Dust Characterization and Source Apportionment at an Active Surface Mine in West Virginia by Dr. Nick Basta, Shane Whitacre, Dr. Vlad Kecojevic, Ali Lashgari, and Dr. Braden Lusk

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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)

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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.

7. 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

8. Dust Samples
 Collected more than 180 dust concentration samples
over the summer in 2013.
 Collected 22 lb of dust samples

9. Dust Monitoring and Collection

10. Dust Monitoring Conditions
June 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

12. Downwind Distance (m)
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18
PM10Concentration(mg/m3
)
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.

13. 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.

14. 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

15. 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.

16. 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

17. 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
=

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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).

21. 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

22. Thank you for your attention
More information?
Nick Basta
Soil, Water, Environmental Lab basta.4@osu.edu
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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