For every vehicle that travels over an unpaved road for one mile, one ton of dust is created annually. This is interpreted as for every 500 trucks or cars that travel over 100 miles of these roads that 50,000 tons of dust is thrown up into the surrounding air every year.
This also means that for every mile of unpaved road lacking road dust control, that a ton of material from that road is removed every year for every automobile that travels on it. Without the help of wind, this nuisance dust can travel up to 500 feet from the road into the air. Not only is this affecting the inhabitants near a busy unpaved road, but this dust also negatively impacts the growth of plant life. For these reasons the need for road dust control is real.