Space Junk, Volcanoes, and Coal Tar Sealers: Industry Webinar to Stop Bans has Some Surprises

Photo from NASA

Yesterday the Pavement Coatings Technology Council held an online seminar entitled, "How to Fight for Your Sealcoating Business."  During the 60 minute seminar participants were informed about two major topics: the Suffolk County, New York ban of coal tar pavement sealant and a presentation by a representative of the nation's largest producer of coal tar, Koppers, Inc.

The first part featured a sealant producer from Long Island that was affected by the ban there.  The company had to add equipment to switch over to an asphalt-based material.  They were confused on their timeline saying they only had 3 months to prepare for the new material, but actually they had about 1 year.

In a moment of transparency, the gentleman from Velvetop stated that asphalt based sealers can be just as effective as coal tar sealants if applied correctly.  He went on to say that these alternative products are just as black as coal tar, but there are some challenges with applying it when drying conditions are sub-optimal.  Why are coal tar sealants better in these conditions?  Look at USGS's analysis of volatilization which showed massive airborne discharges of PAHs from freshly applied coal tar sealants in the first 24 hours.  In other words, the product works well in low drying conditions because it is causing a toxic PAH plume above it.

Leading Public Works Group Hears the Truth about Coal Tar Sealcoat from the USGS

Coal tar sealant debris accumulating at the curb of a sealed parking lot.  This material presents
an exposure hazard and may migrate to the streams, lakes and homes.  Photo by USGS.

This month the USGS presented the science of coal tar sealant pollution to one of the nation's premier public works organizations, the APWA in their APWA Reporter magazine.  The influential American Public Works Association (APWA) represents over 28,000 professionals associated with the maintenance and operation of our nation's public infrastructure.  The article is important in two regards: the reach of the audience and it is a new, succinct summary of the research, marketplace changes, and bans across the US.

The title of the article, You're Standing on It! Coal-Tar-Based Sealcoat and Environmental and Human Health, is an homage to my deceased City of Austin colleague, Tom Bashara.  As the story goes, some impatient bureaucrats arrived at a parking lot and wanted to know where the high PAH readings were coming from; the high levels that people were raising questions about.  Tom's response was, to their shock and dismay, "You're standing on it!"

Glowing Marks for Germany's PAH Management and Action

Photograph shows fluorescing PAHs absorbed through skin  just by gripping a rubber handle with PAHs.
Similar effects on human skin can be seen with coal tar sealant exposure.
Photograph: TÜV Rheinland Group

The German Federation continues to demonstrate leadership to the world in managing exposure and contamination from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).  This is evidenced by their recent publication entitled, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons: Harmful to the Environment! Toxic! Inevitable? While the US regulatory system hasn't even figured out what or how to fix PAH pollution from coal tar sealcoated paved surfaces, Germany, on the other hand, already has standards for the amount of coal tar in asphalt (and the US doesn't) and is expanding their knowledge into consumer products.

By the way, the above photograph shows a similar method to what was used by the City of Austin early in its ban to view not only ban violators, but also to show potential skin exposure.  Anyone want to wager what a child playing on a coal tar sealed surface would look like under a blacklight?

Is Coal Tar Trouble Brewing in Milwaukee?

It's funny how sometimes seemingly unrelated, random things cross your desk and it makes you pause at the irony of it. Today was one of those days.

The first was a government issued request for bids to manage a publicly-owned parking lot in Milwaukee.  While not unusual, the bid called for the use of coal tar sealants on the parking lot. Unfortunately governments, schools, big box stores and churches still specify spreading this nasty stuff (a la a 1965 spec) on their on property, but again it happens all the time.

Interestingly, this afternoon an email passed my desk about a new study by the USGS that looked at the concentrations of pollutants coming from urban runoff in....Milwaukee, Wisconsin and nearby Madison.