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Spatial distribution of the 35 air quality monitoring stations in Beijing (a) and the four selected traffic monitoring stations with their nearby nontraffic stations (b)
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China has made great efforts to reduce ambient atmospheric pollutant concentrations in the past few decades. The air quality in northern China has improved greatly. However, most research has focused on atmospheric pollution in non-roadside environments that have little influence from traffic flow and are impacted by less vehicle exhaust. In this s...
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Citations
... The vehicles' emission has been decreased significantly over the past decades. Despite these efforts, road transport is still an important source of PM, CO, and NOX emission [3][4][5], contributing 10, 20 and 39%, respectively in 2018 in EU-28 countries [1]. Furthermore, the contribution of road transport to emission in dense urban areas may be significantly higher [6]. ...
Many cities face low air quality. To better predict the exceedance of air quality limits, the traffic’s contribution to air pollution was analysed in this paper. Several studies used a twin site approach to determine the impact of urban traffic; however, it requires the deployment of stations at various locations. A time variant analysis to determine traffic’s contribution and regression analysis were applied to determine the weather’s impact. The results were validated using actual traffic data. It was found that the traffic’s contributions to CO and NO2 were 22 and 30%. It was noted that the seasonal fluctuation of NO2 is significantly influenced by precipitation. Long-term trends of pollutants require further research.
... Recently, it has been estimated that consumption in the G20 nations causes particulate air pollution resulting in two million premature deaths annually, at an average age of 67, including 78.6 thousand infants (Nansai et al., 2021). Particulate matter levels can be reduced by cutting emissions, especially from traffic, which represents a major source of atmospheric pollution in cities (Amato et al., 2016;Chen et al., 2018;Heydari et al., 2020). In addition to exhaust PM from internal combustion engines, traffic non-exhaust emissions (wear processes and resuspension) also represent an important contributor to the atmospheric levels. ...
... The potential for oxidation along busy roads is limited because O 3 concentrations are typically low Brimblecombe et al., 2021), but there is still a potential for conversion of NO to NO 2 as exhaust gases mix with the surrounding air (Yang et al., 2018). Knowing the dynamic of NO 2 can become especially important not only for effective air quality management (Yang et al., 2018) but also for evaluating the health effect (Chaney et al., 2011;Liang et al., 2018) given the high occupancy of the pavements along the streets and the high roadside NO 2 concentration in many cities (Barros et al., 2013;Chen et al., 2018;Wu et al., 2022;An et al., 2021;Anenberg et al., 2022). Different pathways could dominate roadside NO 2 in different cities. ...
... Traffic, especially diesel vehicles, still represents a major source of particulate matter air pollution in urban areas (Amato et al. 2016;Chen et al. 2018;Harrison et al. 2021;Heydari et al. 2020;Karagulian et al. 2015). Particulate emissions from diesel-powered vehicles are mainly composed of soot and a vast variety of different organic species (Saarikoski et al. 2017) with strong carcinogenic and cytotoxic properties (Bendtsen et al. 2020;Fox et al. 2015;Park et al. 2018;Schwarze et al. 2013). ...
To perform a detailed organic speciation, particulate matter emitted by a Euro VI diesel city bus was collected combining chassis dynamometer and on-road testing. Dynamometer exhaust emission tests were performed following the Braunschweig and the world harmonised vehicle cycle (WHVC). On-road testing was done on two routes representing typical city bus operation and an additional circuit following the in-service conformity (ISC) requirements. Amongst other constituents, exhaust particles included polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), alkyl-PAHs, alcohols, various types of acids, glycerol derivatives, and glycols. Particulate matter mass fractions of these compounds were much higher in samples from on-road driving tests compared to chassis dynamometer cycles. Retene and 5-ring PAHs were the dominant compounds within this family. Alkyl-naphthalenes and alkyl-phenanthrenes were also detected. On average, 20% of the analysed PAHs were found to contribute to the carcinogenic potency of the particulate material. For many compounds, in the dynamometer tests, the highest particulate mass fractions were obtained for the WHVC with hot start. Compounds from fuel additives (e.g. levulinic acid), components of the cooling system fluids (e.g. ethylene glycols), by-products of after-treatment technologies (isocyanic acid) and antioxidants leached from polymeric materials (e.g. oxidised Irgafos® 168) were observed in the exhaust particles. The detection of constituents such as monoglycerides and hydroxytoluene suggests the use of diesel/biodiesel blends by bus drivers.
... For instance, Harrison et al. (2021b) reported that the PM 2.5 roadside traffic increment reached approximately 5 μg m − 3 in Beijing during 2016-2018, which is similar to that in Paris and Hong Kong. Chen et al. (2018) collected hourly air pollutant data at four traffic stations in Beijing during 2014-2017 and concluded that roadside environments with heavy traffic are highly polluted and should be improved. The characteristics of short-term roadside air pollutants were reported by Zhang et al. (2019b) but just focused on one selected road in fall and winter. ...
