Should coal tar sealant be banned across the country?
Written by: Admin
Coal tar is a sticky liquid mixture of hydrocarbon compounds, derived, along with coke, from the destructive distillation of coal in coking ovens. In the past, Coal tar was used as one of the primary ingredients of asphalt pavements. Today, petroleum derived binders and sealers are more commonly used. These sealers are used to extend the life and lower maintenance cost associated with asphalt pavements, primarily in asphalt road paving, car parks and walkways.
The industry and environmentalists continue to argue about using coal tar sealant. So, let’s look at advantages and disadvantages of coal tar sealant. Hopefully, it would help you form your individual opinion.
Some of the advantages of coal tar include; (1) Coal tar provides better chemical resistance over Asphalt coating. (2) Coal tar has higher durability (3) Coal tar is less expensive (4) and coal tar has extremely low permeability to moisture and there high dielectric resistance, both of which contribute to the corrosion resistance.
However, coal tar has significant health related issues. Some of the chronic effects of coal tar elements are; changes in liver and harmful effects on the kidney, heart, lungs, and nervous system. The federal agency claims that coal tar contains probable cancer-causing chemicals. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, contaminated house dust is linked to parking lots with Coal Tar Sealant. In addition, PHAs that are part of coal are considered toxic to fish and other aquatic life.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is scheduled to announce ruling this year in September on whether the coal tar should be classified as hazardous. Many cities have voluntarily banned the use of coal tar sealant. Should all remaining cities ban coal tar sealant immediately?
Submit your views here.
February 13th, 2010 at 11:13 am
I value health more than saving few bucks. So, I would like my city to ban it immidiately.
February 13th, 2010 at 5:13 pm
Absolutely. It is one of the dumbest decisions ever made by the EPA to let toxic waste to be spread throughout the countryside and tracked into our homes. Let it be a lesson to all of us that real recycling should be done with greater foresight.
February 17th, 2010 at 11:21 am
No, I think there should be evidence before we start banning things. Coal Tar was banned in Austin in 2005, because of some flawed tests on a creek. 5 years later, tests show that the PAH levels are the same. Why would the PHA levels be the same if Coal Tar hasn’t been used in 5 years?
February 19th, 2010 at 1:03 pm
Yes it should be ban. Their have been more studies in 11 states that prove the problem. The industry has other types of sealers we can use that aren’t as toxic. I read the flawed study report and in my opinion its the industry trying protect itself and not us the consumer. In fact I even read something about anti burn cream for the applicators. Now if the applicator is supose to wear protection what does that say about coal tar? I wonder what our contractors liability is to me as the consumer?
February 20th, 2010 at 4:47 pm
I am afraid that you must be mistaken. One study does not make something true. I believe what you are referring to is one of the USGS studies.
I have read all of the studies from Austin and USGS and there are serious flaws in the testing protocol. In generally, neither Austin or USGS ran the correct tests in order to determine the source of the problem. Both parties are making assumptions and do not have the evidence to back us these assumptions.
In my opinion, nothing has been proven. Wouldn’t you defend your product if someone was claiming it was harmful? I would suspect you would.
What makes me the most suspicious is when the fear factor is introduced into the equation. If the science is sound, why is this necessary??
What these alarmist are doing is scaring people into making the decision that they are hoping for. Did they happen to tell you that everyone one is exposed to the same PAHs daily, no, of course not. Everyone eats and breaths PAHs daily. Also there are PAHs in outer space too. Last time I checked I never saw a photo with a bucket of sealer in any NASA photos.
February 21st, 2010 at 2:11 am
I would like to suggest to Admin to check their facts regarding some of the statements made in particular with regards to health effects. I would submit that there is not evidence of negative health effects with regards to this product. I do appreciate the fact that it appears you were attempting to offer both sides of the story.
I did find this website that offers an opposing opinion on the subject for those who may be interested. The website is http://www.truthaboutcoaltar.com/.
I figure that it is never a bad thing to have too much information.
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