Traffic particulate matter

Thermal inversions make winter the most unfavorable season for clean air. Vast differences in air quality are found in the industrialized north, and the residential southwest regions. Particulate matter influences mainly the north, where industries, landfills, and the dried bed of Texcoco Lake are located. Sulfur oxides impinge primarily on the northeast and southwest. High carbon monoxide concentrations are found in heavy traffic areas such as the northwest. Ozone affects predominantly the southwest at any season. We have selected air quality records from data generated by stations registering the higher pollutant levels, as follows ... 

The unplanned growth of cities Is accompanied by Increased traffic, energy consumption. Industrial activity and pollution. Stationary sources such as power plants, emit most of the SO, and some of the SPH and NO,. Host of the CO and Pb and much of the particulate matter and Oj are emitted from mobile sources (cars, trucks, buses, planes, etc.). 

Sandradewi J, Prevot ASH, Szidat S, Perron N, Alfarra MR, Lanz VA, Weingartner E, Baltensperger U (2008) Using aerosol light absorption measurements for the quantitative determination of wood burning and traffic emission contributions to particulate matter. Environ Sci Technol 42 3316-3323... 

Road Traffic A Major Source of Particulate Matter in Europe... 

Thorpe AJ, Harrison RM (2008) Sources and properties of non-exhaust particulate matter from road traffic a review. Sci Total Environ 400 270-282... 

Perez L, Medina-Ramon M, Kiinzli N, Alastuey A, Pey J, Perez N, Garcia A, Tobias A, Querol X, Sunyer J (2009) Size fractionated particulate matter, vehicle traffic, and case specific daily mortality in Barcelona (Spain). Environ Sci Technol 43(13) 4707-4714. doi 10.1021/es8031488, 2009... 

Wahlin P, Berkowicz R, Palmgren F (2006) Characterization of traffic-generated particulate matter in Copenhagen. Atmos Environ 40 2151-2159... 

Table 1 lists a number of studies carried out in urban sites of the Eastern Mediterranean Basin that have used multivariate statistical methods to quantify the mass contribution of sources of particulate matter. In most of these studies, four or five major source categories have been detected. These categories include road/soil dust, traffic emissions, marine aerosol, fuel oil combustion emissions, biomass... 

Patra A, Colvile R, Arnold S, Bowen E, Shallcross D, Martin D, Price C, Robins A (2008) On street observations of particulate matter movement and dispersion due to traffic on an urban road. Atmos Environ 42 3911-3926... 

Int Panis L, de Geus B, Vandenbulcke G, Willems H, Degraeuwe B, Bleux N, Mishra V, Thomas I, Meeusen R (2010) Exposure to particulate matter in traffic a comparison of cyclists and car passengers. Atmos Environ 44 2263-2270... 

Atmospheric particles influence the Earth climate indirectly by affecting cloud properties and precipitation [1,2], The indirect effect of aerosols on climate is currently a major source of uncertainties in the assessment of climate changes. New particle formation is an important source of atmospheric aerosols [3]. While the contribution of secondary particles to total mass of the particulate matter is insignificant, they usually dominate the particle number concentration of atmospheric aerosols and cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) [4]. Another important detail is that high concentrations of ultrafine particles associated with traffic observed on and near roadways [5-7] lead, according to a number of recent medical studies [8-11] to adverse health effects. 

The reduction of pollutants in automobile exhaust and in industrial waste and stack gases is of major concern in Western Europe. This was fueled in the last years by the extensive forest die-back caused by acid rain. Government policies are to achieve substantial reductions in the emissions of hydrocarbons (HC s), CO, SO2, NOx and particulate matter. Road traffic is one of the major contributors to the man made emissions of HC s, CO and NOx. International and national regulations, legislation and incentives coming into force will substantially reduce these emissions. 

Dachs J, Eisenreich SJ (2000) Adsorption onto aerosol soot caibon dominates gas-particle partitioning of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Environ Sci Technol 34 3690-3697 de Kok T, Driece HAL, Hogervorst JGF, Briede JJ (2006) Toxicological assessment of ambient and traffic-related particulate matter a review of recent studies. Mutat Res Rev Mutat Res 613 103-122... 

Sanchez-Ccoyllo O, Ynoue R, Martins L, Astolfo A, Miranda R, Freitas E, Borges A, Fornaro A, Freitas H, Moreira A, Andrade M (2009) Vehicular particulate matter emissions in road tunnels in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Environ Monk Assess 149 241-249 Schafer J, Eckhardt J, Berner Z, Stiiben D (1999) Time-dependant increase of traffic-emitted platinum-group elements (PGE) in different environmental compartments. Environ Sci Technol 33 3166-3170... 

To date, there is however a lack of comprehensive data on the vertical distribution of fine traffic-generated particulate matter in naturally ventilated high-rise... 

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