Source Attribution of Industrial Fugitive Dusts: Case Studies for the Environment Agency, UK Check Access

Fugitive dust (direct to the atmosphere) from industrial activities is a long-standing and intractable problem. ‘Dust’ is used in BS 6069 Part 2 to define particulate matter < 75 μm in diameter. Of this, smaller particles are associated with health impacts (through inhalation) and coarser particles with annoyance (through public perception). Disputes may arise about the causes and consequences of dust impacts; these can become good examples for environmental forensics, requiring the constraint of source – pathway – receptor with sufficiently robust evidence for responsibilities to be established and decisions to be made. Source apportionment of dust is highly relevant to studies of local air quality and site-specific emission monitoring. Emission inventories, including the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory (NAEI), focus on PM10 and below (an indicator of local air quality); emissions of coarser dust are not included. Directional and non-directional samplers are frequently used at or near industrial sites to assess dust propagation, and in some circumstances samples can be characterised by different geochemical techniques depending on the determinant. This chapter presents two case studies conducted on behalf of the UK Environment Agency, illustrating the significant constraints on dust propagation that can be derived from a relatively small number of samples and a modest financial outlay.