Abstract
Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are persistent organic pollutants appearing ubiquitously in the environment with potential impacts on human health. Urban environments tend to have elevated levels of PAHs throughout the atmosphere and soil. Within the Oklahoma City Metropolitan, soil was evaluated for carcinogenic PAH (cPAH) concentration and examined for potential factors influencing presence and magnitude especially in soils receiving direct rooftop runoff. An overall and comparative analysis was performed of PAHs in soils from ninety-two urban sites for a total of 184 soil samples. This cPAH load was compared between soils receiving rooftop runoff and paired reference samples using Wilcoxon Signed-Rank testing, as were rooftop materials (metal, tar, asphalt) and building types (residential, commercial, school) between sites using Kruskall Wallace tests. A majority of locations analyzed had levels of cPAHs above the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s soil screening level (SSL) including benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), which was representative of the cPAH concentrations. CPAH concentrations in soils directly receiving rooftop runoff (contact soils) were significantly greater than in paired reference samples. Roofing type did not vary in contributing to cPAH levels. Additionally, schools and commercial contact soils had significantly elevated levels of cPAHs and BaP as compared to residential contact soils. Soil in Oklahoma City Metropolitan had significantly elevated cPAH loads in samples receiving rooftop runoff, but not likely as the result of roofing material. In a post-hoc analysis, buildings used as schools included the most contaminated sites. School soil contamination should be further investigated.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data Availability
All data generated by this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
References
Agarwal, T., & Bucheli, T. D. (2011). Is black carbon a better predictor of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon distribution in soils than total organic carbon? Environmental Pollution, 159(1), 64–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envpol.2010.09.016
Ambade, B., Sethi, S. S., & Chintalacheruvu, M. R. (2023). Distribution, risk assessment, and source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) using positive matrix factorization (PMF) in urban soils of East India. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 45(2), 491–505. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01223-x
ATSDR. (2015). Public health statement for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). CDC. Retrieved from https://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/ToxProfiles/tp69-c1.pdf. Accessed 1 Mar 2015
Baek, S. O., Field, R. A., Goldstone, M. E., Kirk, P. W., Lester, J. N., & Perry, R. (1991). A review of atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Sources, fate and behavior. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution, 60(3), 279–300. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00282628
Calabrese, E. J., Stanek, E., James, R. C., & Roberts, S. M. (1997). Soil ingestion: A concern for acute toxicity in children. Environmental Health Perspectives, 105(12), 1354–1358. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.971051354
CDC. (2009). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) factsheet. National Biomonitoring Program. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/PAHs_FactSheet.html. Accessed 23 June 2015
Chamberlain, M. D. (1963). Sandwich roofing element. U.S. Patent 3,111,787. Retrieved from https://patents.google.com/patent/US3111787. Accessed 3 Mar 2015
Chen, Y. P., Zeng, Y., Guan, Y. F., Huang, Y. Q., Liu, Z., Yang, W. W., Xu, S., Sun, Y. X., & Chen, S. J. (2022). Characterization of size-resolved emissions of alkylated and nitrated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from various combustion scenarios. Atmospheric Pollution Research, 13(12), 101595. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apr.2022.101595
Davis, E., Walker, T. R., Adams, M., Willis, R., Norris, G. A., & Henry, R. C. (2019). Source apportionment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in small craft harbor (SCH) surficial sediments in Nova Scotia, Canada. Science of the Total Environment, 691, 528–537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.114
Domínguez, C., Sarkar, S., Bhattacharya, A., Chatterjee, M., Bhattacharya, B., Jover, E., Albaigés, J., Bayona, J. M., Alam, M. A., & Satpathy, K. K. (2010). Quantification and source identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in core sediments from sundarban mangrove wetland, India. Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, 59(1), 49–61. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00244-009-9444-2
Egodawatta, P., Thomas, E., & Goonetilleke, A. (2009). Understanding the physical processes of pollutant build-up and wash-off on roof surfaces. Science of the Total Environment, 407(6), 1834–1841. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2008.12.027
Fetzer, J. C., & Kershaw, J. R. (1995). Identification of large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in a coal tar pitch. Fuel, 74(10), 1533–1536. https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-2361(95)00117-N
Förster, J. (1999). Variability of roof runoff quality. Water Science and Technology, 39(5), 137–144. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-1223(99)00095-5
Göbel, P., Dierkes, C., & Coldewey, W. (2007). Storm water runoff concentration matrix for urban areas. Journal of Contaminant Hydrology, 91(1–2), 26–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jconhyd.2006.08.008
Hangebrauck, R., Von Lehmden, D., & Meeker, J. (1967). Sources of polynuclear hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. Public Health Service Publication No. 999-AP-33.
