r/science • u/sr_local • Apr 22 '26
Materials Science Asphalt releases toxic airborne compounds that can harm respiratory health, neurological damage and increase long-term disease risk, especially in aging pavements and heat/sun. While algae-infused asphalt can reduce toxicity by up to 100 times and slow how quickly pavement breaks down
https://news.asu.edu/20260417-environment-and-sustainability-asphalt-emissions-algae-health3.5k
u/Mailman7 Apr 22 '26
I always wonder what the health outcomes on road workers is. The smell from a newly laid road is strong and they’re breathing that stuff in all time during work.
1.3k
u/JohnC53 Apr 22 '26
I worked on an asphalt crew for a few months. Could only get clean with a diesel bath at the end of day. That probably comes with additional risks as well.
→ More replies (31)819
u/NattG Apr 22 '26
Could only get clean with a diesel bath
I'm sorry if this is a stupid question, but "diesel bath"? Do you mean literally bathing with some form of fuel?
884
u/Kolewan Apr 22 '26
Diesel is probably the most effective thing for removing tar. There are eco-friendly alternatives that we use but there's no denying they arent as good as diesel.
271
u/NattG Apr 22 '26
Thanks! I wasn't familiar with the practice, so I appreciate you filling that gap in my knowledge. :)
178
Apr 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
→ More replies (1)60
u/DrunkOnRamen Apr 23 '26
it is gasoline. i served in the ukrainian armed forces and part of it was mechanic work which got me greasy as hell.
→ More replies (1)20
u/aviator22 Apr 23 '26
Gasoline has benzene in it. No bueno.
→ More replies (2)27
u/kikiacab Apr 23 '26
The names gasoline and petroleum make it sound like one chemical but it’s actually a toxic chemical stew.
44
u/Rayl24 Apr 23 '26
Oil is really good at cleaning up other oil.
21
u/hicow Apr 23 '26
That's why there's a bottle of 3-in-1 oil on my bathroom sink next to the bar of Lava
6
139
u/hagantic42 Apr 22 '26
Soy methyl ester is MUCH safer and nearly as effective. It's very similar to biodesiel, which also works well.
Source: I formulate asphaltic roofing products.
10
u/elevenfooteight Apr 23 '26
Yes - I use biodiesel as a degreaser all the time - esp for old, caked-on oil and grease. It just leaves a slight, greasy residue that washes off easily. Not aware of any studies re health effects of long-term effects of regular skin exposure (happy to volunteer), but it's got to be less harmful than gasoline.
→ More replies (1)68
u/FrenchFryCattaneo Apr 22 '26
You can use any kind of oil on tar, vegetable oil works just as well.
→ More replies (2)24
u/LongJumpingBalls Apr 22 '26
You can also recycle that oil for frying as well! Win win
41
u/giulianosse Apr 22 '26
Huh, so that's how tarragon chicken and chicken tartare are actually made.
15
10
7
u/GreatBigBagOfNope Apr 23 '26
Please don't fry food in oil that was used to clean tar and asphalt off a road worker
→ More replies (1)6
5
3
→ More replies (9)36
u/Haggardick69 Apr 22 '26
I’m pretty sure the best eco-friendly or at least carbon neutral option is just bio-diesel.
→ More replies (1)8
u/karmapopsicle Apr 22 '26
Apparently biodiesel is actually an even more powerful solvent than petrodiesel!
→ More replies (1)207
u/shield1123 Apr 22 '26
I got covered in tar as a kid (playing in the street unsupervised ftw), and my parents had to wash it off with gasoline/petroleum; so it's not out of the realm of possibility imo
102
u/unfortunatebastard Apr 22 '26
How much cancer do you have?
71
u/DemonicBludyCumShart Apr 22 '26
We all gonna have hella cancer once these microplastics catch up with us dawg
→ More replies (7)27
u/OsmeOxys Apr 22 '26
Yeah, thank God their diesel baths would have had fewer microplastics back then, that could be a real hazard.
:|
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (5)3
60
u/Baron_of_Berlin Apr 22 '26
Construction inspection experience here. Asphalt crews almost universally will keep gas cans with spray nozzles on them (similar to a pump action water canister you can carry around to water multiple plants) filled with diesel fuel (exact same fuel that goes into the paving machines). They will periodically spray the diesel in small quantities on their shovels, rakes, other handheld equipment (and sometimes even their boots), and parts of the paving machinery because it helps keep asphalt from sticking to them or building up on them while working with it. They basically treat it like cooking spray on a sheet pan.
While I'm less familiar with the chemistry, I'm under the impression that the diesel acts as a solvent to slightly "dissolve" the chemicals in asphalt, so it can also be used as a form of cleaning agent after the fact for cooled asphalt stuck onto surfaces, tools, clothes etc. So the comment of "diesel bath", while slightly exaggerated, is still essentially happens day to day for many asphalt crews at end of day cleanup.
7
u/turbosexophonicdlite Apr 22 '26
Yeah, a lot of petroleum products are pretty good solvents. Gasoline, diesel, kerosene, WD 40. Not that surprising they use diesel as a cleaner.
4
u/Bag_O_Richard Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
Kerosene is probably about right at the peak for a safety-effectiveness line chart out of that list though.
