Bioinspired Green Glycolipids as Fugitive Dust Mitigation Agents

Project Summary
Ambient air pollution significantly contributes to the global disease burden, leading to increased morbidity and
mortality. In 2019, particulate air pollution alone contributed to over 4 million premature deaths. Mineral dusts, a
component of atmospheric particulate matter, affect global biogeochemical cycles, pollute water bodies and air
masses, and impact global climate. Dust poses both physical and health hazards, the latter particularly affecting
cardiovascular and respiratory health. Mining activities generate dust at various stages, including excavation,
blasting, stockpiling, crushing, grinding, and transport. Dust from mining operations, both modern and legacy,
serves as an exposure route for other contaminants like arsenic and lead. To safeguard human and
environmental health from mining-related dust, innovative and environmentally compatible technologies are
essential to mitigate dust emissions. Research in Phase I demonstrated that glycolipid surfactants are effective
dust suppressants, matching or surpassing currently available products. Despite the availability of various dust
suppression products, market opportunities exist for new technologies to address their disadvantages, such as
corrosiveness to machinery, potential risks to human health from hazardous components, and short-term
effectiveness due to susceptibility to disruption by environmental factors like strong winds. The overarching
goal of this Phase II SBIR is to demonstrate the commercial potential of a next-generation green dust
suppression technology using GlycoSurf’s proprietary glycolipid surfactants. This will be achieved through field
testing on an active mining site, expanding the physicochemical diversity of tailings evaluated, and elucidating
the fundamental materials science and engineering principles driving glycolipid dust suppression efficacy. The
Phase II project has four aims. Aim 1 will refine and scale-up glycolipid synthesis to produce kilogram quantities
of glycolipids. Aim 2 will establish a field test site on an active mine operation to perform two studies designed
first to screen glycolipids for best performance and second, to study application frequency and concentration of
the best glycolipid formulation. Aim 3 will focus on analysis of the material properties of glycolipids and glycolipid-
mine tailing interactions to understand their correlation with dust suppression effectiveness, covering a range of
mine tailings geochemistry from both field and laboratory settings. Aim 4 will involve a technological and
economic assessment to determine the feasibility and commercial potential of scaling up and commercializing
glycolipid dust suppressant technology. Successful completion of this project will yield at least one candidate
formulation suitable for commercialization as a dust suppressant for mine tailings. These formulations will be
environmentally compatible and effective in reducing dust emissions, thus mitigating risks to human and
environmental health. The characterization of glycolipid performance will provide fundamental knowledge of
glycolipid structure-function relationships, guiding future development and driving innovation in green dust
suppressant technologies.

Grant Number: 2R44ES034319-02
NIH Institute/Center: NIH
Principal Investigator: Chett Boxley