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Abstract: Nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and black carbon (BC) emission factors (EF) of 440 on-road diesel trucks were determined by conducting on-road chasing studies in Beijing and Chongqing, China, in the winter 2010. NO x and BC EF distributions are reported. The median NO x EFs for trucks sampled on level roads in Chongqing and Beijing are 40.0 and 47.4g kg-fuel−1, respectively. The median BC EFs are 1.1 and 0.4g kg-fuel−1in Chongqing and Beijing, respectively. In addition, a clear downward trend of BC EFs of on-road diesel trucks sampled in Beijing since 2008 is observed. Moreover, Beijing-registered trucks had the lowest BC EFs among the entire sample. These observations appear to reflect the effectiveness of emission standard and fuel quality standard implemented in Beijing (China IV) and nationwide (China III) in reducing BC (and likely overall particulate matter) emission. However, NO x EFs for Beijing-registered trucks did not show lower value than those from other regions. Unlike black carbon, there is no clear correlation between emission controls and NO x emissions from the sampled on-road trucks. Further analysis shows that trucks with high BC EFs do not usually have high NO x EFs, and vice versa, indicating that the current emission standards implemented in Beijing and nationwide have only limited impact on NO x emissions control. Therefore, effective multi-pollutant control strategies and in-use compliance programs are imperative to reduce the overall emissions from the transportation sector. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aggressive traffic interventions and emission control measures implemented to improve air quality during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games created a valuable case study to evaluate the effectiveness of these measures on mitigating air pollution and protecting public health. In this paper, we report the results from our field campaign in summer 2008 on the on-road emission factors of carbon monoxide, black carbon (BC) and ultrafine particles (UFP) as well as the ambient BC concentrations. The fleet average emission factors for light-duty gasoline vehicles (LDGV) showed considerable reduction in the Olympic year (2008) compared to the pre-Olympic year (2007). Our measurement of Black Carbon (BC), a primary pollutant, at different elevations at the ambient site suggests consistent decrease in BC concentrations as the height increased near the ground level, which indicates that the nearby ground level sources, probably dominated by traffic, contributed to a large portion of BC concentrations in the lower atmospheric layer in Beijing during summertime. These observations indicate that people living in near ground levels experience higher exposures than those living in higher floors in Beijing. The BC diurnal patterns on days when traffic control were in place during the Olympic Games were compared to those on non-traffic-control days in both 2007 and in 2008. These patterns strongly suggest that diesel trucks are a major source of summertime BC in Beijing. The median BC concentration on Olympic days was 3.7 μg m−3, which was dramatically lower than the value on non-traffic-control days, indicating the effectiveness of traffic control regulations in BC reduction in Beijing. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Air monitoring was performed in the vicinity of the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) during the spring of 2003. The purpose of this monitoring was to determine the extent of airport emissions on downwind ambient air in a mixed use neighborhood that includes residences. A mobile air monitoring platform was developed and deployed to measure ultrafine particle numbers (UFP), size distributions, particle length, black carbon (BC), oxides of nitrogen (NO x ), and particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PM-PAH). Pollutant levels were low at a coastal site upwind of the airport, with UFP ranging between 580 and 3800countscm−3, oxides of nitrogen (NO x ) from 4 to 22ppb, black carbon from 0.2 to 0.6μgm−3, and PM-PAH ranged from 18 to 36ngm−3. Markedly higher UFP counts, with average counts of approximately 50,000cm−3, were observed at a site 500m downwind of the airport, which was strongly influenced by aircraft landings and where the community interfaced with airport facilities. Black carbon, PM-PAH, and NO x levels were elevated to a lesser extent at downwind locations. Transient peaks in UFP corresponding to aircraft landings and takeoffs were evident. A maximum UFP count reached 4.8 million particlescm−3 downwind of a runway used by jet aircraft for takeoffs. Particle size distributions differed substantially between upwind and downwind locations. The particle numbers at the upwind site were dominated by particles of approximately 90nm diameter while downwind sites were dominated by particles peaking at approximately 10–15nm. Additional data obtained from a study of UFP levels conducted subsequently by a co-author indicates that aircraft-generated UFP persist up to 900m from an LAX runway [Biswas, S., Fine, P.M., Geller, M.D., Hering, S.V., Sioutas, C., 2005. Performance evaluation of a recently developed water-based condensation particle counter. Aerosol Science and Technology 39, 419–427]. Considered together, these observations suggest that airport operations are associated with elevated levels of UFP much further downwind in the neighboring community than would have been predicted by prior studies of UFP from roadway-traffic. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Epidemiologic studies have linked human exposure to pollutants with adverse health effects. Passenger exposure in public transport systems contributes an important fraction of daily burden of air pollutants. While there is extensive literature reporting the concentrations of pollutants in public transport systems in different cities, there are few studies systematically addressing the heterogeneity of passenger exposure in different transit microenvironments, in cabins of different transit vehicles and in areas with different characteristics. The present study investigated PM 2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters smaller than 2.5 μm), black carbon (BC), ultrafine particles (UFP) and carbon monoxide (CO) pollutant concentrations in various public road transport systems in highly urbanized city of Hong Kong. Using a trolley case housing numerous portable air monitors, we conducted a total of 119 trips during the campaign. Transit microenvironments, classified as 1). busy and secondary roadside bus stops; 2). open and enclosed termini; 3). above- and under-ground Motor Rail Transport (MTR) platforms, were investigated and compared to identify the factors that may affect passenger exposures. The pollutants inside bus and MTR cabins were also investigated together with a comparison of time integrated exposure between the transit modes. Busy roadside and enclosed termini demonstrated the highest average particle concentrations while the lowest