Dust In Urban Areas Research Articles

A ten-year historical analysis of urban PM10 and exceedance filters along the Northern Wasatch Front, UT, USA.

The Great Salt Lake (Utah, USA) is reducing in size, which raises several ecological concerns, including the effect of an increasing area of dry playa exposed by the retreating lake. This study focuses solely on concerns about the toxicity of metals in the dust blowing off the playa. Although considerable efforts have been made to understand aeolian dust in urban areas along the Wasatch Front, located just east and south of the Great Salt Lake, there is still a need to consolidate existing research and to conduct a compositional analysis of the dust found in these urban areas. We investigated the dust reaching urban monitoring sites around the Great Salt Lake that are managed by the Utah Division of Air Quality. By analyzing historical data, we found that the decrease in the Great Salt Lake's surface area has not led to a statistically significant increase in dust events in urban areas. Windrose plots align with prior research, indicating that heightened dust levels in urban areas coincide with winds originating from the south or west, passing over identified playas and deserts such as the Milford Flats, Sevier Dry Lake, Tule Dry Lake, Great Salt Lake Desert, Dugway Proving Grounds, and the West Desert of Utah. Metallic compositional analysis of urban dust was used to evaluate potential health risks associated with the dust using the hazard quotient, air regional screening levels, and cancer risk methods. This analysis revealed no significant increase in concentrations of toxic metals. However, this is not to preclude a risk of dust-related health concerns, especially due to pre-existing arsenic and lead levels. SYNOPSIS: This study provides insights into dust-related health risks and environmental impacts in Utah, analyzing dust exposure from shrinking Great Salt Lake.

Verification of On-Site Applicability of Rainwater Road Surface Spraying for Promoting Rainwater Utilization and Analyzing the Fine Dust Reduction Effect

This study conducted a pilot test and field demonstration to analyze the feasibility of using rainwater for road surface sprinkling and its effectiveness in reducing fine dust to create sustainable cities. The pilot test results verified the effectiveness of rainwater sprinkling on road surfaces in reducing fine dust. Subsequently, to ensure field applicability, a test bed with different pavement sections was established along Ojeong-ro in Bucheon, Gyeonggi-do, and a circulatory system for reusing the runoff rainwater was installed and tested for its acceptable dust reduction effectiveness. The results showed that the section with porous pavement exhibited a significant reduction in acceptable dust levels, and a trend of decreasing pollutant levels due to the initial washing effect of rainwater was observed. However, the water quality and quantity analysis revealed that additional purification processes are necessary to reuse the water for road surface sprinkling. Based on these findings, this study suggests that expanding porous pavement and introducing purification systems are essential for installing rainwater utilization facilities to reduce fine dust in urban areas. This research provides critical foundational data that can contribute to urban environmental improvement and establish a sustainable water circulation system.

Occurrence and characteristic of microplastics in suspended particulate, a case study in street of Yogyakarta

Microplastics (MPs) are increasingly recognized as emerging pollutants affecting the hydrosphere, geosphere, and atmosphere. One of the primary suspected sources of MPs is road dust in urban areas, with the majority originating from transportation, such as vehicle tires and road marking paint. MPs with a size of less than 5 mm can be ingested by humans from the air, and their potential effects remain largely undiscovered. There is still limited research on MPs in the air, particularly in Yogyakarta, one of the major cities in Indonesia. This study approach MPs as suspended particulates and, as such, employed a High Volume Air Sampler (HVAS) to collect air samples for Total Suspended Particulates TSP, PM2,5 and PM10 in four locations with high human activity and traffic volumes in Yogyakarta. A digital microscope was used to identify the number, shapes, and colors of the MPs. The results revealed 4576 particles of MPs in all the samples, with East Ringroad having twice the number of MPs compared to West Ringroad. The order of occurrence in terms of shapes was as follows: fragments (39%), films (37%), and fibers (25%). In terms of color, black was the dominant color of MPs, followed by brown and transparent. These results suggest a significant presence of black, fragmented-shaped MPs, which could indicate that most MPs in the ambient air near Yogyakarta’s roads originate from vehicle activity, consistent with previous findings. Furthermore, the high number of colored fibers and films may indicate packaging and fabric degradation in the surrounding area.

