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BLM study reveals high levels of arsenic in dust at Nellis Dunes
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Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal
Motorcyclists kick up dust and dirt Thursday while riding near the Nellis Dunes north of Las Vegas. » Buy this photo
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL
Updated: Jan. 28, 2011 | 8:01 a.m.
Dust blown by wind and kicked up by off-road vehicles and motorcycles at Nellis Dunes Recreation Area contains high levels of naturally occurring arsenic and has the presence of an asbestos-like mineral, according to a study released Thursday by the Bureau of Land Management.
A BLM spokeswoman said the 10,000-acre recreation area will remain open while a health risk assessment is completed over the next three years, but advisory signs will posted at the recreation area with more information available at the bureau's Southern Nevada District Office website: www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo.html.
"The area remains open, but it's the people's decision about going out there and what they feel comfortable with," BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said.
About 300,000 off-road enthusiasts and visitors a year use the recreation area, which is north of Nellis Air Force Base and southeast of Interstate 15 in the north Las Vegas Valley.
The study was conducted by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as part of a dust mitigation plan submitted to Clark County officials for meeting federal air quality standards.
"BLM does not know whether the elevated levels of arsenic pose a health risk to recreational and other users of the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area," BLM officials said in a news release.
Preliminary data from a health risk assessment will be released to the public as the data become available before the assessment is completed. Cannon said the BLM's Southern Nevada District Office will be receiving reports on the assessment every six months.
"If the materials identified in the dust study are found to pose a potential threat to human health and safety, the Health Risk Assessment will help BLM determine what, if any, safety measures should be taken," the news release said.
Levels of arsenic, a possible cancer-causing and sometimes fatal element, were found at Nellis Dunes Recreation Area to be up to almost 10 times more than arsenic found in soils elsewhere in the United States.
There are no standards for arsenic levels in U.S. recreational settings.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, human inhalation studies have found inorganic arsenic exposure to be strongly associated with lung cancer. Other health effects include stomach and skin problems and irritation of mucous membranes from chronic inhalation of arsenic.
With the substantially higher concentrations of arsenic in soil at the Nellis Dunes Recreation Area, the dust study also found that nearly all samples contained palygorskite, a fibrous clay mineral that has many of the same characteristics as asbestos.
Palygorskite is not regulated like asbestos and is naturally occurring. Researchers think that it has potential to cause lung disease and that its long fibers are possibly carcinogenic to humans.
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10x more arsenic then other parts of the United States, OMG, so only the Nellis Dunes or all the dirt that all of Las Vegas it built on. Better close the whole town. Guess we better pack our bags and move out of Vegas, BLM said the soil I'm standing on is toxic! Give me a break.
I have a higher chance of getting cancer driving around in my rig with the top off then dust at Nellis Dunes. I've been wheelin out there for decades and have no ill effects more then a sunburn from spending alot of time out there enjoying our public lands.
If you can't handle the dust then why did you move to Las Vegas in the middle of the freakin DESERT!
re: JackW..couldn't agree more. while they rant about personal freedom, when they get sick (and some do but not all)...then it's my tax dollars that go to pay for their medical bills, disability, etc but they are to short sighted to think about that!
i'm all for personal choice but when you decisions impact me...then it's not your choice anymore.
re: william...yep useless. who handles ranchers and their cattle leases or should we just let people run 1000's of head of cattle at will? ever heard of the tragedy of the commons...all you need to do is look at the current financial crisis to understand it. you're right there with PaulR and the white lines in the sky.
I encourage all of the paranoid right-wingers posting here, who think all of this is yet another government conspiracy, to buy a dirt bike and head out to the dunes. Carve some donuts with the rear knobby kicking up lots and lots of dust, as you breathe deeply. Very deeply.
YAY! NOW the BLM can enclose this land and kick the public off in preparation for a big land deal by friends and family of influential people....this is just the headline to assure the people back off long enough for them to work the details out...off roaders you had better make a stink because this is the camel's nose in the tent......on this potential jackpot of land......
Have you got any LACE to go with this FRU, FRU story?
"will remain open while a health risk assessment is completed over the next three years . . "
Oh no! People are having FUN! We can't have that! And we certainly can't have people making their own health decisions!
"We're from the government. We're here to help."
I would ponder that if a person were to take a shovel full of dirt and toss it in the air at any place in the world, someone, somewhere would find something "poisoness" in it and then be able to put it under government regulation.
Since the USA needs to cut budgets, start with BLM, there 100% useless!
Interesting, what findings has BLM found in soil samples through-out Nevada from the fall-out of the un-natural aerosol spraying of white lines in the sky. Or is this just another attempt to lock-up public lands?
No big deal compared to the stuff that blows off the nevada Test Site...