Monitoring fugitive dust emissions from off-highway vehicles traveling on unpaved roads and trails using passive samplers

Abstract

Vehicles traveling on dry, unpaved roads generate copious quantities fugitive dust that contributes to soil erosion, and potentially threatens human health and ecosystems. The purpose of this study was to develop a low-cost technique for monitoring road dust that would enable land managers to estimate soil loss. The “sticky-trap” collectors developed were evaluated at the Turkey Bay off-highway vehicle (OHV) riding area on the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area, in western Kentucky. The results showed that the dust plume created by vehicle traffic was heterogeneous: larger particles were in the lower part of the plume and deposited closer to the source, smaller particles were carried higher in the plume and traveled at least 100 m away from the source. Collection of particles parallel to the source was also heterogeneous, suggesting that measurements taken at a single point may not be appropriate for estimating erosion losses. Measurements taken along two trails indicate that when large numbers of riders are present, dust concentrations may reach unhealthful conditions for riders, but that it is unlikely that fugitive dust is harming native vegetation, given frequent rainfall. The study demonstrated that OHV traffic contributes to substantial erosion of roadbeds because of aeolian transport.