Coal Tar Driveway Sealants
In Feb, 2021, Sustainable Grandview produced a report on the dangers of coal-tar driveway sealants, and we are presently advocating for a city-wide ban of this toxic product. Below are the details of our report.
Executive Summary:
Grandview Heights maintains a strong commitment to “monitoring the health status of the community, protecting residents from disease and injury, assuring a safe and healthy environment, and promoting a healthy lifestyle” (Grandview Heights Board of Health, 2021). The City has also consistently stated the importance of environmental protection, partnering with organizations such as the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the Ohio EPA to advance these goals. As such, it is essential that the City address environmental threats to public health. One such threat we are deeply concerned about is coal-tar driveway and parking lot sealant, whichin recent years has become increasingly clear poses a serious risk.
Researchers have raised significant concerns about coal-tar sealants because they containlittle-known by-products of steel manufacturing, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),which are carcinogenic. The sealants have long been in widespread use on asphalt surfaces in the United States east of the Mississippi, mainly on driveways, parking lots, and playgrounds(Needleman, 2015)(Ennis, 2020)The United States Geographical Survey reports that the toxicfumes and dust from coal-tar sealants spread well beyond sealed surfaces to the furniture and floors of nearby homes, the sediment of waterways, the surfaces of children’s toys, and the soil pets and people contact. The PAH-laden dust can spreadthroughout the neighborhood andbeingested by humansand wildlife and absorbed through the lungs, mouth, and skin.
Beyond establishing the presence of carcinogens in coal-tar sealants, research has begun to reveal their impact on human health. Such workhasfound that the highly concentrated PAHs in coal-tar dust and fumes may increase cancer risk for residents who live near sealed surfaces by 38 timescompared to those residents who live nearunsealedsurfaces. (Mahler, 2010)Studies doneatBaylor University and the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) discovered that children wholive adjacent to coal-tar sealed surfacesingest 14 times more PAHs than those living near unsealed surfaces, and have a greater chance of experiencing cancer and developmental disorders compared to children who live near unsealed surfaces.(Williams, 2012)(Keller, 2020)
Coal-tar sealants are listed as a Group 1 carcinogenby both the National Cancer Institute and theWorld Health Organization’s (WHO)International Agency for Research on Cancer, and many U.S. cities, counties, states,and home improvement retailers have banned the product because of the threat to human and environmental health.(Ennis, 2020)Because of environmental risks, coal-tar paving was eliminated in several countries in Europe over 50 years ago, including France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland.(IARC, 2010)
PAH compounds are found in high quantities in allcoal-tar sealants,a product typically sold by paving contractors to unwary homeowners, property managers, and city supervisors. This thick, dark, mothball-smelling product containsbenzene (not a PAH but another known carcinogen), among other chemicals, andis applied to driveways and other surfaces to improve appearance and seal cracks. The main ingredient in coal-tar sealants is a high concentration of carcinogeniccoal pitch. The PAHs in the sealant are particularly pervasive in the air, water, and household dust during the first 30 days after application, andthey persist in the environment and inside residential homes for three toeightyearsafter application. The PAHs in the dust have been linked to lung, skin, kidney, and bladder cancer, and are a known cause of mutations and birth defects in animals, insects, birds, and especially aquatic life. (Kienzler, 2015)(Needleman, 2015)
Unfortunately, coal-tar dustalways spreads beyond the surface to which it has been applied through storm water runoff, wind, heat, foot, and tire traffic. (Exhibit 1)After rain events, the PAHs are washed into streets and sewer drains, and enter nearby rivers, lakes, and waterways where they can instigate fish kills and cause mutations of aquatic life. As other animals (including humans) eat the aquatic life, the PAHs concentrate in the tissues of the entire eco-environmental food chain. Since manyGrandview Heights’streets drain directly into nearby rivers, our residential, commercial, and public propertycoal-tar sealing activities are threatening waterways and all lifewho rely on them for sustenance – including people.
As regulatory agencies, state legislators, and city councils around the countryhavelearned about the dangers of high PAHproducts, they are banning theuse of coal-tar sealants in favor of comparably pricedproducts that have less toxic chemistry such as asphalt sealers, or other alternatives including bricks, gilsonite, or gravel.
Recommendation: We urge Grandview Heights to join the growing group of communities and phase-in a ban on the sale and use of high-PAH products in order to protect residents, wildlife, and natural resources.
The following pages provide a more detailed overview of the dangers of coal-tar sealant, alternative products available on the market, and our recommendations.