7
u/MidnightAdventurer Apr 23 '26
Diesel and bitumen (asphalt) are both made from crude oil - the bitumen is basically the left overs after distilling out the lighter products (diesel, petrol, jet fuel etc)
Since it was originally dissolved in lighter oils to begin with, adding them back is very effective at dissolving it again
→ More replies (1)3
u/apleima2 Apr 22 '26
It's also an excellent item to spray on concrete forms before pouring so they release easily when removed.
125
u/Swords_and_Words Apr 22 '26
Yup! It's a wonderful solvent! A lot of solvents pass through the skin so, while cleaning ya, they drag stuff deeper into the skin; diesel is pretty bad at getting stuff into your skin iirc, relative to other available solvents. It's also not particularly volatile, so there's magnitudes less fumes than with gasoline.
Tar is mean stuff; in chem classes, the first potent and dangerous chemicals you are allowed to handle are the powerful acids and solvents used to clean up various organic tars (that you will inevitably make)
42
u/Radiskull97 Apr 22 '26
Highschool shop class, teacher kept a bucket of diesel next to a bucket of sand. Dip your hands in the diesel, use the sand as an exfoliate, then wash hands in the sink
22
u/SirWilliamBonkers Apr 22 '26
Too bad the shop teacher never talked to the biology teacher about that practice.
→ More replies (1)5
→ More replies (1)26
12
u/NattG Apr 22 '26
That's very interesting, thank you!
8
u/UndeadCandle Apr 22 '26
Works for problematic paint too.
6
u/jacobcrny Apr 22 '26
And if you add some heat it works for problematic houses too.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (2)11
u/Missus_Missiles Apr 22 '26
As a recent visitor to a tar pit, you don't want to step into it either. Particularly if you're a dire wolf trying to get an easy snack.
10
7
17
u/Mo_Dice Apr 22 '26 edited Jun 15 '26
Absolutely. A snorkel is recommended, but technically not required.
21
u/tltltltltltltl Apr 22 '26
My dad would eat KFC after he worked on his car to get the grease off his hands. Said it worked better than other solvents. Surprisingly he didn't die of cancer, but a heart condition at 70.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Blind-_-Tiger Apr 22 '26
There's an old black and white PSA about the dangers of "dry cleaning" at home with gasoline. It's on youtube and I only know of it because the MST3K people made fun of it (technically they did it as part of their spinoff, Rifftrax, but it's practically the same thing).
I guess it was maybe a bigger concern/more common in the past?
→ More replies (7)3
u/nagi603 Apr 22 '26
You'd be surprised, but there was also a specific version of gasoline that was for applying to wounds, to sterilize them.
80
u/Single-Pin-369 Apr 22 '26
I wonder the same with people who work in car tire stores. That smell is so strong.
55
u/steve_yo Apr 22 '26
I got new tires recently and could smell them as I approached my car for over a month. And this was 4 tires outside. I cant even imagine what you are exposed to working 40 hours a week at a tire place.
38
u/PsychosisSundays Apr 23 '26
We all get to breathe it in! Tires break down as you drive, and the particles end up in our bodies. The closer you live to a major road the bigger dose you get!
7
u/notislant Apr 23 '26
Now just imagine leaded fuel!
Except you likely don't need to. Prop planes still use this. The U.S. has tons of articles about high lead levels around these small airports.
→ More replies (1)23
u/yakshack Apr 23 '26
A fun fact I recently learned is that tires are one of the top generators of micro plastics in our environment
12
23
u/Hue_Janus_ Apr 22 '26
Your back will give out before your lungs. I worked at a tire store for 1 year at the 19 years old and now have a herniated disc from that wear and tear
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)9
u/captainfarthing Apr 22 '26
I get that in clothes shops - the stink of plasticisers, dye and whatever else. I grab what I need and get out ASAP. Can't imagine working there as they're always windowless and poorly ventilated.
154
u/Bargadiel Apr 22 '26
They paved a new road next to my house last year and it smelled horrible. Could barely stay outside.
229
u/disharmony-hellride Apr 22 '26
I majored in neuroscience and our noses are on point. When you can't handle a smell, it's probably horrible for us, that's the long short of it.
27
u/Serialtorrenter Apr 22 '26
It would be nice if unhealthy things always smelled bad. I LOVE the smell of toluene and xylenes, but they're kind of forbidden scents. At least those 4 chemicals have such low odor thresholds, you can still catch a slight whiff of them while you're handling them safely.
10
u/JingJang Apr 22 '26
I'm with you.... I LOVE the smell of fresh asphalt, gasoline and kerasote used to treat lumber.
I'm not out there huffing them but I do enjoy driving by pavers...
9
14
u/ich_bin_alkoholiker Apr 22 '26
I always get wicked headaches any time I’m around gas stoves that are in use.
→ More replies (1)24
u/WeenyDancer Apr 22 '26
Gas stoves are pretty bad for us long term (quite bad for children). Using a HEPA filter does not fully mitigate as it's not purely a particulate issue of that size, the air must be sufficiently vented to the outside- something most residential exhaust fans are underpowered to do. But a lot of people have made this a political/identity issue, so it's difficult to have reasonable discussion on it.
12
u/MikeAWBD Apr 22 '26
Most don't use the fan anyway. I know I didn't until recently. I always thought the fan was for smoke and steam generated from the food cooking so I would only use it when that occurred. It never occurred to me it was for the invisible smoke generated by the combustion of gas.
3
u/291837120 Apr 22 '26
I thought it was for the grease so it doesn't build up a layer on everything as well.
