Health Effects to Children from

Coal Tar Sealants

Susan Buchanan, MD, MPH

University of Illinois at Chicago
School of Public Health

Coal tar sealants

Coal-tar-based sealcoat
Marketed to protect and
beautify asphalt pavement
Potent source of polycyclic
aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Distributes to air, soils,
streams and lakes, homes

Coal tar pitch driveway sealer

Residue remaining after distillation of coal tar (a
byproduct of the coking of coal)
Black liquid sprayed onto the asphalt pavement
Sealcoat used in the central, southern, and
eastern U.S. commonly contains coal-tar pitch,
(western U.S. - asphalt)

Coal tar pitch sealcoat

Contains about 200 different PAHs
1,000 times higher PAH concentrations than asphaltbased sealcoat
Hundreds of times higher than tire particles, used
motor oil, or other urban sources
At least seven PAHs are probable human carcinogens

Coal tar pitch is a known human carcinogen

Dust from coal tar sealant

Friction from vehicle small dust particles of
sealant
Dust is transported by wind, rain, and snowplows
to nearby soil
Tracked into homes house dust

Coal tar sealant dust

Adjacent to parking lots with coaltar-based sealcoat:
Concentrations of PAHs 25 times
higher
Compared to residences with other
types of pavement surfaces

Exposure to sealant dust

38 times greater lifetime dose living adjacent
to coal-tar-sealcoated pavement
One-half of that dose occurs during 0 to 6
years of age

Cancer risk from exposure to sealant dust

Someone who spends the first 6 years of life
living adjacent to coal-tar-sealed pavement:
25 times higher cancer risk compared to those
with urban background exposure to PAHs

USGS at http://www.usgs.gov/blogs/features/usgs_top_story/youre-standing-onit-health-risks-of-coal-tar-pavement-sealcoat/
US Dept of the Interior

Inhalation of PAHs from coal tar sealed pavement

Peter C. Van Metre , Michael S. Majewski , Barbara J. Mahler , William T. Foreman , Christopher L. Braun , Jennifer...
Volatilization of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from coal-tar-sealed pavement
Chemosphere, Volume 88, Issue 1, 2012, 1 - 7
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2011.12.072

Cancer types

Lung
Skin
Bladder
Respiratory tract
Urinary tract

Coal Tar Sealants Reduction Act of 2013

Introduced: Apr 18, 2013

Status:Referred to Committee on Apr 18, 2013
Prognosis: 0% chance of being enacted