Dust Control is a Must
Dust is a big problem in some areas. Sometimes you can see clouds of dust rising from construction or industrial sites, like a landfill, and think, I’m glad I don’t live near there. But how far do you have to live “away from there” to be safe? In these places, dust is not just bits of dried earth that are floating around, although that is dangerous in itself to breathe if they are 10 microns or less in diameter (PM10 and PM2.5). If a vehicle leaks coolant or other fluids, it’s in the dust. If a plastic container disintegrates and gets crushed in the equipment, it’s in the dust. If there are any other chemical emissions from the place, they are sticking to the dust. All of this is in the air, ready to coat your car and kid’s outdoor toys, ready to be tracked into the home, and ultimately ready to be breathed in and settle in your lungs, bloodstream and organs.
I thought that enforcement of dust control was under local authority, but it’s actually a mix of the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and state and local agencies. Construction operations need to have a “dust control plan” in place. Dust control measures apply to any construction site where major soil disturbances or heavy equipment construction activities—such as clearing, excavation, demolition or excessive vehicle traffic—occur. In smart planning, dust control doesn’t need to cost a lot. It can be as simple as sequencing activities in a way that disturbs only small areas at a time. (Dust Control)
Here are some methods that work for dust control:
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Gravel or stone: Spreading gravel can reduce soil losses by 95 percent compared to unstabilized soils (Dust Control)
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Tillage is the breaking up of the earth with a plow so that clods of earth are exposed, which are large and heavy enough to cover dust particles and keep them from being airborne.
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Wind breaks: If the dust is being kicked up across expanses of open soil, then using shrubs or plants that reduce the velocity of wind through a site will reduce the number of particles the wind suspends. Constructed barriers such as wind fences, snow fences, tarp curtains, hay bales, crate walls or sediment walls also work.
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Magnesium chloride and calcium chloride are dust control solutions that have been around since at least the 1920’s. They are hygroscopic salts, meaning that they attract moisture from the air and ground, which helps bind materials together and keep dust particles from becoming airborne. They are typically applied as a liquid “brine” on large areas, or flakes or pellets for smaller areas like horse arenas. They are biodegradable but repeated use can cause accumulation in the soil, which damages/inhibits nearby vegetation growth. These types of salt also cause corrosion of vehicles and equipment.
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Plant-based solutions:
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Mulch: According to the EPA, Mulch can reduce wind erosion by 75 to 95 percent compared to unstabilized soils, depending on the type of mulch and the application rate. Mulch is effective on sites that will reestablish vegetation and in areas where there is no slope or low slope. Mulch can be effective in areas with steep slopes if it is used with “tackifiers” or other stabilization methods.
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Beet juice? Road Control Plus is a ready-to-use blend of de-Sugared beet juice, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride is made in the U.S.A. The beet juice helps the salts to last longer and reduces corrosion.
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EPIC DS (Dust Suppressant) is a “plant-based natural ester dust control product”. It is readily biodegradable and environmentally sustainable, and on safety data sheets is known as a “vegetable oil mist”.
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Polymers:
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Perma-zyme is a natural soil stabilizer that binds soil into a hard, concrete-like surface that resists water, erosion, and dust. Its active ingredients are enzymes that occur naturally in living organisms like yeast and bacteria. The other ingredients in Perma-Zyme are a trade secret, so the company will not disclose them, but they do say that they’re organic. In fact, 70% of them are food-grade materials. (The Basics of Perma-Zyme) Technically, enzymes are biological polymers known as proteins.
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Dura-Crust is an engineered co-polymer, designed for water dilution and application. The need for re-applications reduced with each subsequent application (binds to itself). It is non-toxic, safe for plants, wildlife and Title 22 approved for freshwater and aquatic life. This page shows 2 videos of different uses which are remarkable and cost-saving.
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Products like AquaTarp and AcriBind contain co-latex polymers, which are water-based emulsions widely used in coatings, paints, adhesives, and sealants to improve elasticity, strength, and durability (as in latex paint, which becomes stretchy when dry). (How to achieve effective dust control on construction sites)
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Lignin sulfonate is derived from wood processing byproducts, lignin sulfonates act as natural binders, helping soil particles stick together. They’re more sustainable than chloride salts and are biodegradable under most conditions. However, their effectiveness can diminish during heavy rainfall, and the treated surfaces may become slippery when wet or tacky in extreme heat. (Dust Control and Suppression Techniques: Eco-Friendly S0olutions for Gravel Roads and Beyond)
What doesn’t work:
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Various forms of petroleum oils were sprayed on roads for decades because they caused dust particles to stick together and become too heavy to be airborne, but most are environmentally toxic. In the early 1970’s, a Superfund site was born when a waste oil hauler bought a quantity of petroleum waste oil laced with dioxins, and began to spray it on roads and stable sites in Times Beach and Shenandoah Stables, Missouri for dust control. At least 40 horses in the stables, as well as many other animals, died as a result, and many individuals in the town became sickened. The US government did not intervene with testing and evacuations until the early 1980’s.
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In 2010, London tried a big “science experiment” to reduce PM10. It sprayed calcium magnesium acetate, a de-icer, on its major roads and intersections, claiming that it was a “pollution glue”, but it ultimately did not work at sites where the PM10 was purely due to traffic (mainly diesel vehicle emissions). (Boris Johnson's sticky pollution solution shown to be a £1.4m failure) London ultimately secured a lot of air quality gains by being the first major city to implement Ultra-Low Emissions Zones (ULEZ), which establishes areas in London where vehicles must meet strict emissions or face daily fines, with additional fines for heavy vehicles such as vans and buses. (A timeline of London’s air quality over the years: From the Great Smog to a clean air leader)
If you continually notice dust rising from construction or industrial sites whenever they are in operation, consider that it’s not just a nuisance, it’s a real health and environmental problem. If you speak to the manager of the site but he or she fails to implement dust control, you can file a complaint with OSHA anonymously online or call the local OSHA office. (File a Complaint) The old way of thinking that dust was just a consequence of progress that had to be tolerated is not correct, because any company that uses this logic is poisoning, most of all, their own employees and surrounding residents. In Corby, UK, a whole town was poisoned by trucks moving toxic waste and the dust that flew off them (see our article). Don’t let your town become the next Superfund site!
