Comments on: Contaminated House Dust Linked to Parking Lots With Coal Tar Sealant

By: Maggie Jobe

Maggie Jobe — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 21:28:42 +0000

Article Report #4
Date: September 3, 2011
Title: “Contaminated House Dust Linked to Parking Lots With Coal Tar Sealant”
Author: scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

1. Scientists at the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in Austin, TX traced coal-tar-sealcoat to elevated concentrations of the pollutants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (also known as PAHs) in house dust.
2. Coal tar can be comprised of fifty percent or more PAHs by weight and can cause health issues and hazards because multiple PAHs are likely human carcinogens and can be virulent to aquatic life.
3. Small particles of sealcoat are most likely to be tracked indoors by people who walk across parking lots in order to enter their apartment or residential area. As a result these people have a 25% higher risk to track PAHs into their living area.
4. Sealcoat Products are used extensively in the United States. The two most commonly used are coal-tar-emulsion products and asphalt-emulsion based products.
5. The research of PAHs found in sealcoat parking lots have presented advancements in the question of how PAHs are transferred from outdoors to indoors and found in house dust.

By: Savannah Dewberry

Savannah Dewberry — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 01:14:44 +0000

1.Coal-tar based sealcoat, or blacktop, is a sourse of PAHs, which are household pollutants.
2. Coal-tar is a byproduct of coal producing so it is 50% PAHs by weight.
3. Several PAHs cause cancer or damage aquatic life.
4. Coal-tar based sealcoat has a PAH count that is 530 times the count of PAHs on other parking lots.
5.PAHs get tracked inside by people (or pets) who walk accross coal-tar coated parking lots into their house.

By: Nevada Belin

Nevada Belin — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 21:24:58 +0000

1. The black, shiny substances that are sprayed or painted on many parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds, had been linked to elevate concentrations of the contaminants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) in house dust.
2. Coal tar are byproduct of the coking of coal and can contain 50% or more PAH’s by weight.
3. small particles of seal-coat, which mostly contains extremely high concentration of PAH’s.
4. two kinds of seal-coat product are wisely used:coal-tar-emulsion based products, and asphalt-emulsion based product.
5. the study found that apartment adjacent to coal-tar-seal-coat parking lots contained concentrations of PAH’s in house dust with that were 25 times higher than in house dust from apartments with concrete, asphalt, or asphalt-based seal-coat parking lots surfaces.

By: Brittany Powell

Brittany Powell — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 23:25:07 +0000

Small particles of sealcoat, which contains extremely high concentrations of PAHs, likely are tracked indoors by residents after they walk across the parking lot.

Apartments with parking lots treated with the sealcoat contained house dust with much higher concentrations of PAHs than apartments with other types of parking lots.

The students that preformed this study are from Austin Texas

There are two kinds of sealed coats,coal-tar-emulsion based products and asphalt-emulsion based products.

By: Nick Patton

Nick Patton — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 01:43:09 +0000

1. Coal tar is a shiny black substance used for painting parking lots.
2. Coal tar is produced by coking coal.
3. Coal tar can produce polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, which can cause cancer and humans and is toxic to fish.
4. PAH is tracked in to houses on the shoes of human.
5. Studies found that housing near black top made out of coal tar are likely to have up to 25 times as much of a PAH ratio.

By: Alexandria Darnell

Alexandria Darnell — Wed, 24 Aug 2011 00:45:24 +0000

1. Particles of seatcoat are tracked indoors by residents after they walk across the parking lot. The seatcoat has a high amount of PAH’s.
2. The PAH’s are said to cause cancer in humans and are toxic to fish.
3. Sealcoat products are widely used in the U.S.
4. Two widely used sealcoats: coal-tar-emulsion based products which are used on the West Coast and asphalt-emulsion based products, which are used in the Midwest, South, and East Coast.
5. Sealcoated parking lots east of the Continental Divide had concentrations of PAHs that were about 1,000 times higher than in dust from sealcoated parking lots west of the Continental Divide.

By: Max Carter

Max Carter — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:35:24 +0000

1. Parking lots that use a coal tar based seal coat are emitting PAH dust into houses near by.
2. These are apparently very unhealthy and harmful to have inside your home.
3. Students conducted a test in Austin, TX, and found that these homes by these parking lots have 600 times more PAH’s than homes not near parking lots.
4. Policy makers may outlaw the use of these coal tar based seal coats.
5. The dust is tracked in on the residencies’ shoes.

By: Tori Komara

Tori Komara — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 23:48:47 +0000

1. Black tops may cause house dust to be contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH).
2. PAH’s are bad environmentally because some may cause cancer in humans and they are also toxic to fish.
3. People track in the PAH’s when they walk across a coal-tar-sealcoated parking lot and then enter their houses or apartments.
4. Sealcoat products are common in the U.S.
5. Dust in the east of the Continental Divide had 1,000 times more PAH concentration than in cities west of the Continental Divide.

By: blake meeks

blake meeks — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 01:23:53 +0000

A study was conducted in Austin, Texas, by scientists at the U.S. Geological Survey. Coal-tar-based sealcoat the black, shiny substance sprayed or painted on many parking lots, driveways, and playgrounds has been linked to elevated concentrations of the contaminants polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in house dust is small particles of sealcoat, which contains extremely high concentrations of PAHs, likely are tracked indoors by residents after they walk across the parking lot. The study found that apartments adjacent to coal-tar-sealcoated parking lots contained concentrations of PAHs in house dust with that were 25 times higher than in house dust from apartments with concrete, asphalt, or asphalt-based sealcoat parking lot surfaces.PAHs are an environmental health issue because several are probable human carcinogens and they are toxic to fish and other aquatic life.

By: Tiffney Tucker

Tiffney Tucker — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:04:56 +0000

1. Tar is used on roads, and parking lots.
2. Coal tar is a biproduct of coking coal.
3. The scientists that performed this experiment are from austin texas.
4. Tar is toxic to fish.
5. I learned a lot.