Spatial distribution, contamination levels, source identification and human health risk assessment of potentially toxic elements in street dust in urban area in Libya

ABSTRACT Street dust samples were collected from 31 sampling sites which were classified into four different groups in Zawiya, Libya, covering different traffic, city center, junkyards, oil refinery, farming, and household activities. Since the potentially toxic elements (PTEs) in street dust have a non-negligible impact on health, the aim of this study is to investigate the sources, pollution level and human health risk of PTEs. In this study, wavelength distribution X-ray fluorescence device was used to determine the concentration of PTEs. The spatial distribution, contamination levels, sources, and human health risks of PTEs in road dust were evaluated. The PTEs content of the street dust were found as Cr>Mn>Zn>Pb>Cu>Ni>Co. The average concentration of most PTEs (Co, Cu, Mn, Ni and Zn) was higher in junkyards and heavily traffic areas than in other areas. Cobalt and Cu has the highest geo accumulation index (Igeo) values, and due to these values, the study area was evaluated as moderately to heavily contaminated. Enrichment factor (EF) values of Cr, Pb and Zn exhibited a significant enrichment, indicating that some sampling sites were affected by anthropogenic sources. There was no lifetime cancer risk for exposure to PTEs in street dust by inhalation in Zawiya. Each hazard quotient (HQ) and hazard index (HI) for all PTEs were less than 1, indicating that exposure to PTEs in street dust did not have significant non-carcinogenic risks for both adults and children. In conclusion, Zn, Pb, Cu, Mn, and Cr were represented by the largest portion of the total data variance in the principal component analysis (PCA), and they were positively correlated. It was seen that study area was influenced by anthropogenic sources rather than natural sources, but there was no health risk.

Real-time measurements of mineral dust concentration in coarse particulate matter (PM10–2.5) by employing a novel optical-based technique in Los Angeles

As a primary component of coarse particulate matter (PM), ambient mineral dust has been linked to adverse health effects. Los Angeles, the largest metropolitan urban area of the United States, is impacted by both windblown and localized sources of mineral dust, often internally mixed with black carbon. The estimation of mineral dust concentrations with a high time resolution becomes critical in improving our understanding of its sources and temporal trends. Using Aethalometers combined with a high-volume virtual impactor (VI) to enrich coarse (2.5 <dp < 10 μm) particles, the light absorption and mass concentration of mineral dust were estimated in real-time during summer, fall, and winter over 2020–2021. The concentration-enriched coarse PM was collected on Teflon filters, and its chemical composition in terms of trace elements and metals was chemically quantified. The high time-resolution measurements enabled us to calculate the absorption coefficient of enriched dust particles by subtracting the light absorption of the post-VI coarse PM from that of the PM2.5 aerosol fraction to reduce the impact of stronger light absorbers in ambient PM. Mineral dust was more prevalent during the fall and winter campaigns (i.e., 19.3 and 11.4 μg/m3, respectively), lower concentrations were observed during the summer campaign (i.e., 8.50 μg/m3). The calculated absorption Ångström exponent (AAE) was 2.18, highlighting the presence of dust particles during the sampling period. The dust mass absorption coefficient was estimated to be 2.7 ± 1.6 Mm−1 at 370 nm and 0.41 ± 0.16 Mm−1 at 880 nm wavelengths, respectively. The validation of the proposed approach was investigated by comparing the evaluated mineral dust mass concentrations in this study with the reported coarse PM concentrations by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The results reported by the optical-based approach with high temporal resolution can provide crucial information on identifying sources of mineral dust in urban areas.

