If you’re in an urban area with strong winds, chances are you are breathing in more than just a little dust. You could be exposed to metals from cars, construction sites or pesticides used decades ago.
In a new study published in the , University of Virginia researchers collected and analyzed road dust samples from seven cities in the eastern U.S. to investigate the metal composition and if they pose a hazard to residents.
“Our lab specializes in analyzing the elemental profile of environmental samples, which can tell you about the history of a city,” said Robin Truong, the study’s lead author and an environmental sciences doctoral student in his third year at UVA. “Richmond, for example, is an older city with coal-fired power plants and a waste incineration plant, which explains the trace levels of lead found in road dust.”
In each city, the group collected dust samples from dozens of locations and brought them back to the lab to test for toxic metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium, which they found accounted for a third of the samples.
As a researcher, Truong is interested in toxic metals and atmospheric deposition. (Contributed photo)
“These dust samples are not from the middle of the highway,” said Justin Richardson, a co-author and professor of environmental sciences at UVA. “They were collected at public spaces, such as parks, schools and downtown areas where residents are likely to be exposed.”
Richardson, Truong’s faculty adviser, leads the Soil Biogeochemistry Lab that focuses on analyzing trace metals and elements.
Field work for this paper was also conducted by co-author Chattan Haselden, who graduated from UVA in May with a bachelor’s in environmental sciences. This work was also a part of his senior thesis.
The team found regional differences in road-dust composition that reflected the historical development of those cities. Samples from the northeastern cities of Trenton, New Jersey, and Wilmington, Delaware, which have legacy industrial activities, showed higher metal concentrations than other cities.
In the southeastern cities of Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia, the influence of historical pesticide use and port activities stood out more.
In addition, the Environmental Protection Agency does not monitor road dust pollution. The Clean Air Act and amendments focus only on six air pollutants, including particulate matter and lead, but does not cover road dust on the ground or the other 11 metals studied.
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