Road traffic constitutes a major source of air pollutants in urban Beijing, which are responsible for substantial premature mortality. A series of policies and regulations has led to appreciable traffic emission reductions in recent decades. To shed light on long-term (2014–2020) roadside air pollution and assess the efficacy of traffic control measures and their effects on public health, this study quantitatively evaluated changes in the concentrations of six key air pollutants (PM2.5, PM10, NO2, SO2, CO and O3) measured at 5 roadside and 12 urban background monitoring stations in Beijing. We found that the annual mean concentrations of these air pollutants were remarkably reduced by 47%–71% from 2014 to 2020, while the concurrent ozone concentration increased by 17.4%. In addition, we observed reductions in the roadside increments in PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and CO of 54.8%, 29.8%, 20.6%, and 59.1%, respectively, indicating the high effectiveness of new vehicle standard (China V and VI) implementation in Beijing. The premature deaths due to traffic emissions were estimated to be 8379 and 1908 cases in 2014 and 2020, respectively. The impact of NO2 from road traffic relative to PM2.5 on premature mortality was comparable to that of traffic-related PM2.5 emissions. The public health effect of SO2 originating from traffic was markedly lower than that of PM2.5. The results indicated that a reduction in traffic-related NO2 could likely yield the greatest benefits for public health.
... In addition, the concentration of NO3 − fluctuates slightly: the concentration in winter is slightly higher, and the concentration in summer is slightly lower. It may be that NO3 − mainly comes from the combustion of fuels in automobiles [40][41][42], factories [43] and other industries [44] as well as the combustion of trees, crops, and other plants [45,46]. These land-derived pollutants are blown from inland to the coast under the prevailing northwest wind in winter. ...
Water-soluble anions and suspended fine particles have negative impacts on ecosystems and human health, which is a current research hotspot. In this study, coastal suburb, coastal urban area, coastal tourist area, and coastal industrial area were explored to study the spatiotemporal variation and influencing factors of water-soluble anions and total suspended particles (TSP) in Zhan-jiang atmosphere. In addition, on-site monitoring, laboratory testing, and analysis were used to identify the difference of each pollutant component at the sampling stations. The results showed that the average concentrations of Cl − , NO3 − , SO4 2− , PO4 3− , and TSP were 29.8 μg/m 3 , 19.6 μg/m 3 , 45.6 μg/m 3 , 13.5 μg/m 3 , and 0.28 mg/m 3 , respectively. The concentration of Cl − , NO3 − , PO4 3− , and atmospheric TSP were the highest in coastal urban area, while the concentration of SO4 2− was the highest in coastal industrial area. Moreover, there were significantly seasonal differences in the concentration of various pollutants (p < 0.05). Cl − and SO4 2− were high in summer, and NO3 − and TSP were high in winter. Cl − , SO4 2− , PO4 3− , and TSP had significant correlations with meteorological elements (temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, and wind speed). Besides, the results showed the areas with the most serious air pollution were coastal urban area and coastal industrial area. Moreover, the exhaust emissions from vehicles, urban enterprise emissions, and seawater evaporation were responsible for the serious air pollution in coastal urban area. It provided baseline information for the coastal atmospheric environment quality in Zhanjiang coastal city, which was critical to the mitigation strategies for the emission sources of air pollutants in the future.
... However, the question which now has to be faced is what future contribution can be expected from further reductions in emissions from the road vehicle fleet. On the one hand, many scientists continue to argue that traffic is still a major source of air pollution (Amato et al., 2014;Chen et al., 2018;Grange et al., 2017;Li et al., 2017;Pant and Harrison, 2013;Yin et al., 2015), while remote sensing data point to significant emissions reductions for some pollutants (Carslaw et al., 2019) and motor industry scientists point to the large reductions in emissions per vehicle over the past 30-40 years and question how much further reduction in emissions is warranted (Winkler et al., 2018). ...
Road traffic emissions are considered a major contributor to urban air pollution, but clean air actions have led to a huge reduction in emissions per vehicle. This raises a pressing question on the potential to further reduce road traffic emissions to improve air quality. Here, we analysed ~11 million real-world data to estimate the contribution of road traffic to roadside and urban concentrations for several major cities. Our results confirm that road traffic remains a dominant source of nitrogen dioxide and a significant source of primary coarse particulate matter in the European cities. However, it now represents a relatively small component of overall PM2.5 at urban background locations in cities with strong controls on traffic emissions (including European cities and Beijing) and many roadside sites will exceed the WHO guideline (10 μg m⁻³ annual mean) even when this source is eliminated. This suggests that further controls on traffic emissions, including the transition to a battery-electric fleet, are needed to reduce NO2 concentrations, but this will have limited benefit to reduce the concentration of fine particles, except in countries where the use of diesel particle filters is not mandatory. There are substantial differences between cities and the optimal solution will differ from one to another.