Characteristics, source apportionment and health risk assessment of heavy metals exposure via household dust from six cities in China

To investigate the characteristics and health risks of heavy metals in household dust in urban and rural areas during heating and non-heating period in 2016–2017, 762 dust samples and 381 questionnaires from 381 households were collected from Dalian, Taiyuan, Lanzhou, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chengdu in China. The results indicated that Dalian was the most polluted city, while Shanghai and Chengdu were the least polluted cities during the study period. Longer ventilation times led to higher concentrations of heavy metals, and the weighting of heating duration exceeded that of heating type. Soil was the dominant contributor to household dust for Hg, Ni, Cu, Zn, and As, whereas Pb primarily originated from traffic. The non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks associated with heavy metals in household dust were acceptable, with ingestion being the primary exposure route. The risk of adverse health effects caused by heavy metal intake via household dust in urban areas was higher than that in rural areas, and increased during household heating period. Ingestion was the most significant route leading to adverse health effects due to heavy metals in household dust. The exception was the carcinogenic risk associated with Ni, which is known to enter the human body mainly via inhalation.

Fundamental study on the estimation of resuspended road dust in urban areas

Fundamental study on the estimation of resuspended road dust in urban areas

Occurrence and characteristics of microplastics in surface road dust in Kusatsu (Japan), Da Nang (Vietnam), and Kathmandu (Nepal)

Microplastics (MPs, plastics < 5 mm) are a growing concern in ecosystems, being found in the soil and water environment. One of the primary sources of MPs has been suspected to be road dust in urban areas as it can flow into waters with runoff. To understand the occurrence of MPs (100 μm–5 mm) in surface road dust of three cities (Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan; Da Nang, Vietnam; and Kathmandu, Nepal), we collected surface road dust samples. The samples were pretreated (organic matter decomposition and gravity separation), and all MP candidates were individually observed by microscope for color, shape, and size; and analyzed their polymer types using fourier transform infrared spectrometry. The abundances of MPs 100 μm to 5 mm in size were 2.0 ± 1.6 pieces/m2 (13 polymer types) in Kusatsu, 19.7 ± 13.7 pieces/m2 in Da Nang (14 types), and 12.5 ± 10.1 pieces/m2 in Kathmandu (15 types). We classified the MPs into two groups; containers/packaging-MPs and rubber-MPs. Among all MPs, the containers/packaging-MPs accounted for 55 ± 5% of the polymer types composition. In contrast, the rubber-MPs accounted for 16 ± 6% of all MPs which were higher than those previously published for environmental water and sediment samples. The containers/packaging-MPs were fragments of various colors while most of the rubber-MPs were fragments or granules in black. The number–size distributions of MPs showed that the mode of formation explains the differences between their polymer types (tearing for containers/packaging-MPs and abrasion for rubber-MPs). In Da Nang and Kathmandu, the abundance of containers/packaging-MPs and rubber-MPs were correlated so that those MPs might be micronized from the originated materials in the sources with the similar composition (e.g. dump points). It was indicated that the characteristics of MPs pollution in surface road dust might be different depending on waste management practices.

Chemical (C, N, S, black carbon, soot and char) and stable carbon isotope composition of street dusts from a major West African metropolis: Implications for source apportionment and exposure

Street dust is a major source of pollution and exposure of residents of West Africa to toxic chemicals. There is however, limited knowledge about the chemical composition and sources of street dust in urban areas of sub-Saharan Africa. The total carbon (TC), nitrogen (TN), sulfur (TS) and the stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) contents of street dust sampled from 25 sites distributed across Kumasi (a metropolis in Ghana with a population of ca. 2 million) were determined. In addition, black carbon (BC) and their subunits (soot and char) in these samples were also determined. The concentrations of TC, TN and TS in the dusts were 5–71 mg g−1, 0.3–4.3 mg g−1 and 0.2–1.4 mg g−1, respectively. The concentrations of TC, TN and TS were higher than at the background site of the metropolis by a factor of 5.1 (range: 1.7–12), 3.9 (1.1–13) and 2.8 (0.7–5), respectively. The BC, char and soot concentrations in these samples averaged 1.6 mg g−1 (0.13–4.4), 1.2 mg g−1 (0.08–3.7) and 0.36 mg g−1 (0.05–1.5), respectively. The concentrations of BC, char and soot in the street dust were higher than in the background location by factors of 5 (range: 0.8–13), 6 (0.7–17) and 3 (0.5–12), respectively. The TC, TN, TS, BC, soot and char concentrations were positively correlated with each other and with polycyclic aromatic compounds (PAHs, oxygenated PAHs and azaarenes from a previous study), indicating their common origin and fate. The δ13C values ranged from −27 to −24 [‰], with more polluted sites being more depleted in 13C. Based on the chemical composition of the street dusts, the 25 sites could be clustered into four groups by hierarchical cluster analysis which reflect areas of varying anthropogenic influence and, accordingly, exposure to hazardous chemicals.

