Dust Characterization and Source Apportionment

at an Active Surface Mine in West Virginia

Dr. Nick Basta and Shane Whitacre

School of Environment and Natural Resources

Ohio State University, Columbus OH

Dr. Vlad Kecojevic and Ali Lashgari

Department of Mining Engineering

West Virginia University

Dr. Braden Lusk

College of Engineering

University of Kentucky

Increasing awareness of

the importance of this

pathway from soil /

geomedia sources

Nevada Nellis Dunes

Recreation Area by

Las Vegas, NV

Naturally high arsenic

in desert pavement

UNLV–USGS study

Soil Inhalation Exposure Pathway and Human Health

Risk driver for many metals

from contaminated areas is

often incidental soil ingestion

Incidental soil ingestion = soil consumed as dust + hand to

mouth activity

Soil Ingestion Exposure Pathway and Human Health

Adult ingest ≈ 50 mg/d (USEPA Superfund default)

Atmospheric Particulate Matter in

Proximity to Mountaintop Coal Mines

Luanpitpong, S., M. Chen, Hendryx, et al. (2014). "Appalachian mountaintop

mining particulate matter induces neoplastic transformation of human bronchial

epithelial cells and promotes tumor formation." Environ Sci Technol 48(21):

12912-12919.

Allan Kolker, Mark A. Engle, William H. Orem, Calin A. Tatu, Michael Hendryx, Michael McCawley, Laura Esch, Nick J. Geboy, Lynn M. Crosby, and Matthew S. Varonka. 2012 GSA Regional Meeting , Charlotte, NC

Study Objectives

Area D - Evaluating Impacts of Mining on Community Well-Being

Identify contaminants of concern (COC) and relevant exposure

pathways in mining communities. Previous ARIES research. Whitacre, S.D., N.T. Basta, C.J. Everett, K. Minca, and W.L. Daniels. 2013. Identification of

toxic agents and potential exposure routes to Appalachian coal mining communities. In:

J.R. Craynon (ed.) Environmental considerations in energy production. Soc. Mining Met.

& Explor., Englewood, CO.

Analyze COC in relevant exposure media (soil, dust). Use human

risk assessment tools to evaluate exposure of COC

Study Design

Conduct real-time dust monitoring and collect dust

samples from various mining practices.

Analyze dust for COC in respirable dust fraction (<PM10).

Calculate Chronic Daily Intake (CDI) for COC from dust

exposure.

Characterize dust exposure to COC relative to background

exposure.

Contaminants of Concern

As, Cd, Pb Whitacre et al., 2013

review of COC linked to human exposure

and disease risk from mining activities

As, Cr, Ni Johnson et al., 2011

Elevated levels of metals in toenail

samples from Appalachian KY residents

As, Cd, Cu, Ni, V Kolker et al. 2012

Anthropogenic elements in mountaintop

mining area study

As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Cr (VI) This Study

Cu, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, V, Sb

Se, SiO2, Tl

Al, B, Ba, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Zn

Dust Samples

Collected more than 180 dust concentration samples

over the summer in 2013.

Collected 22 lb of dust samples

Dust Monitoring and Collection

Dust Monitoring ConditionsJune 17, 2013 through June 21, 2013

Operation

Downwind

distance (m)

Wind speed

(m/s)

Temperature

(°C) Humidity (%)

Truck – Coal 4.6-10.7 1.6-1.8 30.3 61.2

Dozer 2.4 0.49 19.7 86.0

Wheel loader

– overburden 5.4-9.14 1.6-1.7 19.7-26.0 66.4-86.0

Truck –

overburden 6.2-15.2 1.6-1.9 24.6-28.2 60.3-67.9

Rope shovel 9.3-17.0 0.76-0.98 22.1 36.8

Downwind Distance (m)0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18

PM

10 C

on

cen

trati

on

(m

g/m

3)

0.0

0.5

1.0

1.5

2.0

2.5

3.0

Truck-Coal

Dozer

Wheel Loder-Overburden

Truck-Overburden

Rope Shovel

Real-Time Dust Monitoring Results

• Transportation has the potential to generate relatively large

amounts of dust at close proximity.

