An approach to road dust control must take note of the type of road and the terrain in which it will be situated. The solution for a paved road inside the desert will be very different than a dirt road in the agricultural upper Midwest. Since nuisance dust has many sources within the environment, a lasting solution is just not feasible. But there are long term products and very short term options to road dust.

The shortest term solution will be the spraying of water on the road surface. This is certainly an environment-friendly solution, but only lasts until the water evaporates. Oils are a longer term solution, but are usually not nearly as environmentally friendly as water is. In some cases, like with Times Beach in Missouri, the oils are from a surplus supply and contain poisons. The oil which was used for the road dust control product for Times Beach was only six cents a gallon, but contained dioxin and additional toxic compounds. This was a cost-effective solution for this township and its dust problem, but a health and environmental nightmare. This has lead to a ban by many nations for the usage of waste oils being a road dust control product.

Today, more thought is put into what covers the roads in any attempt to control road dust. Furthermore this is the main reason so much research and development continues to be funded to locate environmentally friendly and cost effective measures to reduce the amount of road dust that has been contaminating the areas around our roads and the air we breathe. This includes a variety of vegetable oils, non-bituminous substances, electro-chemical stabilization, polymers, enzyme slurries, and the usage of chloride salts.

The chloride salts are the most generally used because they’re the least expensive of most of the road dust control solutions. One can find four diverse ones in use today which includes calcium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. People i’ve talked to are aware the result that two of those, sodium and potassium chlorides, have on their automobiles on account of their use around the cold months of winter to avoid ice buildup around the roads.

The usage of calcium chloride for road dust control has occurred for several years. It is observed that not only had the nuisance dust been loward however the roads themselves have stayed intact longer. It controls the dust by retaining moisture longer on the surface than other materials. This moisture level makes the dust particles too heavy to become airborne.

Not as cost effective, but longer lasting and more environmentally friendly, is a magnesium chloride solution. This hydroscopic chemical works in the identical way that calcium chloride does, but with less damage to vehicles and the encircling vegetation. Lately, there are several companies developing this from naturally evaporated sea water. These chemicals have been tested with the EPA, US Army, and are in use in western states with the US Forestry Service.

There still is not a everlasting road dust control product. But there are several solutions which have been showing significant promise and are lasting longer so fewer applications must be applied. This makes them less expensive in long term.

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