拉萨城市近地层风环境特征初步分析

本文选取拉萨市1981~2010年逐日风速、风向地面观测资料，统计分析近30a拉萨城区近地层风环境特征表明：拉萨市区的风环境具有明显的日变化特征。全年风速变化呈单峰型，最大平均风速出现在3、4月份，风速为2.2 m/s，最小风速出现在10、11、12月，均为1.4 m/s。拉萨的城区主导风是东风其次是东南偏东风(ESE)，夏季稍有不同，呈现出西北偏西风向。历年大风灾害主要以沙尘、扬沙和浮尘为主，其中拉萨市区的浮尘天气最多，市区内造成灾害的主要为瞬时大风。 This paper selects the ground observation data about the daily wind speed and direction in Lhasa to analyze the characters of the boundary layer wind nearly 30 years from 1981 to 2010. The paper shows that the wind environment in Lhasa has the typical diurnal changes. The wind speed of the whole year is unimodal type. The maximum speed is 2.2 m/s in March and April and the minimum speed is 1.4 m/s in October, November and December. The main wind is East and ESE in urban area of Lhasa. When in summer, it’s different from others. It’s often WNW. The cal-endar year wind disasters are mainly composed of dust, sand blowing and floating dust in urban area of Lhasa, the most is floating dust. The instantaneous wind causes disasters in the main urban area.

Distribution, Source and Human Exposure of Phthalic Acid Esters (PAEs) in Surface Dust in Urban Area of Xi'an City, China

A total of 58 surface dust samples were collected in urban area of Xi'an City. High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) was used to analyze the concentrations of six phthalic acid esters (PAEs) listed as priority pollutants by United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA). Composition, distribution, environmental sources and exposure characteristics of PAEs in the surface dust were further studied. All analyzed PAEs were detected in the surface dust. The concentration of individual PAE compounds varied from not detectable to 183.19 mg·kg-1 and their mean concentrations decreased in the order of DEHP>DnBP >>DEP >DMP >BBP >DnOP. The total concentration of six PAEs (∑6PAEs) ranged from 0.87 to 250.30 mg·kg-1 with an average of 40.48 mg·kg-1, and followed the order of parks >traffic area >mixed business and traffic area >residential area >educational area >industrial area. The ∑6PAEs presented the decreasing trend along the main urban area - the second ring road - the third ring road. The results of correlation analysis, principal component analysis and cluster analysis showed that PAEs in surface dust of Xi'an City were related to the application of plasticizers, the emission of cosmetics and personal care products along with building materials and home decoration materials. The dose order of human exposure to PAEs in surface dust was the direct ingestion by hand and mouth >>dermal adsorption >inhalation via mouth and nose. Meanwhile, the intake dose of children was higher than that of adults. However, the intake dose of DnBP, DEHP, DBP and BBP was lower than the tolerable daily intake (TDI) suggested by European Union Scientific Committee for Toxicity, Ecotoxicity and the Environment (EU CSTEE) and the reference doses (RfD) proposed by U.S. EPA.

An index for estimating the potential metal pollution contribution to atmospheric particulate matter from road dust in Beijing

The resuspension of road dust from street surfaces could be a big contributor to atmospheric particulate pollution in the rapid urbanization context in the world. However, to date what its potential contribution to the spatial pattern is little known. Here we developed an innovative index model called the road dust index (RI<105μm) and it combines source and transport factors for road dust particles <105μm in diameter. It could quantify and differentiate the impact of the spatial distribution of the potential risks posed by metals associated with road dust on atmospheric suspended particles. The factors were ranked and weighted based on road dust characteristics (the amounts, grain sizes, and mobilities of the road dust, and the concentrations and toxicities of metals in the road dust). We then applied the RI<105μm in the Beijing region to assess the spatial distribution of the potential risks posed by metals associated with road dust on atmospheric suspended particles. The results demonstrated that the road dust in urban areas has higher potential risk of metal to atmospheric particles than that in rural areas. The RI<105μm method offers a new and useful tool for assessing the potential risks posed by metals associated with road dust on atmospheric suspended particles and for controlling atmospheric particulate pollution caused by road dust emissions.

