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Evaluating the Effectiveness of Street Sweeping for Reducing Toxicity of Urban Runoff

delete2026-03-31
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PRE
AI
V
Victoria McGruer
G
Georg Braun
D
Danhui Xin
B
Beate I. Escher
E
Elizabeth Fassman-Beck
A
Alvine C. Mehinto *
DOI:10.1021/acsestwater.5c01309delete
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Abstract

Abstract

En 中文
Urban stormwater runoff contains mixtures of contaminants that may impact ecological and human health. Traditional monitoring focuses on a limited set of regulated pollutants (bacteria, nutrients, metals) and may overlook other drivers of toxicity. Here, we assessed the effectiveness of street sweeping as a stormwater management practice in removing toxic contaminants using cell bioassays and analytical chemistry. A rainfall generator was used to simulate three storm events on a heavily trafficked parking lot in Long Beach, California, where one side of the pavement was swept and the other side remained unswept. Cell bioassay screening indicated activation of xenobiotic metabolism, oxidative stress, and neurotoxicity in all swept and unswept runoff samples. Similarly, chemicals, such as pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, were detected in all runoff samples. Street sweeping reduced cell bioassay responses and contaminant levels, but these reductions were variable and not statistically significant. Iceberg modeling indicated that targeted analytes accounted for a small part of the observed biological responses (3–27% for xenobiotic metabolism, 0.05–0.09% for oxidative stress, and <0.0002% for neurotoxicity), suggesting the presence of other bioactive contaminants. These findings underscore the need to incorporate effect-based methods in water quality evaluations to ensure that treatment processes yield biologically meaningful improvements.
Keywords:
Assays
Metabolism
Oxidative stress
Pest control
Toxicology
best management practices
water quality
in vitro bioassays
carcinogenicity
oxidative stress
neurotoxicity

Journal

A
ACS ES&T Water
IF:
4.3
Papers:
2.4K
Citations:
4.9K

Organization

H
Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
Scholars:
193
Papers: 105
Citations: 1.4W