Van Metre, P. C., Mahler, B. J., Wilson, J. T., Burbank, T.J. 2008. Collection and analysis of samples for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in dust and other solids related to sealed and unsealed pavement from 10 cities across the United States, 2005-07. USGS Data Series 361. USGS, Reston, VA.

impervious, pollutant, runoff, sampling, source area

Parking lots and driveways are dominant features of the modern urban landscape, and in the United States, sealcoat is widely used on these surfaces. One of the most widely used types of sealcoat contains refined coal tar; coal-tar-based sealcoat products have a mean polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentration of about 5 percent. This report presents methods for and data from the analysis of concentrations of PAH compounds in dust from sealed and unsealed pavement from nine U.S. cities, and concentrations of PAH compounds in other related solid materials (sealcoat surface scrapings, nearby street dust, and nearby soil) from three of those same cities and a 10th city.