Spatial distribution of Pb in urban soil from Port Pirie, South Australia

Abstract Exposure to Lead (Pb) from soil and dust in urban areas continues to threaten human health especially that of children, who are more likely to ingest a higher Pb fraction from contaminated soil. Geostatistical approaches were evaluated for the prediction of soil Pb concentrations. Ordinary kriging (OK) and co-kriging (CoK) were used to predict spatial distributions of both soil Pb concentrations and bioaccessibility. The relative accuracies of the developed predictive models were assessed using of coefficients of determination ( R 2 ) and the root mean square error (RMSE) based on the cross validation method. The accuracy of the final model was evaluated via comparison between predicted and traditional soil measurements. While OK models ( n = 73 ) were unreliable for predicting a Pb concentration surface, correlation between Pb and Zn was a useful mechanism for obtaining better predictions of soil Pb using CoK. The CoK model of log transformed Pb with Zn resulted in the best fitted model ( R 2 = 0.63 ). The percentage relative improvement (RI) for this model was 39% which suggested relatively reliable prediction accuracy. A probability kriging (PK) surface was used to describe the probability of bioaccessibility exceeding a threshold of 17% as an indicator for potential human risk. The areas with highest probability of exceeding the threshold were in agreement with previous risk area divisions related to blood Pb (BPb) levels for children under 5 years of age. The results of this research confirmed that geostatistical methods had the ability to rapidly estimate soil Pb distributions for environmental health risk assessment.

Willingness to Pay for Cleaning up Road Dust in Vientiane

This paper sets out to estimate residents’ Willingness to Pay (WTP) for cleaning up road dust in urban areas of Vientiane, Laos. The analysis relies on the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) and seeks to identify the factors affecting WTP. Based on a sample of 6,590 respondents, the results show a mean WTP of 7069 kip (USD0.86) per person per month. This amounts to 4.7% of residents’ average monthly income. Education and income have a statistically positive impact on WTP. Conversely, the number of children in family has a statistically negative impact on WTP. These results offer information to policy makers dealing with the dust problem on urban roads in Vientiane. Key words: Road dust; Contingent valuation method (CVM); Willingness to pay; Vientiane

Attics as archives for house infiltrating pollutants: trace elements and pesticides in attic dust and soil from southern Nevada and Utah

Attic dust and soil samples were collected from three communities in southern Nevada and Utah. The samples were analyzed for 17 trace elements (Li, V, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn, Ga, As, Rb, Sr, Cd, Cs, Ba, Pb, Sn, Sb) by ICP-MS and semivolatile organic compounds by GC-MS. Elements traditionally found enriched in road and house dust in urban areas (Pb, Zn, Cd, Sb, Sn) were even more highly enriched in attic dust. Lead stood out as having the highest enrichment factors (relative to both the local soil and its natural abundance) and was highly correlated with the age of the house ( R 2=0.87, n=8). Analysis of the samples for pesticides found DDT and chlordane, but only in the older attics. Together, these data suggest that undisturbed attics may act as archives of atmospheric dust, by preferentially trapping and preserving airborne particulate matter, and should be considered by researchers interested in study of past atmospheric dust and/or reconstructing exposure histories.

Solubility and potential toxicity of lead in urban street dust.

The lead content of roadside and playground dust in urban areas is frequently high enough to make a major contribution to the lead intake of children through accidental ingestion of the dust. The question arises as to whether the material presents the potential toxic hazard suggested by its gross lead content. Although the fact of the build-up of lead from aerial deposition in surroundings frequently washed by rainwater suggests rather low lead solubility, the acidity of stomach fluids is much greater than that of rainwater, giving the possibility of a marked difference in solubility. We now report measurements of the extractability of lead at various acidities, our object being to assess the potential toxicity, following ingestion, of this form of environmental lead.