A running theme in this blog has been that pollution is transboundary. In the same vein, researchers from the University of Toronto (UoT) have found that road traffic doesn’t just contribute to air pollution, but to water pollution as well, potentially to a much greater extent than we might expect.
In the watersheds studied, this is what they found:
Many of the 35 different contaminants that were found in the watersheds are from chemicals used in oils, lubricants, windshield de-icing fluids, tires, paints, coatings and vehicle furniture. They end up in nearby watersheds because when they are emitted onto road surfaces they can get washed into nearby streams when it rains either on their own or while attached to road dust.
The primary source of these chemicals found in the water bodies is road surfaces. This is a form of local-scale transboundary pollution, though once the pollutants are in the water bodies and air they certainly do get transported to countless other environments.
The chemicals found are also toxic to the aquatic life in the water bodies. Even then, the researchers said that what they studied was only a fraction of what the water bodies probably contain. They deem it a “soup of a whole slew of contaminants”, and emphasise that the health of urban water systems is under threat as a result of the immense traffic that characterises urban life.
In my opinion, there is not much that can feasibly be done to help. Motor vehicles (transport systems) are critical to the functioning of urban areas. Despite how much they contribute to air pollution, there is only so much cutting down of transport that can be done without compromising on the livability of people and the functioning economic activity. But that doesn’t mean efforts should not be made at all! The development of efficient public transport and of walkable cities to reduce the number of vehicles on roads will have numerous other benefits like cutting down air pollution, ensuring a healthier population, etc. The UoT researchers also suggest the need for regular road sweeping and for individuals to maintain their cars to prevent paint flakes, oil leaks, tire particles and other pollutants from reaching the water systems.
The health of water bodies, as we are well aware, is imperative for the health of people as well as the flora and fauna which rely on them to survive. A polluted, toxic watershed will no doubt have ramifications on a wide scale and worsen in the future as the pollutants build up and persist in the ecosystem. Any and all efforts should therefore be made to reduce the pollutive effects that traffic has on the interconnected environments. No amount of pollution is acceptable.
This is the link to the full academic article: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/ac5c0e
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