Soil dust emitted from large scale construction sites in urban areas has posed a significant health threats to local residents by exacerbating air quality. Water-spraying (moistening) is commonly practiced to lower the dust emission in construction sites, but its long term effectiveness is highly questionable. In this study, the utility of starch and PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) was investigated in suppression of the soil dust emissions in construction sites in Seoul areas. The efficiency of the two suppressants was tested with test soil sample in a lab-scale wind tunnel box under different concentrations of suppressants and soil textures. Starch and PVA showed the superior ability to suppress soil dust emission as compared to moistening, resulting in PM₁₀ and PM_2.5 lower than the daily limit values of 30 and 15 μg/m³, respectively. PVA showed higher suppression capability than starch for all conditions. The test soils mixed with suppressants also showed dramatically enhanced aggregate stability compared to the non-treated soil.

Keywords: Soil dust, Suppressant, Starch, PVA (polyvinyl alcohol), Construction, PM₁₀ and PM_2.5