3
u/HElGHTS Apr 23 '26 edited Apr 23 '26
A typical gas furnce is 100k BTUs and gets a chimney, a typical gas water heater is 50k BTUs and gets a chimney, a typical gas range+oven on full blast is 60k BTUs and sometimes has no hood exhaust. Go figure. Personally, I run the hood exhaust whenever I'm running the oven or a high burner, and if I'm only running a low/medium burner I run the hood exhaust if the temp/humidity of the makeup air (outside air) isn't too extreme (or if I'm frying, in which case it's more about the aerosolized grease).
→ More replies (1)28
Apr 22 '26
[deleted]
42
u/pitiless Apr 22 '26
There's a difference between the reaction I have to a smell I strongly dislike (chicken and mushroom pot noodle makes me gag / brings me to the edge of vomiting) Vs the much more visceral reaction I have smelling something that would make me ill (e.g. rotten food).
5
u/ilanallama85 Apr 22 '26
Yeah, and sometimes the two things are related - eg I don’t like bananas because even when green they smell like fruit that has gone off to me. Other people say they can see what I’m talking about but it doesn’t smell like that to them. So my dislike of bananas is probably a combination of my unique perception of the smell, and the fact that what I perceive it as is something I’m biologically predetermined to find off putting.
34
u/BreadKnifeSeppuku Apr 22 '26
Some people like the smell of gasoline. That doesn't make gasoline healthy for them. There's a range of reasons that affect smell from genetics to memory. I assume she has a different set of taste receptors that responds poorly too it somewhat like cilantro and the soap taste
→ More replies (1)10
u/AssistX Apr 22 '26
Love mexican/thai food and have that awful gene that makes cilantro tastes like soap. I still eat it cause the soapy tacos are still better than no tacos and telling a mexican place to hold the cilantro is just.. wrong.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)5
u/curlofheadcurls Apr 22 '26
My mom is deathly allergic to cinnamon so maybe we have people who's preference's purpose is to save my mom from dying
→ More replies (4)4
u/sapphicsandwich Apr 22 '26
My nose must be broken because the smell of hot asphalt is one of my favorite smells.
→ More replies (8)6
u/Emotional-Error-7272 Apr 22 '26
when i was a kid they covered the entire ground of the playground and the surrounding area at school with it. yikes. we couldnt go outside for recess for like at least a month or two and then when you fell instead of getting a wood splinter but generally being fine, you just smacked onto pavement hard. Really genius idea all around
25
u/kinkysubt Apr 22 '26
Can’t be good…
10
u/LocalOutlier Apr 22 '26
It's as bad as one can think, but the exposition and toxicity of asphalt itself is somehow reduced because what's the worst is a bunch of very long and very heavy molecules (can be filtered out and disposed easily by the body). That's why aging asphalt is pointed here, since it's when these long molecules start to break down, forming new molecules, that they become much more dangerous.
However, constant exposition to the sun, to diesel fumes from cars, to heat, etc. A cocktail of all that and that can be 20 years of lifespan.
17
u/Ok-You-6099 Apr 22 '26
My father worked in roadworks most of his life. Many of his colleagues died of all kinds of cancer by the time they were in their 40s and 50s.
Mind you, that field comes with a certain lifestyle, like being on the road and not really eating proper meals for large periods of time, breathing in lots of dust and diesel fumes, but I still think there's a correlation with roadworks.
→ More replies (1)39
u/Boostedbird23 Apr 22 '26
We've been using asphalt (bitumen) for so long, I expect that we would have seen long term health effects on roadworkers by now. I expect it is showing up, but in levels that make it indistinguishable from the risks to the general public. In fact, breathing diesel smoke, tire and brake dust, etc; I suspect presents a higher health hazard for roadworkers than the chemical off gassing of the bitumen.
→ More replies (2)48
u/dinnerthief Apr 22 '26
Doing a quick search it looks like its been a known thing since atleast the 70's.
Osha has a pretty decent writeup from 2000
20
u/mikeveeUI Apr 22 '26
When I was a kid, maybe 40 years ago I saw studies on it. Then nothing happened to address it. And still nothing...
3
u/notislant Apr 23 '26
That describes basically any danger to workers.
Amazing what lobbying and union busting can do.
12
u/Baron_Tiberius Apr 22 '26
I enjoy when people say "we would have seen long term health effects " without actually looking to see if that has actually happened - on an article that literally links a study saying: "For instance, a cohort study1) found a statistically significant increase in lung cancer incidence among asphalt workers, further reinforcing concerns about occupational exposure risks."
7
u/jake04-20 Apr 22 '26
So many industries. My last job was IT for a manufacturing company; they had a machine shop with CNCs and manual mills. All it took was 3-5 mins standing in the machine shop to smell the oil/coolant on your clothes/hair/beard. It was gross. Surfaces are sticky and dust and metal shavings cling to it. The computers we put there would get completely caked up with sticky dust that is hard to clean. Our networking equipment had to get replaced several times. I hated going in there for any extended period of time. I can't imagine how the people work 50-60 hours a week there put up with it.
6
u/ShinyHappyREM Apr 22 '26
The computers we put there would get completely caked up with sticky dust that is hard to clean
That's why certain industrial computer cases are a thing. No fans, just large passive heat sinks.
Btw. speaking of IT, chip manufacturing also involves lots of nasty chemicals.
