Skip to main content
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Setting priorities for control of fugitive particulate emissions from open sources. Final report, September 1977-May 1979

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5159146
The report describes setting priorities for controlling fugitive particulate emissions. Emission rate estimates of suspended particulates from open sources in the US were obtained from emission factors and source extents in the literature. Major open sources, with their estimated total emission rates (in millions of tons per year), are: unpaved roads, 300; construction activities, 30; wind erosion of cropland, 40; paved roads, 8; and wildfires, agricultural tilling, and mineral extraction, each 3. (For comparison, point sources of particulates in the US are estimated to emit about 20 million tons per year). Open source emissions are estimated for each state. Most open source rates are correlated with each other and state population is strongly correlated with the total rate and with most of the source types. The use of cost effectiveness is compared. Paving unpaved roads should reduce emissions at an average of less than $0.01/lb for such states as RI and DE (for rural roads) and AK, AZ, CA, DE, MI, NV, PA, CO, FL, IL, IN, KY, MD, MA, NJ, NM, OH, RI, TN, TX, UT, VA, WA, and WV (for remaining unpaved municipal roads). The control of unpaved road emissions (generally by paving), especially in cities, and the control of emissions from construction activities are concluded to deserve high priority in the effort to reduce total suspended particulate levels.
Research Organization:
Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (USA). School of Public Health
OSTI ID:
5159146
Report Number(s):
PB-80-108962
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English