Health and Safety Effects of Airborne Soil Dust in the Americas and Beyond

Abstract

Risks associated with dust hazards are often underappreciated, a gap between the knowledge pool and public awareness that can be costly for impacted communities. This study reviews the emission sources and chemical, physical, and biological characteristics of airborne soil particles (dust) and their effects on human and environmental health and safety in the Pan‐American region. American dust originates from both local sources (western United States, northern Mexico, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina) and long‐range transport from Africa and Asia. Dust properties, as well as the trends and interactions with criteria air pollutants, are summarized. Human exposure to dust is associated with adverse health effects, including asthma, allergies, fungal infections, and premature death. In the Americas, a well‐documented and striking effect of soil dust is its association with Coccidioidomycosis, commonly known as Valley fever, an infection caused by inhalation of soil‐dwelling fungi unique to this region. Besides human health, dust affects environmental health through nutrients that increase phytoplankton biomass, contaminants that diminish water supply and affect food (crops/fruits/vegetables and ready‐to‐eat meat), spread crop and marine pathogens, cause Valley fever among domestic and wild animals, transport heavy metals, radionuclides and microplastics, and reduce solar and wind power generation. Dust is also a safety hazard to road transportation and aviation, in the southwestern US where blowing dust is one of the deadliest weather hazards. To mitigate the harmful effects, coordinated regional and international efforts are needed to enhance dust observations and prediction capabilities, soil conservation measures, and Valley fever and other disease surveillance.

Respirable Metals, Bacteria, and Fungi during a Saharan–Sahelian Dust Event in Houston, Texas

“…Future research also needs to complement metagenomically identified bacteria and fungi by monitoring culturability to better assess microorganisms’ role in ecosystem, human, plant, and animal health. ,,,,− Such studies should also measure other water-soluble aerosol components and metal speciation, some of which might affect viability. Additionally, airborne pollutants have the capacity to influence aerobiome abundance, diversity, transport, and deposition, and conversely, bioaerosols can facilitate the transport and deposition of airborne pollutants. , The interplay between bioaerosols and anthropogenic emissions is complex and dependent on multiple factors, including pollutant type, concentration levels, and meteorological parameters.…”

Fire Impacts on the Soil Metabolome and Organic Matter Biodegradability

“…Heterotrophic microbes were detected in the burned soil samples with the phyla Actinobacteria , Firmicutes , and Protobacteria notably being enriched postfire (Figures E and S7A). These phyla contain heterotrophic species that could likely metabolize SOM in burned soils. ,, Other bacterial genera known to possess putative beneficial traits for the postfire ecosystem such as Geobacillus (spore formation) and Kocuria (distribution via dust or smoke) were also identified as discriminant taxa for burned soils (Figure G).…”

“…These phyla contain heterotrophic species that could likely metabolize SOM in burned soils. 12,17,96 Other bacterial genera known to possess putative beneficial traits for the postfire ecosystem such as Geobacillus (spore formation) 97 and Kocuria (distribution via dust or smoke) 98 were also identified as discriminant taxa for burned soils (Figure 1G).…”

The Landscape Data Commons: A system for standardizing, accessing, and applying large environmental datasets for agroecosystem research and management

“…Wind erosion and resultant blowing dust are important threats to ecosystems and human health in the Chihuahuan Desert of New Mexico (Figure 4). Wind erosion selectively removes fine soil, nutrients, and carbon (Webb et al, 2012), while blowing dust exposure is linked to adverse health effects such as asthma, Valley fever infections, and is a safety hazard to road transportation (Tong et al, 2023). Ecologically, the region is dominated by grasslands and savannas, which have experienced extensive shrub encroachment and loss of perennial grasses that are desirable for livestock production (Bestelmeyer et al, 2018).…”