Evaluating the impact of a limestone quarry on suspended and accumulated dust

Rock quarrying and processing is a source of coarse and fine particulate matter, which is transported by wind to the quarry surroundings and may have an environmental impact. The current study evaluated the possible contribution of dust from such a pollution source, a limestone quarry in north Israel, during the dry summer season. Accumulated dust and total suspended particulate matter were collected following an analysis of the prevailing synoptic conditions to evaluate the background dust, its origin and expected mineralogical and chemical properties. We performed comparative gravimetric, chemical and mineralogical analyses between sites lying upwind and downwind of the limestone quarry and defined the background dust and its origin. During the summer season under the Persian trough synoptic system, mineral dust in the research area was mostly composed of material similar to the local lithosphere, mainly carbonate rocks, and thus to the quarried rock. High concentrations of some trace metals, on the other hand, were related to remote sources, as has been documented previously for the Persian trough synoptic condition. Gravimetric analysis found 300 to 400% more accumulated dust and up to 400% more total suspended particulate matter about 1 km downwind versus upwind of the quarry. Mineralogical and chemical analyses of the dust samples, and of the quarried rock, revealed that the downwind site is enriched, relative to the upwind site, in the major component of the quarried rock–calcite, and that both sites are enriched in the major components of background dust.

Research highlights
► This study evaluated pollution of dust from a limestone quarry during dry season.
► Trace element analysis in TSP showed enrichment in elements from industrial sources.
► Downwind site is enriched in the major component of the quarried rock calcite.
► Backward trajectory analysis helped determine non-local events influencing TSP.