• The various mining practices produce similar amounts of dust

at distances greater than 10m.

95th percentile PM10 concentration at 9-11m

Collection Site

95th Percentile PM10

(mg/m3)

Truck-Coal 0.12

Truck - Overburden 0.62

Wheel Loader 0.084

Rope Shovel 0.43

Short Monitoring period provided a reasonable estimate of

dust concentrations over longer periods.

Similar to the 24 hour average summer concentrations (0.177

– 0.659 mg/m3) from six air monitoring stations in the work

zone of a different active coal mine.

Ghose, M.K. and Majee, S.R. 2007. Characteristics of hazardous airborne dust around an

Indian surface coal mining area. Environ. Monit. Assess. 130(1-3): 17-25.

Element Unit Truck - Coal

Wheel

Loader

Truck -

Overburden

Rope -

Shovel

WV (95th)

back ground

Al g/kg 47.6 65.8 81.8 78.2 65.1

As mg/kg 8.47 8.84 13.8 7.82 12.3

B mg/kg <179 30.18 <129 <26.7 ND

Ba mg/kg 202 407 373 554 616

Be mg/kg 0.264 2.35 1.08 1.48 2.8

Ca g/kg 2.43 2.57 3.36 1.07 4.98

Cd mg/kg 0.842 0.536 0.639 0.376 0.70

Co mg/kg 14.1 28.3 22.8 43.0 24.6

Cr mg/kg 288 65.5 80.0 36.2 55.2

Cr (VI) mg/kg ND ND ND ND ND

Cu mg/kg 30.8 34.9 41.7 39.3 28.2

Fe g/kg 22.0 25.4 29.1 22.2 35.2

K g/kg 12.8 12.8 13.2 8.3 20.1

Mg mg/kg 15,234 4,088 6,514 4,110 6,010

Mn mg/kg 356 286 372 248 2,690

Mo mg/kg <2.8 1.48 2.87 1.22 2.05

Ni mg/kg 23.8 55.9 50.8 85.0 34.4

Pb mg/kg 7.96 28.1 22.8 23.7 43.6

Sb mg/kg <11.3 <1.7 <8.1 <1.7 0.907

Se mg/kg <20.5 <3.1 <14.7 <3.0 1.13

SiO2 g/kg 777 549 662 694 ND

Tl mg/kg <14.1 <2.1 <10.1 <2.1 0.90

V mg/kg 38.6 58.8 52.8 35.6 83.7

Zn mg/kg 154 130 182 100 117

Dust (PM10) Chemical Analysis Results

Values highlighted in red are above WV 95th percentile background level

PM10 Dust Characterization

• Majority of chemical elements from the various sources are

similar to within WV native background concentrations

• Only Cr and Mg from truck coal roads appear to be slightly

elevated in PM10. • Similar to Cr concentrations (116 mg/kg to 237 mg/kg) in PM10 from

highly trafficked non-coal mining areas (Amato et al., 2009).

• Contrary to Luanpitpong, Chen, Hendryx et al. (2014),

which reported highly elevated Mo (28.90%, i.e., 289,000

mg/kg) in coal mining dust,

we found no elevation of Mo (~ 2 mg/kg)

Amato F, Pandolfi M, Viana M, Querol X, Alastuey A, Moreno T. 2009. Spatial and chemical

patterns of PM10 in road dust deposited in urban environment. Atmos Environ 43(9): 1650-

1659.

Luanpitpong, S., M. Chen, et al. (2014). "Appalachian mountaintop mining particulate matter

induces neoplastic transformation of human bronchial epithelial cells and promotes tumor

formation." Environ Sci Technol 48(21): 12912-12919.