was found on the MTR platforms. Traffic-related pollutants BC, UFP and CO showed larger variations than PM 2.5 across different microenvironments and areas confirming their heterogeneity in urban environments. In-cabin pollutant concentrations showed distinct patterns with BC and UFP high in diesel bus cabins and CO high in LPG bus cabins, suggesting possible self-pollution issues and/or penetration of on-road pollutants inside cabins during bus transit. The total passenger exposure along selected routes, showed bus trips had the potential for higher integrated passenger exposure compared to MTR trips. The present study may provide useful information to better characterize the distribution of passenger exposure pattern in health assessment studies and the results also highlight the need to formulate exposure reduction based air policies in large cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vehicle emissions are identified as a major source of air pollution in metropolitan areas. Emission control programs in many cities have been implemented as part of larger scale transport policy interventions to control traffic pollutants and reduce public health risks. These interventions include provision of traffic-free and low emission zones and congestion charging. Various studies have investigated the impact of urban street configurations, such as street canyon in urban centers, on pollutants dispersion and roadside air quality. However, there are few investigations in the literature to study the impact of change of fleet composition and street canyon effects on the on-road pollutants concentrations and associated roadside pedestrian exposure to the pollutants. This study presents an experimental investigation on the traffic related gas and particle pollutants in and near major streets in one of the most developed business districts in Hong Kong, known as Central. Both street canyon and open roadway configurations were included in the study design. Mobile measurement techniques were deployed to monitor both on-road and roadside pollutants concentrations at different times of the day and on different days of a week. Multiple traffic counting points were also established to concurrently collect data on traffic volume and fleet composition on individual streets. Street canyon effects were evident with elevated on-road pollutants concentrations. Diesel vehicles were found to be associated with observed pollutant levels. Roadside black carbon concentrations were found to correlate with their on-road levels but with reduced concentrations. However, ultrafine particles showed very high concentrations in roadside environment with almost unity of roadside/on-road ratios possibly due to the accumulation of primary emissions and secondary PM formation. The results from the study provide useful information for the effective urban transport design and bus route reorganization to minimize the impact of traffic emissions on the urban air quality and public health. Observations on the elevated ultrafine particle concentrations in roadside pedestrian levels also demonstrate the urgent need to improve roadside air quality to reduce pedestrians’ health risks especially inside street canyon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Black carbon (BC) is the dominant component of the light absorbing aerosols in the atmosphere, changing earth's radiative balance and affecting the climate. The mixing state and size distribution of atmospheric BC are largely unknown and cause uncertainties in climate models. BC is also a major component of diesel PM emissions, recently classified by World Health Organization as Category I Carcinogen, and has been associated with various adverse health effects. This study presents a novel approach of direct and continuous measurement of BC mass size distribution by tandem operation of a differential mobility spectrometry and a refined Aethalometer. A condensation particle counter was deployed in parallel with the Aethalometer to determine particle number size distribution. A wide range of particle sizes (20–600 nm) was investigated to determine the BC modal characteristics in fresh diesel engine tailpipe emissions and in different urban environments including a typical urban ambient site and a busy roadside. The study provided a demonstration of a new analytic approach and showed the evolution of BC mass size distribution from fresh engine emissions to the aged aerosols in the roadside and ambient environments. The results potentially can be used to refine the input for climate modeling to determine the effect of particle-bound atmospheric BC on the global climate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Traffic restrictions are an unpopular tool to mitigate urban air pollution, and a measurable improvement in air quality is needed to demonstrate the effectiveness of this measure. Previous attempts failed to detect measurable reductions of PM mass pollution within the areas subject to traffic restriction. However black carbon, which is emitted primarily by traffic sources, could be a PM metric more suitable than PM mass to demonstrate pollutant reductions. In this study we report the results of a black carbon monitoring campaign carried out in Milan, Italy, with the aim to detect - and demonstrate more suitably than PM mass - differences in local urban air quality among three zones located very closely with different traffic intensity. The study was carried out in three different days by measuring simultaneously black carbon and PM mass concentrations with fixed monitoring stations located in three main radial roads connecting the outskirts to the city center, each with three segments: 1) an outer one, with no traffic restrictions 2) an intermediate one, subject to the congestion traffic charge called “Ecopass”, where a ticket is required to enter for cars equipped with engines prior to Euro 4 standard; 3) the pedestrian zone (no cars admitted) of Duomo Square in the city center, where each of the three main roads ends. The results demonstrated a sharply declining gradient in black carbon levels from the outer zone, without traffic restrictions, to the more central areas, for all of the three radial main roads. The differences in mean black carbon levels in the same day in the different traffic scheme locations were highly significant for each comparison. In contrast to the Black carbon results, mean PM10, PM2.5, PM1 concentrations did not show significant differences among the different traffic zones on the different campaign days. The ratio of black carbon to PM10 decreased by 47% and 62% in the Ecopass zone and in the pedestrian zone, respectively, as compared to the no-restriction zone. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study showing that within-city proximal areas with different traffic intensity are associated with different black carbon levels. These data suggest that black carbon is a highly relevant metric of traffic pollution and should be taken into consideration in demonstrating the effectiveness of air quality mitigation measures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]