You aren’t always able to see them, but tiny dust-sized particles are moving through the air constantly, affecting air quality and sometimes becoming embedded deep into our lungs.

These particles, which can be harmless or toxic, natural or manmade, are picked up by the wind from many sources – beaches and dunes, agricultural fields, roads and parking lots, landfill sites, stockpiles, or mine tailings and smelter slag. Since these particles are inhalable and can cause disease, government regulates the amount allowed in the air.

At Trent University, School of the Environment professor Dr. Cheryl McKenna Neuman is working on one piece of the puzzle, researching how these particles travel to understand how to improve air quality.

“Our research is part of a bigger picture,” says Professor McKenna Neuman who was recently awarded $215,000 over five years through the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. “We are not out to single-handedly solve the problems of the world, but we are working with international researchers across many disciplines to solve really difficult problems with air quality.”

Research important to world mining industry
Mining companies and agencies from across the world, including in Mongolia, Argentina, and throughout North America, have worked with Prof. McKenna Neuman to identify and measure the environmental conditions most likely to cause dust emission. This can help identify the best treatment for keeping particles from becoming airborne such as constructing wind breaks, planting vegetation, water sprinkling or applying a dust suppressant. “It’s a complex problem because the particles are highly varied and complex,” she says.

Trent Wind Tunnel Unique in the World
Trent’s $2-million Environment Wind Tunnel Lab has been an important facility in this timely field of research. The lab enables Prof. McKenna Neuman, along with international colleagues, undergraduate students, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, to test the movement of different particles.

From the control room, using remote-controlled instruments, Prof. McKenna Neuman is able to study how particles, like topsoil mixed with microplastics, are lifted from a surface and then disperse. A powerful fan creates a turbulent airflow similar to the outdoors, blowing particles and suspends them. The lab was engineered specifically to study particle transport, and is the only tunnel of its particular type in the world that’s 100% climate-controlled, meaning scientists can see how particles travel in airflows that are intensely cold and dry, or hot and humid. 

Learn more about the Trent Environment Wind Tunnel and the School of the Environment.