Aerosol particle and trace gas emissions from earthworks, road construction, and asphalt paving in Germany: Emission factors and influence on local air quality

Mechanical processes such as asphalt sawing (PM1/PM10 = 18 ± 31%), soil compacting by a plate compactor (PM1/PM10 = 5 ± 6%) and earthworks (PM1/PM10 = 2 ± 5%) emit predominantly coarse mineral dust particles. Contrary to that, particle emissions by thermal construction processes (asphalt paving: PM1/PM10 = 62 ± 14%) and by the internal combustion engines of heavy machinery (e.g. road roller PM1/PM10 = 94 ± 9%) are mostly in the submicron range. These particles were mainly composed of organics containing non-polar saturated and unsaturated hydrocarbons (e.g. asphalting: O:C < 0.01, H:C = 2.01). Besides construction activities, mineral dust is also emitted over cleared land by wind-driven resuspension depending on wind speed. PM10 emissions by construction activities often result in local concentrations > 100 μg m−3 and can easily breach the European limit level of PM10. This study also shows that particulate mineral dust emissions are strongly dependent on soil moisture and can thus successfully be reduced to a high percentage by wetting the ground (for PM10 up to 95 ± 34%) showing the importance of potential mitigation strategies.