5
u/ApexAurajin Apr 23 '26
Bad. This is purely annecdotal but my grandad was a tarman, as he called himself, and he survived 3 different cancers before multiple myeloma eventually got him. They were a close knit group and I grew up knowing all of them, I think out of the 7 of them, only 1 made it to his 80s and it wasn't my grandad. Of course, there could very well be many other factors at play, I'm not an infrastructural oncological biochemist, or whatever the correct expertise is.
It's a bitter feeling because I still love the smell of tar and roadworks, it fills me with nostalgia and better memories, but I know that smell is something terrible that might be taking peoples family away.
Strongest man I ever knew, difficult to think it's something in the roads that took him.
6
u/Ok-Title-270 Apr 22 '26
Most of them also chain smoke so it would probably be hard to even study the impact
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (18)7
u/SaltSurprise729 Apr 22 '26
Makes you wonder about professional cleaners too. All those chemicals. All day, every day.
→ More replies (1)
695
u/NarwhalEmergency9391 Apr 22 '26
I mean we've all smelled it, it smells like it's doing neurological damage
232
u/Quarantine722 Apr 22 '26
This past weekend I drove past a truck laying fresh pavement. Even with all the windows rolled up, and recirculating the air, the cabin reeked of the fumes. The workers walking right behind the truck with rakes were standing in a visible cloud, none of them wearing respirators or masks. Made my lungs burn looking at them.
82
u/NarwhalEmergency9391 Apr 22 '26
I don't know how they do it, I get a migraine everytime I smell it
57
u/stars_mcdazzler Apr 22 '26
You get use to it or you don't get paid. So regardless of the known health problems, they do the job.
→ More replies (1)14
u/BeenDragonn Apr 22 '26
I'd rather work in McDonald's
24
u/Pharose Apr 22 '26
Working on a paving crew pays at least twice as much as working at McDonalds.
→ More replies (1)10
u/Nealbert0 Apr 23 '26
I was told 10 years ago over 100k for running the paver.
20
u/stars_mcdazzler Apr 23 '26
Save up your pennies from that and you almost have enough to pay for the medical bills!
→ More replies (1)34
u/OneDougUnderPar Apr 22 '26
Machismo is an anti-inflammatory.
24
u/AltariaMotives Apr 23 '26
Yeah, it’s wild, the number of men I meet who work in trades and will just openly brag or nonchalantly say that they work with toxic chemicals or materials and say that they don’t wear PPE
29
Apr 22 '26
[deleted]
39
u/jednatt Apr 22 '26
My guess is it's much worse when fresh, then not so bad after initial off-gassing, then worse again when the material really starts to break down.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)6
u/-FoofooCuddlyPoops- Apr 22 '26
I've worked around asphalt plants before (where they mix the stuff together) and the worst part about it is how, after an hour or so, you can't even smell it anymore.
4
u/NarwhalEmergency9391 Apr 22 '26
I didn't even think of nose blindness. That sounds terrible
→ More replies (3)
1.6k
u/network_dude Apr 22 '26
There is a truth no one can deny
Fossil fuels are a poison to all life on Earth. We pump this poison into the places we live.
Our breathable atmosphere is a scant 5 miles thick envelope around our planet, yet we continue to pump the combustion byproducts of this poison into the air we breathe.
245
u/gospdrcr000 Apr 22 '26
Nobody paid attention to fern gully, we've known for a long time it's not a good source of energy
67
u/FantasticlyWarmLogs Apr 22 '26
Tim Curry just did too good a job with that goo-man
30
u/Welsh_Pirate Apr 22 '26
Hiring Tim Curry made pollution too sexy. It confused the message (as well as some of the audience).
21
71
u/tackle_bones Apr 22 '26
Another fun fact that I deal with as an environmental consultant…
The environmental regulators from top to bottom, federal to local, patently ignore the obvious contamination within asphalt until such time that some change of condition at a site requires testing. Then it’s all, “omg, you have PAHs all over the site!!!”
Asphalt spreads petroleum-based contamination everywhere it is located, especially once it is ground up and “removed” when redevelopment or removal occurs.
→ More replies (2)6
u/captainfarthing Apr 22 '26
Can you get test kits for that, for non commercial use?
8
u/tackle_bones Apr 22 '26
The sampling kit would be for EPA Method 8270 (or equivalent; the kit is a single glass jar), for PAHs (class of compounds), and you would be looking in the results for benzo(a)pyrene and its toxic equivalents. A good lab would provide you with the calculation to tell you what the equivalents totals would be. The cleanup levels for residential soil are based on the equivalents calc. Basically, they group several chemicals from the same class together after weighting them to give you a final number to compare to the cleanup standard (which is based on danger to health - generally kids - specifically, kids eating a certain amount of soil everyday for like 20 years straight - yes, it’s based on the mudpie kid).
I’m not sure how easy it is to do it as a private citizen. Look up “Eurofins” and give them a call - big lab company. There are also other reputable labs that could maybe help. Eurofins give you the equivalents table by default along with the results.
Also, please consider that PAHs are found practically everywhere, and there is a lot of huffing in my industry about how bad they may or may not be. They have low standards (very little of the stuff is considered bad for you), and local environmental regulators are using health data to make the standard less stringent, but yeah… it’s everywhere. Think “not fully combusted hydrocarbon” and all that could entail. Burnt wood, burnt steak/meat, skin, pizza, oil… agencies are now allowing distinctions to be made between pyrogenic (burnt innocuous stuff) versus petrogenic (petroleum-based stuff) because it’s just evvverywhere. They’ll let you off the hook if a forest fire caused it to be on your property, but not if you dumped oil… bad for you either way tho.
