Lead Contamination Adjacent to Roadways in Trujillo,Venezuela

This study analyzes the extent and pattern of lead contamination along roadways in Trujillo, Venezuela, using traffic counts and soil samples collected in the field. The normalized mean lead level for frontyard samples along major traffic arteries was 200 μgg ^-1 versus 0 μgg^-1 for backyard samples. Furthermore 55%of the frontyard lead levels were hazardous, versus 7% of the backyard samples. This suggests a strong relationship between traffic and soil lead content. However, a relationship between lead level spatial patterns and traffic volume patterns was not established, suggesting that factors beyond traffic volume, such as slope and erosion, play a significant role in contamination patterns.