Miljö- och hälsorisker orsakade av partikelspridning har uppmärksammats mer och mer de senaste åren. Även järnvägen ger upphov till spridning av partiklar, bland annat har vissa problem med damning påpekats, då främst i samhällen där tågen bromsar in före stationer. Obehaglig lukt och damm som lägger sig över t.ex. parkerade fordon och påverkar lacken är några av de problem som påtalats. Dammet antas härröra från slitage av bromsar, hjul, räls, strömavtagare och strömledning samt uppvirvling av damm på banvallen.

På tre lokaler studerades bulkdeposition med trattar och flaskor samt med vertikalt placerade filter i samma mätpunkter för att samla in luftburna partiklar. På en lokal togs även torvprover för att studera eventuell upplagring av föroreningar i järnvägens närhet. Totalt genomfördes nio mätomgångar på vardera ca två veckor.

Environmental and health hazards, caused by exposure to particulate matter, have received increased attention in recent years. Railways can also be a source of particulate matter, which has been highlighted for instance where problems with dusting along railways have been reported. This is the case especially in built-up areas where the railway traffic has to reduce its speed before stations. Examples of the problems are odours in the surroundings and dust deposition onto parked vehicles, damaging car finishes. The dust is in this case assumed to have its origin in the brakes, wheels, rails, and electric conductors but may also be caused by resuspension of the wear particles of the same origins which had been deposited on the railway embankment.

In this study three field sites were established for thecollection of deposition using funnels and bottles, complemented by verticalfilters at the same positions in order to collect airborne particles. Alsothe peat samples were collected at one site in order to study theaccumulation of pollutants in the railway surroundings. The length of eachmeasuring period was about two weeks, and a total of nine measuring periodswere performed.  In order that the results may be generalized to be valid for the entirerailway network, more detailed knowledge of the mechanisms involved in thewear and spreading of the metals is required.