Ho-Pham, H. N., & Maibach, H. I. (2020). Roofers. Kanerva’s Occupational Dermatology, 2285–2294. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68617-2_188
Hou, J., Bian, L., & Li, T. (2013). Characteristics and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in impervious surface run-off in an urban area in Shanghai, China. Journal of Zhejiang University Science A, 14(10), 751–759. https://doi.org/10.1631/jzus.A1300155
IBM Corp. (2011). IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Version 20.0. IBM Corp.
Johnsen, A. R., & Karlson, U. (2007). Diffuse PAH contamination of surface soils: Environmental occurrence, bioavailability, and microbial degradation. Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, 76(3), 533–543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-007-1045-2
Keith, L. H., & Telliard, W. A. (1979). ES&T Special Report: Priority pollutants: I-a perspective view. Environmental Science and Technology, 13(4), 416–423. https://doi.org/10.1021/es60152a601
Kennedy, E. O., Adams, I., Raymond, W., & Ande, S. (2022). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in harvested rainwater in Warri and Agbarho, Nigeria. Bulletin of the Chemical Society of Ethiopia, 36(4), 779–789. https://doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i4.5
Kongpran, J., Kliengchuay, W., Niampradit, S., Sahanavin, N., Siriatruengsuk, W., & Tantrakarnapa, K. (2021). The health risks of airborn polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): Upper Norther Thailand. GeoHealth, 5(4), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GH000352
Lay, J. J. (2014). Water quality and the first-flush effect in roof-based rainwater harvesting [Thesis]. Stillwater, OK: Oklahoma State University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/11244/14959. Accessed 4 Oct 2014
Lorenzi, D., Entwistle, J. A., Cave, M., & Dean, J. R. (2011). Determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in urban street dust: Implications for human health. Chemosphere, 83(7), 970–977. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.02.020
Mahler, B. J., Van Metre, P. C., Wilson, J. T., Musgrove, M., Burbank, T. L., Ennis, T. E., & Bashara, T. J. (2010). Coal-tar-based parking lot sealcoat: An unrecognized source of PAH to settled house dust. Environmental Science and Technology, 44(3), 894–900. https://doi.org/10.1021/es902533r
Mendez, C. B., Klenzendorf, J. B., Afshar, B. R., Simmons, M. T., Barrett, M. E., Kinney, K. A., & Kirisits, M. J. (2011). The effect of roofing material on the quality of harvested rainwater. Water Research, 45(5), 2049–2059. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2010.12.015
Mesonet. (2023). Normal Maximum Temperature. Oklahoma Climatological Survey. Retrieved from https://www.mesonet.org/weather/air-temperature/normal-maximum-temperature-july?ref=1324. Accessed 10 June 2023
Mielke, H. W., Wang, G., Gonzales, C. R., Powell, E. T., Le, B., & Quach, V. N. (2004). PAHs and metals in the soils of inner-city and suburban New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. Envrionmental Toxicology and Pharmacology, 18(3), 243–247. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.etap.2003.11.011
Morillo, E., Romero, A., Maqueda, C., Madrid, L., Ajmone-Marsan, F., Grcman, H., Davidson, C. M., Hursthouse, A. S., & Villaverde, J. (2007). Soil pollution by PAHs in urban soils: A comparison of three European cities. Journal of Environmental Monitoring, 9(9), 1001–1008. https://doi.org/10.1039/b705955h
Mumtaz, M., George, J., Gold, K., Cibulas, W., & Derosa, C. (1996). ATSDR evaluation of health effects of chemicals. IV. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs): understanding a complex problem. Toxicology and Industrial Health, 12(6), 742–971. https://doi.org/10.1177/074823379601200601
National Research Council CoPSA. (1983). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: Evaluation of sources and effects. National Academies Press.
