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. 2010 Feb 1;44(3):894-900.
doi: 10.1021/es902533r.

Coal-tar-based parking lot sealcoat: an unrecognized source of PAH to settled house dust

Barbara J Mahler  1 , Peter C Van Metre, Jennifer T Wilson, Marylynn Musgrove, Teresa L Burbank, Thomas E Ennis, Thomas J Bashara
Affiliations

Coal-tar-based parking lot sealcoat: an unrecognized source of PAH to settled house dust

Barbara J Mahler et al. Environ Sci Technol. .

Abstract

Despite much speculation, the principal factors controlling concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in settled house dust (SHD) have not yet been identified. In response to recent reports that dust from pavement with coal-tar-based sealcoat contains extremely high concentrations of PAH, we measured PAH in SHD from 23 apartments and in dust from their associated parking lots, one-half of which had coal-tar-based sealcoat (CT). The median concentration of total PAH (T-PAH) in dust from CT parking lots (4760 microg/g, n = 11) was 530 times higher than that from parking lots with other pavement surface types (asphalt-based sealcoat, unsealed asphalt, concrete [median 9.0 microg/g, n = 12]). T-PAH in SHD from apartments with CT parking lots (median 129 microg/g) was 25 times higher than that in SHD from apartments with parking lots with other pavement surface types (median 5.1 microg/g). Presence or absence of CT on a parking lot explained 48% of the variance in log-transformed T-PAH in SHD. Urban land-use intensity near the residence also had a significant but weaker relation to T-PAH. No other variables tested, including carpeting, frequency of vacuuming, and indoor burning, were significant.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Comparison of median concentrations of sum of 16 PAHs (T-PAH) in dust vacuumed from inside 23 apartments and from their parking lots.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Comparison of concentrations of the sum of 16 parent PAH (T-PAH) measured in dust vacuumed from (a) parking lots with coal-tar sealcoat (CT) and without coal-tar sealcoat (NCT), and (b) in settled house dust from the associated apartments.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Relation between sum of 16 parent PAH (T-PAH) in dust vacuumed from parking lot pavement and in settled house dust. Apartments with coal-tar-sealcoated parking lots (●), and those with parking lots without coal-tar sealcoat (◻).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Relation between urban land-use intensity (sum of multifamily residential, commercial, office, warehouse, and streets and roads) and sum of 16 parent PAH (T-PAH) in settled house dust. Apartments with coal-tar-sealcoated parkings lots (●), and those with parking lots without coal-tar sealcoat (◻).
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