Resuspension method for road surface dust collection and aerodynamic size distribution characterization

Traffic-generated fugitive dust is a source of urban atmospheric particulate pollution in Beijing. This paper introduces the resuspension method, recommended by the US EPA in AP-42 documents, for collecting Beijing road-surface dust. Analysis shows a single-peak distribution in the number size distribution and a double-peak mode for mass size distribution of the road surface dust. The median diameter of the mass concentration distribution of the road dust on a high-grade road was higher than that on a low-grade road. The ratio of PM_2.5 to PM₁₀ was consistent with that obtained in a similar study for Hong Kong. For the two selected road samples, the average relative deviation of the size distribution was 10.9% and 11.9%. All results indicate that the method introduced in this paper can effectively determine the size distribution of fugitive dust from traffic.