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Ultrafine Particle Exposures While Walking, Cycling, and Driving Along an Urban Residential Roadway



Details

  • Personal Author:
  • Description:
    Elevated concentrations of ultrafine particles (UFPs, <0.1 um), which have been linked to adverse health effects, are commonly found along roadways. This study reports UFP and PM2.5 concentrations and respiratory exposures among four transportation modes on an urban residential street in Santa Monica, California while walking, cycling, and driving with windows open and windows closed (with air recirculation on). Repeated measurements were made for nine days during morning (7:30-9:30), afternoon (12:30-14:30), and evening (17:00-19:00) periods. Median UFP concentrations ranged 1-3 × 104 particles cm-3, were 70% lower in afternoon or evening periods compared to the morning, and were 60% lower when driving with windows closed than open. Median PM2.5 ranged 2-15 ug m-3, well below the annual National Ambient Air Quality standard of 15 ug m-3. Respiratory UFP exposure (particles inhaled trip-1) was approximately 2 times higher while driving with windows open, approximately 15 times higher when cycling, and approximately 30 times higher walking, than driving with windows closed. During one evening session with perpendicular rather than parallel wind conditions, absolute UFP concentration was 80% higher, suggesting influence of off-roadway sources. Under parallel wind conditions, a parameter called emissions-weighted traffic volume, used to account for higher and lower emitting vehicles, was correlated with beach-site-subtracted UFP using second-order polynomial model (R2 = 0.61). Based on this model, an 83% on-roadway UFP reduction could be achieved by (1) requiring all trucks to meet California 2007 model-year engine standards, (2) reducing light-duty vehicle flows by 25%, and (3) replacing high-emitting light-duty vehicles (pre 1978) with newer 2010 fleet-average vehicles. [Description provided by NIOSH]
  • Subjects:
  • Keywords:
  • ISSN:
    1352-2310
  • Document Type:
    Text
  • Funding:
    Grant
  • Genre:
    Journal Article
  • Place as Subject:
  • CIO:
    National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
  • Topic:
    Workplace Safety & Health
  • Location:
    North America
  • Pages in Document:
    185-194
  • Volume:
    73
  • NIOSHTIC Number:
    nn:20055797
  • Citation:
    Atmos Environ 2013 Jul; 73:185-194
  • Contact Point Address:
    Yifang Zhu, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Fielding School of Public Health, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA
  • Email:
    Yifang@ucla.edu
  • Federal Fiscal Year:
    2013
  • Performing Organization:
    University of California Los Angeles
  • Peer Reviewed:
    True
  • Start Date:
    20050701
  • Source Full Name:
    Atmospheric Environment
  • End Date:
    20270630
  • Collection(s):
  • Main Document Checksum:
    urn:sha-512:4831f1e850b0fc292e6c89e3430ec9e11e759d40ee634c703a4cdf7954d4aec1f679c2820202d0820a11f7bbce51f52228d40c6aede6d6d5f324c60bfa8f781c
  • Download URL:
  • File Type:
    Filetype[PDF - 1.65 MB ]
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