The Dangers of Fugitive Dust

Fugitive dust is an environmental air quality term for very small particles suspended in the air, the source of which is primarily the Earth's soil. It does not include particulate matter from other common sources, such as vehicle exhaust or smokestacks.

Fugitive dust results from dry conditions where there is insufficient moisture content in the ground to hold the soil together.

Fugitive dust arises from the mechanical disturbance of granular material exposed to the air. Dust generated from these open sources is termed 'fugitive' because it 'escapes' and is not discharged to the atmosphere in a confined flow stream from a exhaust pipe or chimney.

Common sources of fugitive dust include unpaved roads, agricultural tilling operations, aggregate storage piles, and heavy construction operations. Fugitive dust particles are mainly minerals common to soil, including silicon oxides, aluminium, calcium, and iron.

Thus, the dust-generation process is caused by two basic physical phenomena: [a] Pulverization and abrasion of surface materials by application of mechanical force through implements (wheels, blades, explosion, etc.) and [b] Entrainment of dust particles by the action of turbulent air currents, such as wind erosion of an exposed surface by wind speeds over 20 kilometers per hour.

About half of fugitive dust particles are larger than 10 microns in diameter and settle more quickly than the smaller particles. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimated that fugitive dust was responsible for 92% of the PM-10 emissions in the United States in 1995.

[The fungus Coccidioides]

It's just dust, you might argue, but danger hides in the soil. A family of fungi, called Coccidioides, lingers in the soil and dust in the United States, Meso and South America. When you inhale the fugitive dust, you might also inhale the fungus, leading to a potentially fatal fungal pneumonia. The disease is called coccidioidomycosis or Valley Fever.

The latest numbers show that in 2018, about 15,600 people were diagnosed with Valley Fever in the United States, with most cases coming out of southern Arizona and California’s San Joaquin Valley. But these numbers only reflect known cases reported to the Centers of Disease Control. Experts think that number is probably much higher.

Symptoms include fatigue (tiredness), cough, fever, shortness of breath, headache, night sweats, muscle aches or joint pain, rash on upper body or legs.