Industrial Particulate Pollution and Historical Land Use Contribute Metals of Concern to Dust Deposited in Neighborhoods Along the Wasatch Front, UT, USA

Abstract

The Salt Lake Valley, UT, USA, is proximal to the desiccating Great Salt Lake (GSL). Prior work has found that this lakebed/playa contributes metals‐laden dust to snow in the Wasatch and Uinta Mountains. Dust and industrial particulate pollution are also delivered to communities along the Wasatch Front, but their sources, compositions, and fluxes are poorly characterized. In this study, we analyzed the dust deposited in 18 passive samplers positioned near the GSL, in cities in and near the Salt Lake Valley for total dust flux, the <63 µm dust fraction, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr, and trace element geochemistry. We compared spatial patterns in metal flux and abundance with community‐level socioeconomic metrics. We observed the highest dust fluxes at sites near the GSL playa. Within the urban corridor, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr and trace element relative abundances suggest that most of the dust to which people are regularly exposed may be fugitive dust from local soil materials. The trace metal content of dust deposited along the Wasatch Front exceeded Environmental Protection Agency screening levels and exhibited enrichment relative to both the upper continental crust and the dust collected adjacent to GSL. Sources of metals to dust deposited along the Wasatch Front may include industrial activities like mining, oil refining, as well as past historical pesticide and herbicide applications. Arsenic and vanadium indicated a statistically significant positive correlation with income, whereas lead, thallium, and nickel exhibited higher concentrations in the least wealthy and least white neighborhoods.

Intensified Warming and Aridity Accelerate Terminal Lake Desiccation in the Great Basin of the Western United States

“…Residents living near Mono Lake in California and GSL in Utah are also at risk for hazardous air quality due to the expanding lakebeds (MLC, 2022a; Reynolds et al., 2014; Stine, 1991). The population exceeds 2 million people in Salt Lake City and other rapidly‐growing cities along the Wasatch Front, which are affected by the expansion of the shoreline of GSL (Putman et al., 2022). Furthermore, when the dust is deposited in the nearby snow‐covered Wasatch and Uinta mountains to the east of GSL, it reduces the albedo of the snow surface allowing greater absorption of solar radiation that accelerates snowmelt (Skiles et al., 2018).…”

Twenty-Year Review of Outdoor Air Quality in Utah, USA

“…Measurements of speciated VOCs combined with the generation of ozone isopleths would contribute to crafting effective policies for O 3 reduction. This would assist in determining whether Salt Lake Valley is a NO x -limited area or a NO x -saturated area, as suggested by Womack et al [71]. Contributing to the region's issues with high summertime O 3 concentrations is the influence of stratospheric incursion as well as the transport of both ozone precursors and ozone from regions as far west as Asia.…”

“…Putman et al analyzed the dust deposited in 18 passive dust samplers, positioned near the Great Salt Lake, for two sampling periods that ran from Fall 2018-Spring 2019 and Spring 2019-Fall 2019 [71]. The highest dust fluxes were found to be at the sites near the Great Salt Lake (GSL) playa.…”

Halophilic nematodes live in America’s Dead Sea

“…2C). Additionally, GSL samples showed concerning trends of mercury and high levels of arsenic and thallium, which represent well-known health hazards if the lakebed becomes exposed as they can be distributed by wind and atmospheric deposition to the surrounding metropolitan area (28,29). A thorough analysis of these and other environmental variables will be presented in a compendium manuscript.…”