Dusty Streets: The Challenge of Dust‐Borne Pollutants in Low‐Income Countries

Abstract

ABSTRACT Economic growth is accompanied by roadway infrastructure development and an increase in vehicles. Generally, pollution impacts developed and low‐income countries (LICs) to different extents, and the disease burden due to roadway dust is not uniformly distributed across socioeconomic classes. Previous reviews have reported effects of street sweeping, dust suppressants, washing, and risk assessment of heavy metal exposure to street dust in developed countries, but a detailed review on LICs is still lacking. Hence, this review aims to address this gap through synthesizing literature on the pollutant burden of roadway dust in LICs. Research within the period 1966 to 2024 was retrieved from scholarly databases, and the key findings were: (1) roadway dust is laden with pollutants that carry public health risks, (2) assessment of pollutants in roadway dust is imperative to determine the quality of the urban environment, and (3) although there is evidence of regulatory frameworks in LICs, their implementation remains doubtful. This evidence informs policymaking for the regulation and abatement of the emission of pollutants into roadway dust.