We reported in 2005 that runoff from parking lots treated with coal-tar-based sealcoat was a major source of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) to streams in Austin, Texas. Here we present new data from nine U.S. cities that show nationwide patterns in concentrations of PAHs associated with sealcoat. Dust was swept from parking lots in six cities in the central and eastern U.S., where coal-tar-based sealcoat dominates use, and three cities in the western U.S., where asphaltbased sealcoat dominates use. For six central and eastern cities, median ΣPAH concentrations in dust from sealcoated and unsealcoated pavement are 2200 and 27 mg/kg, respectively. For three western cities, median ΣPAH concentrations in dust from sealcoated and unsealcoated pavement are similar and very low (2.1 and 0.8 mg/kg, respectively). Lakes in the central and eastern cities where pavement was sampled have bottom sediments with higher PAH concentrations than do those in the western cities relative to degree of urbanization. Bottom-sediment PAH assemblages are similar to those of sealcoated pavement dust regionally, implicating coal-tar-based sealcoat as a PAH source to the central and eastern lakes. Concentrations of benzo[a]pyrene in dust from coal-tar sealcoated pavement and adjacent soils greatly exceed generic soil screening levels, suggesting that research on human-health risk is warranted.
IntroductionContamination of urban aquatic sediments by PAHs, which represent the largest class of suspected carcinogens (1), has been increasing in the United States during the last 20-40 years (2, 3). PAHs in the environment largely are a product of the incomplete combustion of petroleum, oil, coal, and wood (4). Sources in the urban environment include industrial emissions and wastes (5); home heating with fuel oil, wood, and coal; power plants (6); vehicles (7,8); and pavement sealants, also known as sealcoat (9). In a study of PAH sources in Austin, Texas, particles in runoff from parking lots treated with coal-tar-based sealcoat had a mean total PAH concentration of 3500 mg/kg, 65 times greater than that in particles from concrete and asphalt parking lots that were not sealcoated (9). On the basis of comparison with suspended sediment concentrations, loads, and chemical assemblages in streams, the study concluded that sealcoat was a major source of PAHs to streams in the four watersheds studied. Recent studies have documented adverse biological effects in some Austin streams receiving runoff from coal-tar sealcoated lots (10), and demonstrated altered survival, growth, and development in a model amphibian species (Xenopus laevis) exposed to sediment spiked with coal-tarbased sealcoat (11).Most sealcoat products have either a refined-coal-tar or asphalt (crude oil) base. The coal-tar varieties typically are 15-35% coal tar, a known carcinogen with extremely high concentrations of PAHs (12). The City of Austin reported a median concentration of the sum of 16 PAHs (dry weight basis) for coal-tar-based sealcoat products of more than 50,000 ...