Full report (pdf file):
In Feb, 2021, Sustainable Grandview produced a report on the dangers of coal-tar driveway sealants, and we are presently advocating for a city-wide ban of this toxic product. Below are the details of our report.
Executive Summary:
Grandview Heights maintains a strong commitment to “monitoring the health status of the community, protecting residents from disease and injury, assuring a safe and healthy environment, and promoting a healthy lifestyle” (Grandview Heights Board of Health, 2021). The City has also consistently stated the importance of environmental protection, partnering with organizations such as the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission and the Ohio EPA to advance these goals. As such, it is essential that the City address environmental threats to public health. One such threat we are deeply concerned about is coal-tar driveway and parking lot sealant, whichin recent years has become increasingly clear poses a serious risk.
Researchers have raised significant concerns about coal-tar sealants because they containlittle-known by-products of steel manufacturing, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs),which are carcinogenic. The sealants have long been in widespread use on asphalt surfaces in the United States east of the Mississippi, mainly on driveways, parking lots, and playgrounds(Needleman, 2015)(Ennis, 2020)The United States Geographical Survey reports that the toxicfumes and dust from coal-tar sealants spread well beyond sealed surfaces to the furniture and floors of nearby homes, the sediment of waterways, the surfaces of children’s toys, and the soil pets and people contact. The PAH-laden dust can spreadthroughout the neighborhood andbeingested by humansand wildlife and absorbed through the lungs, mouth, and skin.
Beyond establishing the presence of carcinogens in coal-tar sealants, research has begun to reveal their impact on human health. Such workhasfound that the highly concentrated PAHs in coal-tar dust and fumes may increase cancer risk for residents who live near sealed surfaces by 38 timescompared to those residents who live nearunsealedsurfaces. (Mahler, 2010)Studies doneatBaylor University and the United States Geographical Survey (USGS) discovered that children wholive adjacent to coal-tar sealed surfacesingest 14 times more PAHs than those living near unsealed surfaces, and have a greater chance of experiencing cancer and developmental disorders compared to children who live near unsealed surfaces.(Williams, 2012)(Keller, 2020)
Coal-tar sealants are listed as a Group 1 carcinogenby both the National Cancer Institute and theWorld Health Organization’s (WHO)International Agency for Research on Cancer, and many U.S. cities, counties, states,and home improvement retailers have banned the product because of the threat to human and environmental health.(Ennis, 2020)Because of environmental risks, coal-tar paving was eliminated in several countries in Europe over 50 years ago, including France, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands, Norway, and Finland.(IARC, 2010)
PAH compounds are found in high quantities in allcoal-tar sealants,a product typically sold by paving contractors to unwary homeowners, property managers, and city supervisors. This thick, dark, mothball-smelling product containsbenzene (not a PAH but another known carcinogen), among other chemicals, andis applied to driveways and other surfaces to improve appearance and seal cracks. The main ingredient in coal-tar sealants is a high concentration of carcinogeniccoal pitch. The PAHs in the sealant are particularly pervasive in the air, water, and household dust during the first 30 days after application, andthey persist in the environment and inside residential homes for three toeightyearsafter application. The PAHs in the dust have been linked to lung, skin, kidney, and bladder cancer, and are a known cause of mutations and birth defects in animals, insects, birds, and especially aquatic life. (Kienzler, 2015)(Needleman, 2015)
Unfortunately, coal-tar dustalways spreads beyond the surface to which it has been applied through storm water runoff, wind, heat, foot, and tire traffic. (Exhibit 1)After rain events, the PAHs are washed into streets and sewer drains, and enter nearby rivers, lakes, and waterways where they can instigate fish kills and cause mutations of aquatic life. As other animals (including humans) eat the aquatic life, the PAHs concentrate in the tissues of the entire eco-environmental food chain. Since manyGrandview Heights’streets drain directly into nearby rivers, our residential, commercial, and public propertycoal-tar sealing activities are threatening waterways and all lifewho rely on them for sustenance – including people.
As regulatory agencies, state legislators, and city councils around the countryhavelearned about the dangers of high PAHproducts, they are banning theuse of coal-tar sealants in favor of comparably pricedproducts that have less toxic chemistry such as asphalt sealers, or other alternatives including bricks, gilsonite, or gravel.
Recommendation: We urge Grandview Heights to join the growing group of communities and phase-in a ban on the sale and use of high-PAH products in order to protect residents, wildlife, and natural resources.
The following pages provide a more detailed overview of the dangers of coal-tar sealant, alternative products available on the market, and our recommendations.
Full report (pdf file):
| sg_coal_tar.pdf |
Presentation to Grandview Heights Safety Committee (5/3/2021)
