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Abstract
Stormwater and atmospheric deposits were collected on a small residential urban catchment
(0.8 ha) near Paris in order to determine the levels of certain micropollutants (using
a preliminary scan of 69 contaminants, followed by a more detailed quantification
of PAHs, PCBs, alkylphenols and metals). Atmospheric inputs accounted for only 10%-38%
of the stormwater contamination (except for PCBs), thus indicating substantial release
within the catchment. On this small upstream catchment however, stormwater contamination
is significantly lower than that observed downstream in storm sewers on larger adjacent
urban catchments with similar land uses. These results likely stem from cross-contamination
activity during transfers inside the sewer system and underscore the advantages of
runoff management strategies at the source for controlling stormwater pollutant loads.
Moreover, it has been shown that both contamination levels and contaminant speciation
evolve with the scale of the catchment, in correlation with a large fraction of dissolved
contaminants in upstream runoff, which differs from what has been traditionally assumed
for stormwater. Consequently, the choice of treatment device/protocol must be adapted
to the management scale as well as to the targeted type of contaminant.