Road To Nowhere: Asphalt May Be More Polluting Than The Cars That Drive On It
- 4 years ago
A new study reveals roads may be producing more air pollution than the vehicles that drive on them.
Yale University researchers found that numbers didn't add up when they tried to account for all the sources of existing air pollution in Los Angeles.
According to Science Magazine, the researchers turned to newly-paved asphalt roads and roofs, which up until now had been overlooked in such studies.
They found the greatest amount of semivolatile organic compounds escaped when the pavement was heated to 140°C. That's the temperature of road-paving.
Emissions fell as the asphalt cooled, but remained constant and significant at 60°C, a typical temperature for asphalt in Los Angeles during the summer.
This suggests that asphalt could be a long-lasting source of pollution, and thus belongs in official inventories of air pollution sources.
Yale University researchers found that numbers didn't add up when they tried to account for all the sources of existing air pollution in Los Angeles.
According to Science Magazine, the researchers turned to newly-paved asphalt roads and roofs, which up until now had been overlooked in such studies.
They found the greatest amount of semivolatile organic compounds escaped when the pavement was heated to 140°C. That's the temperature of road-paving.
Emissions fell as the asphalt cooled, but remained constant and significant at 60°C, a typical temperature for asphalt in Los Angeles during the summer.
This suggests that asphalt could be a long-lasting source of pollution, and thus belongs in official inventories of air pollution sources.