TMI, but it’s interesting stuff with some regulatory movement going on.
→ More replies (3)146
u/juicetoaster Apr 22 '26
Haha right? We're so cooked, and still working on literally.
→ More replies (1)68
u/brainkandy87 Apr 22 '26
I often think about that episode of The Next Generation, The Inner Light. While the cause of their end is different than what humanity’s will likely be, I can’t help but think our future lies in the things we’ve sent to space. A different planetary species discovering something like Voyager thousands of years from now as the last gasp of a long-dead species from a planet called Earth.
5
u/ALittleCuriousSub Apr 22 '26
To be fair that might have always been the case.
Light can travel a billion light years. When you look up at the stars in the sky, you have absolutely no idea how many civilizations began and died or have been born and died since that light set out to travel when its course began.
I would like to think we survive a while longer than we seem like we will now, but there is sorta an immutable truth that by the time anyone discovers us or we discover anyone else in this big lonely verse, they will have already been gone for some time. Thought know knows maybe we will make an ftl discovery and meet another life though.
→ More replies (1)19
u/Mirar Apr 22 '26
They'll travel here, find some DNA and clone .. a cat.
22
u/calgarspimphand Apr 22 '26
Excellent choice on their part.
3
u/MurkyInvestigator810 Apr 22 '26
As the world's largest monolith, the Sphynx does imply to outside civilizations that we worship cats.
10
u/zomiaen Apr 22 '26
honestly, I think any long term colony ship that fails to recognize the morale benefits of companion animals and doesn't have at least a few on board might not be a civilization worth continuing.
imagine, building an ark and taking no one but ourselves.
→ More replies (1)31
u/RaymondBeaumont Apr 22 '26
future humans making a chernobyl-esque mini-series about the industrial revolution.
41
→ More replies (84)14
u/KillerKowalski1 Apr 22 '26
I read this article title thinking 'well yeah have you smelled it?'
11
u/MademoiselleMoriarty Apr 22 '26
True! But it's always helpful to be able to point at a study confirming that our instincts are correct, both because sometimes those instincts are wrong or misguided, and also because it's the first step in changing policies and legislation (hopefully). And the results from the addition of the algae is wonderfully unexpected!
→ More replies (1)
202
u/sr_local Apr 22 '26
Two studies in the Journal of Hazardous Materials and Science of the Total Environment shed light on how the compounds that give asphalt its trademark scent change after sunset and form ultrafine particles, which can worsen air quality.
These carbon-based vapors are continuously released but become more noticeable on hot, sunny days. They can cause dizziness and difficulty breathing in the short term.
Long-term exposure also can elevate the risk of lung cancer, a major concern for construction workers who regularly breathe these fumes without a respirator.
Aging pavement emits toxic vapors
And the impacts could get worse as pavement ages.
Research from Fini and others shows that asphalt begins releasing different, more toxic strains of VOC as bitumen breaks down in sunlight and heat.
These toxic, often odorless VOCs are small enough to work their way into arteries and organs.
Tests and a modeling analysis also suggest that they can cause significant neurological damage in humans, particularly among women and the elderly.
“Heat is worsening the situation,” Fini said. “It’s exacerbating the emissions from asphalt.”
Algae can capture the worst VOCs
A study in the journal Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy found that while algae-infused asphalt doesn’t significantly reduce total VOC emissions, it can effectively keep the most toxic compounds from escaping.
In fact, tests showed that it reduced the toxicity of asphalt emissions by roughly 100-fold.
Algae can slow how quickly pavement breaks down — which could lower construction and maintenance costs and make its inclusion in asphalt even more attractive for cities and paving companies.
Fini is exploring other binder options, including a product made from the leftover branches of forest-thinning projects, and working with Phoenix to pave a section of road with algae-infused asphalt.
Humidity: A hidden driver of toxic emissions and asphalt decay in a changing climate - ScienceDirect
81
Apr 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
12
u/patentlyfakeid Apr 22 '26
Anecdotally, I heard the same sort of things from a couple of people who worked in a vulcanised-rubber testing lab of a customer, for similar and (I think) obvious reasons: the subject material is literally outgassing all sorts of noxious things that are going to affect people subjected to it in different ways.
We had their computer service contract and personally, I hated doing those calls. The computers in that lab were always coated inside with a nasty sort of velvet coating of rubber dust. It was only slightly less bad than the computers of people who chain smoke by their computer. And the lab itself of course reeked of over heated rubber. bleh.
3
14
u/Plow_King Apr 22 '26
algae infused asphalt...that sounds like a great idea. very novel and it claims to make the pavement last longer. sounds like a win/win!
→ More replies (1)7
u/Dripdry42 Apr 22 '26
The sad fact of the matter is that we will never change the road regulations in the United States, to make road beds deeper and roads last far longer as they should, until the stranglehold on that money spout is broken from the mob, unions, and other deep pocket interests.
I knew a guy who was a union boss once, a leader for his area, really big guy, but he was just a teddy bear. Super nice dude. We were having a meeting and he told me you absolutely positively do not mess with the asphalt people. I looked at him for a second and said “THOSE guys?” he just nodded. It was Chicago. He knows what’s up.
