Health Effects to Children from Coal Tar Sealants

Susan Buchanan, MD, MPHUniversity of Illinois at Chicago

School of Public Health

Coal tar sealants

• “Coal-tar-based sealcoat”• Marketed to protect and

beautify asphalt pavement• Potent source of polycyclic

aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)• Distributes to air, soils,

streams and lakes, homes

Coal tar pitch driveway sealer

• Residue remaining after distillation of coal tar (a byproduct of the coking of coal)

• Black liquid sprayed onto the asphalt pavement• Sealcoat used in the central, southern, and

eastern U.S. commonly contains coal-tar pitch, (western U.S. - asphalt)

Coal tar pitch sealcoat

• Contains about 200 different PAHs • 1,000 times higher PAH concentrations than asphalt-

based sealcoat • Hundreds of times higher than tire particles, used

motor oil, or other urban sources • At least seven PAHs are probable human carcinogens

Coal tar pitch is a known human carcinogen

Dust from coal tar sealantFriction from vehicle small dust particles of sealantDust is transported by wind, rain, and snowplows to nearby soilTracked into homes house dust

Coal tar sealant dust

Adjacent to parking lots with coal-tar-based sealcoat:

– Concentrations of PAHs 25 times higher

– Compared to residences with other types of pavement surfaces

Exposure to sealant dust

• 38 times greater lifetime dose living adjacent to coal-tar-sealcoated pavement

• One-half of that dose occurs during 0 to 6 years of age

Cancer risk from exposure to sealant dust

Someone who spends the first 6 years of life living adjacent to coal-tar-sealed pavement:

25 times higher cancer risk compared to those with urban background exposure to PAHs

USGS at http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/youre-standing-on-it-health-risks-of-coal-tar-pavement-sealcoat/US Dept of the Interior

Peter C. Van Metre , Michael S. Majewski , Barbara J. Mahler , William T. Foreman , Christopher L. Braun , Jennifer...

Volatilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal-tar-sealed pavement

Chemosphere, Volume 88, Issue 1, 2012, 1 - 7

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.12.072

Inhalation of PAHs from coal tar sealed pavement

Cancer types

• Lung• Skin• Bladder• Respiratory tract• Urinary tract

Coal Tar Sealants Reduction Act of 2013

Introduced: Apr 18, 2013Status:Referred to Committee on Apr 18, 2013Prognosis: 0% chance of being enacted