Effective mitigation efforts to reduce road dust near industrial sites: Assessment by mobile pollution surveys

Assessment of spatial variation of fugitive dust sources, particularly road dust track-out from industrial sites and its subsequent re-suspension is difficult with fixed air quality monitoring stations given their sparse distribution and the highly localized nature of road dust. Mobile monitoring was employed to measure levels of road dust in the industrial area of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Results of this monitoring were used in a Fugitive Dust Control workshop held for local stakeholders, where fugitive dust control solutions were presented. After the workshop, the City of Hamilton and cooperative industrial groups executed enhanced street cleaning and individual industries and facilities performed on-site control activities. Post-workshop mobile air monitoring was performed for comparison to the initial values to determine effectiveness of these approaches. A regression model testing the difference pre- and post-workshop yielded a statistically significant difference in PM10 measurements demonstrating improvement. The average value of PM10 prior to the workshop was 114 μg/m3. Post-workshop the average value dropped to 73 μg/m3.

► Road dust was monitored in industrial areas of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
► A workshop presented results, health impacts and control solutions to stakeholders.
► Post workshop monitoring revealed statistically significant decreases in road dust.