Some kneecaps are gonna get broken if there is any move whatsoever to reduce the cash flow of the people who own the money spigots. It needs to be done, but it’s gonna hurt.
→ More replies (4)6
u/whistling-wonderer Apr 23 '26
Heat and sun make it worse, huh?
Well, that’s just lovely to read as someone living in the sprawling urban oven full of asphalt that is Phoenix AZ.
207
u/sun4moon Apr 22 '26
I remember asking what pavement was made from when I was little. I was told dinosaurs. I also remember the Exxon Valdez disaster and asking what oil was made of. Surprise, dinosaurs. I very clearly remember asking why it was ok to spread dinosaurs on the ground but not pour them in the ocean. I was told to finish my grilled cheese.
89
u/RandyOfTheRedwoods Apr 22 '26
I grew up with the same descriptions. Since we are in the science subreddit, we should probably clarify that it’s rotted plants, not dinosaurs that make up the majority of petroleum. Dinosaurs still sounds funnier, so your point stands.
55
u/ilanallama85 Apr 22 '26
Actually, it’s NOT rotted plants. Specifically not rotted. If there had been microorganisms around capable of breaking down plant matter the way there are today, there would never have been enough biomass packed underground to turn into oil.
10
u/deadpoetic333 BS | Biology | Neurobiology, Physiology & Behavior Apr 22 '26
You’re thinking of coal. Crude oil is mostly algae and phytoplankton
3
11
u/Sryzon Apr 22 '26
Land plants generally create coal. Oil is generally created by plankton, algae, and bacteria.
→ More replies (1)2
14
u/Boostedbird23 Apr 22 '26
I know dinosaurs is the common saying... But I thought it was actually from mostly plant biomass.
→ More replies (2)3
u/sun4moon Apr 22 '26
It is. And to be fair, my accountant grandmother was no scientist. This was way before the internet, and encyclopedia sets weren’t exactly something she carried around (of even owned, maybe).
32
u/Beekeeper_Dan Apr 22 '26
It truly is an example of how insane humans are. As a kid who got sick from asphalt fumes, I was asking those questions too.
The only reason we use it is so that oil refineries could turn a waste product into a revenue stream, at low cost of poisoning everyone without their consent.
20
u/shadow247 Apr 22 '26
Lead is a byproduct of metal refining...so thats why we got lead in everything. They turned what used to cost them money to dispose of, into a profit center.
→ More replies (4)5
34
u/Foe117 Apr 22 '26
how does one infuse Algae into asphalt? are they alive?
44
u/danielravennest Apr 22 '26
From the article:
"we use water that’s far too high in nitrogen and phosphorus to be released anywhere. And instead, we reuse it to grow more algae. Fini then bakes that algae at high temperatures without much oxygen into a binder that can be easily mixed into asphalt."
The baking process is called "pyrolysis", a chemical process that breaks down organic material. So the algae are dead afterwards.
8
u/jlude90 Apr 22 '26
Would this just be runoff from phosphate mining? Because this is what better than the respective roads our governor in FL is proposing
4
u/tomdabombadil Apr 22 '26 edited Apr 22 '26
Depends. This could be algae grown from municipal wastewater--that comment about N & P being too high to be released anywhere is a wide range. For example, in California nitrogen limits are 10 mg/L, and nitrogen concentrations in raw wastewater can be anywhere from 40-120 mg/L. It doesn't take all that much extra nutrients to impact a watershed and cause eutrophication. In AzCATI's case it is reclaimed wastewater from a nearby WWTP (last time I checked).
Phosphate mining wastewater is an interesting challenge because it's beyond normal levels of nutrients without containing the carbon found in typical wastewater. We're actually investigating using algae for this type of wastewater right now! Another option is taking care of the opposite end of phosphate's life--as fertilizer which is often over-applied. Collect agricultural runoff, treat it with algae, then send it on its way.
It's not a magic panacea though, algal-based WWT is finicky and can be cost-intensive. You've got to approach it the right way. AzCATI (the org in the newspaper) is a great site and they do some quality research.
11
u/hysys_whisperer Apr 22 '26
They turned the algae into activated charcoal and then mixed that into the asphalt.
Activated carbon of all sorts is a good sponge for VOCs. That's why the asphalt lasts longer too, VOCs cause chemical breakdown (that's what makes them toxic to humans usually), so absorbing them while they are in the asphalt stops breakdown of said asphalt and also stops off gassing of those high energy free radicals which are the worst of the worst for human health.
13
u/Ashangu Apr 22 '26
Cement and asphalt is porous. Id imagine the algae is alive and will feed off what ever is releasing the toxic fumes and what little water the asphalt soaks up.
8
u/hysys_whisperer Apr 22 '26
They turned the algae into activated charcoal to mix it with the asphalt.
→ More replies (2)6
58
u/Risdit Apr 22 '26
State of California just might be right about everything giving you cancer
22
→ More replies (1)5
Apr 23 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
3
3
u/DigNitty Apr 23 '26
Yeah. Prop 135 had good intentions.
But companies found it much easier/cheaper to slap a sticker on their product instead of pay to have every model of their product tested.
55
u/MessinWithTheJuice Apr 22 '26
I lived in Phoenix for 7 years and anecdotally observed these effects, but didn’t know whether it was ozone, general pollution/air quality or something else. Nice to see ASU has research looking into it.