... The Chinese National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) has set the threshold of PM 10 , PM 2.5 , and O 3 MAX concentration at 150 µg/m 3 , 75 µg/m 3 , and 160 µg/m 3 , respectively, while the WHO Air Quality Guideline has set the same thresholds at 50 µg/m 3 , 25 µg/m 3 , and 100 µg/m 3 , respectively. Compliance with the thresholds set by the WHO for PM 2.5 could improve life expectancy in China by 0.14 years [13] and ambient air pollution has caused at least 3.7 million deaths, with more than 25% of deaths in Southeast Asia [14,15]. ...
Statistical methods such as multiple linear regression (MLR) and classification and regression tree (CART) analysis were used to build prediction models for the levels of pollutant concentrations in Macao using meteorological and air quality historical data to three periods: (i) from 2013 to 2016, (ii) from 2015 to 2018, and (iii) from 2013 to 2018. The variables retained by the models were identical for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM10), PM2.5, but not for ozone (O3) Air pollution data from 2019 was used for validation purposes. The model for the 2013 to 2018 period was the one that performed best in prediction of the next-day concentrations levels in 2019, with high coefficient of determination (R2), between predicted and observed daily average concentrations (between 0.78 and 0.89 for all pollutants), and low root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), and biases (BIAS). To understand if the prediction model was robust to extreme variations in pollutants concentration, a test was performed under the circumstances of a high pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 during 2019, and the low pollution episode during the period of implementation of the preventive measures for COVID-19 pandemic. Regarding the high pollution episode, the period of the Chinese National Holiday of 2019 was selected, in which high concentration levels were identified for PM2.5 and O3, with peaks of daily concentration exceeding 55 μg/m3 and 400 μg/m3, respectively. The 2013 to 2018 model successfully predicted this high pollution episode with high coefficients of determination (of 0.92 for PM2.5 and 0.82 for O3). The low pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 was identified during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic period, with a low record of daily concentration for PM2.5 levels at 2 μg/m3 and O3 levels at 50 μg/m3, respectively. The 2013 to 2018 model successfully predicted the low pollution episode for PM2.5 and O3 with a high coefficient of determination (0.86 and 0.84, respectively). Overall, the results demonstrate that the statistical forecast model is robust and able to correctly reproduce extreme air pollution events of both high and low concentration levels.
... Many countries, including China, have made an effort to reduce atmospheric pollution, including PMx (Chen et al. 2018;Gordon et al. 2018;Torres et al. 2018). According to Awe et al. (2015), Santiago (Chile)-an example of a city overwhelmed with smog-significantly improved air quality over 20 years by adopting emission controls on factories and cars, cleaner public transport and the use of cleaner gas and energy sources. ...
The study was conducted to establish whether an extremely high concentration of aerosols occurred in the region of the Gulf of Gdansk at the very end of 2016, and if so which factors determined it. This period was notable in terms of intensity of smog episodes across the rest of Poland. The main goal was to consider pollution sources affecting two nearby stations in the area, which is usually characterised by better air quality than other parts of the country. To achieve this, concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5 were studied in Gdynia and PM10 concentration was measured in Rumia from 22 December 2016 to 22 January 2017. Concentrations of OC, EC, PAHs and major ions were also examined in order to indicate the origin of pollutants. The average daily concentration ranged 6.0–50.0 μg·m⁻³ for PM1 and 8.3–61.9 μg·m⁻³ for PM2.5 in Gdynia, and 8.6–71.9 μg·m⁻³ for PM10 in Rumia. High concentrations of PM1 and PM2.5, classified as values higher than 25 μg·m⁻³, were noted 4 times. The 24-h limit value of PM10 was exceeded 3 times. Even though the highest aerosol concentration obtained in our results exceeded the limit value by 150%, it was nevertheless lower than in other Polish regions at the same time. This was due to dissimilar meteorological conditions, heavy snowfall and the landfall of Hurricane Barbara. However, high PAH concentrations in aerosols measured in Gdynia and Rumia indicate poor air conditions despite there being a relatively low average concentration of PM at the same time.
... Studies also reported the pollution caused by vehicular emission in tourism sector and affecting the human health worldwide. ( Kuniyal et al., 2003;Subramani, 2012;Zhang and Batterman, 2013;Panda and Nagendra, 2018;Chen et al., 2018). Current study revealed that air pollutants in the Tirthan Valley a newly developed ecotourism destination in ecozone area of the Great Himalayan National Park are under permissible limit. ...