Pilková, Z., Hiller, E., Filová, L., & Jurkovič, Ľ. (2022). Sixteen priority polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in roadside soils at traffic light intersections (Bratislava, Slovakia): Concentrations, sources and influencing factors. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 44, 3473–3492. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-021-01122-7
Rafique, M., Rashid, A., Tao, S., Wang, B., Ullah, A., Lu, L., Ullah, H., Ali, M. U., & Naseem, W. (2022). Urinary PAHs metabolites in Karakoram Highway’s heavy traffic vehicle (HTV) drivers: Evidence of exposure and health risk. Environmental Geochemistry and Health, 45, 1013–1026. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-022-01301-0
Rezaei Kalantary, R., Jaafarzadeh, N., Rezvani Ghalhari, M., & Hesami Arani, M. (2022). Cancer risk assessment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the soil and sediments of Iran: A systematic review study. Reviews on Environmental Health, 37(4), 597–612. https://doi.org/10.1515/reveh-2021-0080
Rocher, V., Azimi, S., Gasperi, J., Beuvin, L., Muller, M., Moilleron, R., & Chebbo, G. (2004). Hydrocarbons and metals in atmospheric deposition and roof runoff in central Paris. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 159(1), 67–86. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:WATE.0000049165.12410.98
Salehi, M., Beni, O. H., Harchegani, H. B., Borujeni, I. E., & Motaghian, H. (2011). Refining soil organic matter determination by loss-on-ignition. Pedosphere, 21(4), 473–482. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1002-0160(11)60149-5
Scoggins, M., McClintock, N., Gosselink, L., & Bryer, P. (2007). Occurrence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons below coal-tar-sealed parking lots and effects on stream benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Journal of the North American Benthological Society, 26(4), 694–707. https://doi.org/10.1899/06-109.1
Selbig, W. R. (2009). Concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in urban stormwater, Madison, Wisconsin, 2005–08. US Geological Survey. Retrieved from https://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2009/1077/pdf/ofr20091077.pdf. Accessed 1 Nov 2016
Simon, J. A., & Sobieraj, J. A. (2006). Contributions of common sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons to soil contamination. Rem J, 16(3), 25–35. https://doi.org/10.1002/rem.20089
Stanek, E. J., III., & Calabrese, E. J. (1995). Daily estimates of soil ingestion in children. Environmental Health Perspectives, 103(3), 276–285. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.95103276
Talaska, G., Underwood, P., Maier, A., Lewtas, J., Rothman, N., & Jaeger, M. (1996). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), nitro-PAHs and related environmental compounds: Biological markers of exposure and effects. Environmental Health Perspectives, 104(suppl 5), 901–906. https://doi.org/10.1289/ehp.96104s5901
The Edmond Economic Development Authority. (2023). Oklahoma City Metro. Esri. Retrieved from https://www.eeda.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2022-Community-Profile-Report-Oklahoma-City-Metro-1.pdf. Accessed 3 Apr 2023
Trapido, M. (1999). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in Estonian soil: Contamination and profiles. Environmental Pollution, 105(1), 67–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0269-7491(98)00207-3
U.S. Census Bureau. (2023). Oklahoma quick facts table. Retrieved from https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/oklahomacountyoklahoma,oklahomacitycityoklahoma,OK/PST045221. Accessed 3 Apr 2023
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. (2008). Comprehensive housing market analysis. Retrieved from https://www.huduser.gov/publications/pdf/cmar_neworleansla.pdf. Accessed 12 Nov 2016
USEPA. (2007). Ecological soil screening levels for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2015-09/documents/eco-ssl_pah.pdf. Accessed 1 Nov 2014
USEPA. (2016a). Definition and procedure for the determination of the method detection limit, revision 2. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2016-12/documents/mdl-procedure_rev2_12-13-2016.pdf. Accessed 21 Nov 2021
USEPA. (2016b). Regional screening levels (RSLs) - user's guide. Retrieved from https://www.epa.gov/risk/regional-screening-levels-rsls-users-guide-may-2016. Accessed 17 May 2016
USEPA. (2023). Regional screening levels (RSLs) - user's guide. Retrieved from https://semspub.epa.gov/work/HQ/404057.pdf. Accessed 30 May 2023
Van Metre, P. C., & Mahler, B. J. (2003). The contribution of particles washed from rooftops to contaminant loading to urban streams. Chemosphere, 52(10), 1727–1741. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0045-6535(03)00454-5
Vane, C. H., Kim, A. W., Beriro, D. J., Cave, M. R., Knights, K., Moss-Hayes, V., & Nathanail, P. C. (2014). Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) in urban soils of Greater London, UK. Applied Geochemistry, 51, 303–314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apgeochem.2014.09.013
Wang, B., Lin, C., Zhang, X., Duan, X., Xu, D., Cheng, H., Wang, Q., Liu, X., Ma, J., Ma, J., & Wu, F. (2018). A soil ingestion pilot study for teenage children in China. Chemosphere, 202, 40–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2018.03.067
WHO. (2000). Air quality guidelines for Europe. Second Edition. Regional Office for Europe, Copenhagen. WHO Regional Publications, European Series, No. 91. Retrieved from https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/107335/9789289013581-eng.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 16 May 2015
Zhou, W., Zhang, H., Deng, C., Chen, Y., Liao, J., Chen, Z., & Xu, J. (2019). Solvent-assisted vacuum desorption coupled with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry for rapid determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in soil samples. Journal Chromatography A, 1604, 460473. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chroma.2019.4604730021-9673
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Competing Interests
The authors have no competing interests to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.
Additional information
Publisher's Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
About this article
Cite this article
Hileman, S., Belden, J. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Accumulation in Soil Receiving Rooftop Runoff in the Oklahoma City Metropolitan. Water Air Soil Pollut 234, 472 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06440-3
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11270-023-06440-3