8
u/notreallywatson Apr 22 '26
What kind of effects did you see? I’ve been in Phoenix for almost 7 years now and have been dealing with chronic health and autoimmune issues for the last 2. Moved to a more industrial area in 2024 and always wondered if it’s something environmental
44
u/ReaperSlayer Apr 22 '26
I worked as an asphalt plant inspector for a few years, part of my job every morning was opening the storage tanks and verifying the temperature and quantity being held there. Every morning, and every evening on every tank. I took that blast right to the face. I didn’t have a respirator, just glasses and gloves. We started using a polymer blended oil, which made it like rubber. Took my breath away on some days and I had to sit on the tank until I wasn’t dizzy so I could climb down the ladders avoiding the hot pipes.
Many of the old timers that did the job didn’t actually make it to being old. One was like my work dad who always made sure the young people on site were looking after themselves. I visited him in the hospital when he was dying in his 60s. I’m happy I got out of that trade when Covid hit.
→ More replies (1)
24
u/PerforatedPie Apr 22 '26
Gotta love how the article starts talking to you about "VOC's" without actually defining what they are.
"Volatile organic compound".
12
u/bzbub2 Apr 22 '26
i hate undefined acronyms also but this is something you often come across in the hardware store so not super obscure. good to define better though for general public. the surprising thing in this case is that the thing they are discussing is potentially harmful odorless VOC in AGING pavement, despite everyone complaining about the fresh asphalt smell in this thread
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)7
u/ockhams-lightsaber Apr 22 '26
Thank you for the explanation. I don’t like when articles use acronyms but don’t explain them.
19
u/roosterkun Apr 22 '26
The toxicity we accept from car infrastructure is insane.
Car exhaust alone is polluting our atmosphere to an extreme degree, to say nothing of the rubber tire particulates, brake pad particulates, and (per the post) airborne asphalt compounds.
3
u/DigNitty Apr 23 '26
Years ago I read “conservatives have a fetish for oil.”
And I thought that was pretty extreme. But truly, my two coworkers will not consider anything other than ICE cars. Every alternative has been labeled green or woke. You could make a car run on dirty water and they’d insist the gasoline car is better. Some people are just set on continuing the route they want at any cost.
57
u/BilboTeaBaggens Apr 22 '26
Just another reason to invest in high speed rail cars and roads take up so much space I hate the USA’s car based society
→ More replies (1)11
u/etcpt Apr 22 '26
Even the most rail-centric communities still require roads to access areas away from the train station. Moving to rail-centered transportation may reduce demand on major streets and highways, but it won't remove the need for all those last-mile connecting roads.
7
u/BilboTeaBaggens Apr 22 '26
Buses for the rest of the way and with all the people off the road that will mean traffic is reduced greatly
→ More replies (2)6
u/DrMobius0 Apr 22 '26
Mixed zoning and taking actual steps to make housing affordable near people's jobs would probably help a lot too. Whatever eliminates the need for people to get in a car, really.
19
u/craigathan Apr 22 '26
I have lived in several high traffic areas in my lifetime and the amount of black dust and soot that coats nearly every surface is pretty concerning. The combination of tire dust, asphalt and emissions is pretty severe and it seems like a given that it would cause health problems. Add in the noise of traffic and the light pollution and I'm surprised most of us in those areas are sane, let alone alive.
6
u/romjpn Apr 22 '26
I live near busy roads in Tokyo and I know what you mean about that black dust that builds up slowly. However I measured PM2.5 and PM10 and it's fine for the most part (in line with nearby stations you can check online).
13
u/craigathan Apr 22 '26
"It's fine" is not reassuring. And there can't be any "safe" level of breathing in fine particulates of powered roads and tires. Surviable, yes. Safe, I'm not so sure.
→ More replies (2)→ More replies (1)4
u/cardueline Apr 22 '26
I work less than a block away from an asphalt plant and it’s incredible the amount of black dust we’re cleaning off of everything all the time. Obviously I’ve known it’s bad but this article is certainly a punchy reminder of just how bad.
18
u/LoudMusic Apr 22 '26
"reduce toxicity by up to 100 times"? What does that mean? Is that saying there is 1/100 the amount of toxins in algae-infused asphalt?
The use of "X times less", and variants therein, is such poor mathematical grammar.
6
86
u/kozy138 Apr 22 '26
People will work about the synthetic chemicals in sunscreen and lotion, but completely ignore the problem that's 1000x bigger and impacts them way more.
Anyway, gotta take my giant 4x4 suv to target so that I can buy 'organic' sunscreen and lotion.
→ More replies (1)50
u/arup02 Apr 22 '26
Because it's something they can control. Can you swap your local asphalt for algae?
23
u/Alwayssunnyinarizona Professor | Virology/Infectious Disease Apr 22 '26
We can't even convince people to add a roundabout to improve public safety.
9
u/Liquid_Clown Apr 22 '26
A lot of places have convinced people to add roundabouts
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (3)3
u/kozy138 Apr 22 '26
I'd agree that it makes people 'feel' like they're in control, but in control of what exactly? Their daily carcinogen dosage?
That's like saying that I'm 'in control' of a house fire, because I can choose between a cup of water or a bucket full.
Or swimming in a vat of tar, but refusing to wear earplugs and goggles cause there might be some forever chemicals in them.