Pathway(s) Equation

Inhalation CDI Inhalation = EF*ED*APC*AC*IR (1)BW* AT*365d/yr

Ingestion CDI Ingestion = EF*ED*AC*IR (2)BW*AT*365d/yr

Parameter Unit Value

Exposure frequency (EF) days/year 365 (default)

Exposure (ED) years 70 (default)

Air particulate concentration (APC) mg/m3 From monitoring

Analyte concentration (AC) mg/kg From lab analysis

Inhalation rate (IR) m3/day 15 (default)

Ingestion rate (IR) mg/day 50 (default)

Body weight (BW) kg 70 (default)

Averaging time (AT) 70 years 70 (default)

Potential Exposure Assessment

Risk Characterization

Compare dust from mine area with background soil.

Results were expressed as a potential exposure ratio

CDI (from active mining site)

CDI, WVU background soil

and USEPA soil ingestion defaults

Potential

exposure

Ratio

=

Risk Characterization, Potential Exposure Ratio

CDI mining dust:natural

background exposure

using USEPA defaults for

all elements and mining

practices is < 0.3.

No identification of a

“smoking gun” for

increased incidence of

disease via soil/dust

ingestion /inhalation

CDI Mining/CDI Background

0.0 0.2 0.4 0.6

Zn

V

Pb

Ni

Mo

Mn

K

Fe

Cu

Cr

Co

Cd

Ca

Be

Ba

As

Al Haul Road-Coal

Haul Road-Overburden

Wheel Loader

Rope Shovel

Potential Exposure and Risk of Disease Incidence?

Element

Cancer Risk/Slope

Factor

Oral Rfd

mg/kg-day

Inhalation

Rfc mg/m3

Al ND ND ND

As 1.5 (oral) 3.0E-04 ND

B ND 0.20 ND

Ba NA 0.2 ND

Be ND ND ND

Ca ND ND ND

Cd 0.0018 (inhalation) 0.0005 ND

Co ND ND ND

Cr (III) NA 1.5 ND

Cr (VI) 0.012 (inhalation) 3.00E-03 1.00E-04

Cu NA ND ND

Fe ND ND ND

K ND ND ND

Mg ND ND ND

Mn NA 1.40E-01 5.00E-05

Mo ND 5.00E-03 ND

Ni ND 2.00E-02 ND

Pb ND ND ND

Sb ND 4.000E-03 ND

Se NA 5.00E-03 ND

SiO2 ND ND ND

Tl ND ND ND

V ND ND ND

Zn NA 0.3 ND

Very Few Toxicity Values in

USEPA IRIS database

Difficult to determine risk of

disease to

measured exposures

COC mixtures complicate issue

Health Impacts of Energy

Development , 3:45-5:45

William Penn Ballroom

NA = not applicable (no risk)ND – not yet determined

Summary

Study indicates that source materials (WV mine) contain

elemental concentrations similar to native background soil

for most elements.

• Only the quantity of dust might contribute to slight

increase (mine + background exposure) in total

exposure. However, the amount is < 30% at 10m from

the mine site. Much less in the community.

• More study sites with longer duration are desirable.

Lack of USEPA IRIS toxicity values for most elements

prevents translation of (potential) exposure to disease risk

assessment.

• Risk assessment may be possible when done in

conjunction with expertise from other ARIES

researchers (Session 6.1, 3:45-5:45).

What About Other Sites and Materials

10:00 AM – 12:15 AM, Community Health and Well-Being

Technical Session

Evaluation Soil and Dust as an Exposure Medium for Arsenic,

Cadmium, Lead and other Contaminants in Appalachian Coal

Mining Communities

S.D. Whitacre, N.T. Basta, and W.L. Daniels

• Characterization of 35 mine spoils associated with major

surface mining activity and valley fills in southwest VA and

eastern KY

• Advances in dust inhalation

evaluation and

exposure risk assessment

Thank you for your attention

More information?

Nick Basta

Soil, Water, Environmental Lab basta.4@osu.edu

Do Something Great

N.T. Basta, S.D. Whitacre, V. Kecojevic, A. Lashgari, and B.T. Lusk.Potential Exposure and Health Risk from Constituents in Dust at an Active Surface Mine in West Virginia. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment. Ready to submit