo

“…Em pesquisa realizada na lista de áreas contaminadas da Companhia Ambiental do Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Sn and Zn (Baltrėnas et al, 2009;Golia et al, 2021;Efremova et al, 2020;Iturbe et al, 2003;Fröhlichová et al, 2018;Polyakov et al 2023, Pollock e Clair, 2020, Samarska et al, 2020Wiłkomirski et al, 2011). Isso mostra que os estudos de investigação dessas áreas no Brasil também devem abranger a análise destes.…”