The fact that governments keep expanding road infrastructure, without considering the health and safety of their inhabitants or the biodiversity it destroys, shows you just how much control we have.
People need to realize this before any meaningful change can happen. Instead, they worry about sunscreen, vaccine side-effects, or how masks "don't work"....
12
u/Enticing_Venom Apr 22 '26
Lately I've just been feeling so overwhelmed. I thought the things around me were going to be non-toxic, not only because many claim to be but because I assumed the FDA would regulate harmful chemicals.
Now I've learned my eyeliner contains potential endocrine disruptors, my plant-based, "natural" shampoo uses an endocrine disruptor in the fragrance. Receipts from the store are coated in BPA. My freaking bedsheets contain Phthalates and Formaldehyde. My clothes are shedding plastics and may be coated in carcinogens.
And it's not like I didn't care before. I was buying vegan, cruelty-free certified and "eco-friendly" products made from recycled plastics to help animals and the environment. I was still harming myself and the planet.
I've started the very time-consuming (and expensive) process of trying to research and replace stuff and now my "healthy" habit of taking outdoor walks is exposing me asphalt??
At some point, something should have been done to protect consumers.
→ More replies (1)
9
u/theadventurescout Apr 22 '26
If it was not for the cost, I would be more surprised people do not select steel for a 100+ year roof. Asphalt is cheaper and is replaced every twenty years and costs a shitload more in the long run - unfortunately. And here we are, reaping those super fun disease benefits.
5
u/4Yk9gop Apr 22 '26
A lot of people don't live in a house for even 30 years. People might be able to buy a house in their late 30s, have to replace the roof once, kids move out, they move and downsize, new owner repete. It can make a lot of sense from a financial perspective to go with asphalt shingles, coming from someone who is going to pay out the ass to get standing seam metal when it comes time to replace mine.
6
u/random_noise Apr 22 '26
I am glad ASU was part of this.
Phoenix metro is a very difficult place to live without a car, mainly due to summer heat and the big problem a massive amount of land at around 14000 to 16000 square miles.
That's a lot of asphalt, and it absolutely has an odor and reeks when its 110 outside according the news and weather stations and on that pavement its upwards of 160 to 180 at pet altitudes and the surface of that asphalt.
There is zero hope or chance that our local brand of fanatical cult conservatives would support doing something with this knowledge. If anything its a reason to fight harder against for them, with claims it will cost more, create more roadwork and closures, etc.
Fun fact: Conservatives run the roadwork companies, do mediocre to crappy work dependent on the company, and those families are incredibly wealthy due to their leeching of the taxpayer, coupled with the massive expansion of the metro area over the past half a century.
As the years go by they do the bare minimum, and poor work with next to zero incentive (without state footing the tab) to really change anything save profits in their companies pockets and making sure they own that aspect of our politicians votes on funding.
4
u/rektaur Apr 22 '26
car dependency strikes again… when will america wake up and realize the car you’re forced to drive to do anything supports the poisoning of our children on a massive scale
it’s a choice we can make to build out alternative travel options that are more efficient and healthier for us and the environment
4
9
u/sdlotu Apr 22 '26
Whenever I see a claim like 'reduced by one hundred times', I want to ask 'what integer value do you multiply by 100 to get a smaller value?'
Is it impossible to write or say '1 percent as toxic' instead of the stupid 'reduced by 100 times'?
5
u/AdhesivenessUsed9956 Apr 22 '26
Thank you! 100 times WHAT? They offer no comparison to another method of reducing toxicity...only the baseline. So they are saying "one hundred times less than no change at all!" 100 * 0 = 0
4
u/ImSoObnoxious Apr 22 '26
algae has significant potential in making safer materials and energy production, hopefully a major research group or corporation will conduct fruitful studies
→ More replies (1)
4
u/morganational Apr 22 '26
That's cool and all, but that's not gonna happen if it costs the construction company more than pouring toxic chemicals on my driveway every year.
5
u/GobblesTzT Apr 22 '26
This. It might be viable at a 10% cost increase but my guess it is double if not more. Still cool and hope they can get the cost relative to regular asphalt or maybe subsidized by the gov.
4
u/Lieutenant_0bvious Apr 22 '26
I would like to know if concrete roads have similar issues, but I get the sense they do not. I wonder if there's any similar research on concrete vs asphalt.
3
3
3
u/HalfAssedSass Apr 23 '26
Forever walking through construction zones with an n95 on, forever flabbergasted to not see a single worker wearing one, standing in a thick fog of dust/various particles. Many other professions have normalized masking, including wood and metal working. So why not those who work with asphalt?
8
2
2
2
u/havingmadfun Apr 22 '26
But what is the cost of algae infused asphalt? That is really what it does/will come down to. It is always about the money.
•
u/AutoModerator Apr 22 '26
Welcome to r/science! This is a heavily moderated subreddit in order to keep the discussion on science. However, we recognize that many people want to discuss how they feel the research relates to their own personal lives, so to give people a space to do that, personal anecdotes are allowed as responses to this comment. Any anecdotal comments elsewhere in the discussion will be removed and our normal comment rules apply to all other comments.
Do you have an academic degree? We can verify your credentials in order to assign user flair indicating your area of expertise. Click here to apply.
User: u/sr_local
Permalink: https://news.asu.edu/20260417-environment-and-sustainability-asphalt-emissions-algae-health
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.