Authors
Luis F O Silva
Published in
Chemosphere. Pages 145084. Sep 14, 2026. Epub Sep 14, 2026.
Abstract
The study by Roganović et al. (2025) is, to our knowledge, the first to use road dust to examine rare earth elements in the vicinity of coal-fired thermal power plants and an associated coal-mining area. It reports a pronounced temporal enrichment of dysprosium and evaluates non-carcinogenic hazard through the ingestion pathway. The dataset and the spatial and temporal patterns it documents are a useful contribution to a topic that has received little attention. In this letter we do not question the reported concentrations, the observed patterns, or an appropriately qualified screening-level assessment. Rather, we ask that two conclusions be stated with a scope that matches the evidence. The receptor-based sampling design characterizes the occurrence and distribution of rare earths in road dust but, without characterization of local coal, fly ash, or ash-disposal material, cannot definitively attribute the measured elements to the plants or exclude them as contributors. The health-risk assessment, restricted to ingestion, supports a conclusion about non-carcinogenic hazard through that route under the assumptions applied, but not a general statement that the dust poses no risk to human health, because the inhalation route was not assessed. Throughout, we separate the analyses that would strengthen interpretation from those strictly necessary to support the results already reported, and we discuss source attribution, the dysprosium anomaly, the use of total concentrations, and the enrichment indices in that light.
PMID:
42732927
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 14 Sep 2026.
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