Air Pollution due to Vehicle Traffic

1. Introduction

Traffic on roads has significantly increased all over the world over the past 20 years In many
areas, vehicle emissions have become the dominant source of air pollutants, including carbon
monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or hydrocarbons
(HCs), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter (PM). The increasing severity and duration
of traffic congestion have the potential to greatly increase pollutant emissions and to degrade air
quality, particularly near large roadways. These emissions contribute to risks of morbidity and
mortality for drivers, commuters and individuals living near roadways, as shown by
epidemiological studies, evaluations of proposed vehicle emission standards, and environmental
impact assessments for specific road projects.

In many areas across the globe, populations live close to major roads and highways and are thus
exposed to tailpipe emissions from vehicle traffic, non-tailpipe emissions (such as brake and tire
wear), and noise that may have adverse effects on their health and well-
being.Road traffic causes environmental hazards. Transport and traffic, especially motor
vehicles, cause many kinds of detrimental impacts on the environment and health. The main
hazards are climate change, deterioration of air quality and noise. Roads and parking take a great
deal of space. Therefore, the health of young children may be more affected by air pollution.
Children living in areas with heavy traffic have a higher risk of having breathing problems than
other children. Exposure to traffic pollution can worsen asthma in children and may increase the
risk of asthma development. Passenger vehicles are a major pollution contributor, producing
significant amounts of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide, and other pollution. In 2013,
transportation contributed more than half of the carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides, and
almost a quarter of the hydrocarbons emitted into our air. According to the EPA, motor vehicles
collectively cause 75 percent of carbon monoxide pollution in the U.S. The Environmental
Defense Fund (EDF) estimates that on-road vehicles cause one-third of the air pollution that
produces smog in the U.S., and transportation causes 27 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Seventy-five percent of carbon monoxide emissions come from automobiles. In urban areas,
harmful automotive emissions are responsible for anywhere between 50 and 90 percent of air
pollution.

Figure 1. Air pollution due to vehicle traffic in Delhi.

2. Category of pollutant impacts

It is useful to separate traffic-associated pollutant impacts and risks into two categories. First,
“congestion-free” impacts refer to impacts of traffic at volumes below the level that produces
significant congestion. In this case, each additional vehicle added to the road does not
substantially alter traffic patterns, e.g., the speed and travel time of other vehicles are unaffected,
and thus vehicle emission factors do not depend on traffic volume. As a result, the marginal
impact of an additional vehicle is equal to the average impact of the vehicle fleet. This is not
necessarily true during congestion, the second category considered. While there are many
definitions, congestion is often defined as periods when traffic volume exceeds road capacity.
(Other definitions use a speed threshold, a percentage of free-flow speed of a roadway, or other
indicator.) “congestion-related” impacts incorporate multiple interactions that occur with
congestion. First, congestion lowers the average speed, which increases travel time and exposure
on a per vehicle basis. This effect can be considerable, e.g., the average annual travel delay for a
traveler making rush hour trips in the U.S. was 38 h in 2005, based on 437 urban areas. Second,
congestion diminishes dispersion of vehicle-related pollutants since vehicle-induced turbulence
depends on vehicle speed. Thus, lower vehicle speeds can increase pollutant concentrations from
roadway sources. Third, congestion can change driving patterns, resulting in an increased
number of speedups, slowdowns, stops and starts, which increase emissions compared to
“cruise” conditions, especially with high power acceleration. Thus, it is important to separate
congestion-free and congestion-related impacts since emissions, impacts and risks can differ
greatly, and because such analyses can better inform decisions related to traffic and air quality
management, as well as impact and risk assessments.

It is predicted that the congestion charging zone in London, where drivers must pay fees when
their vehicles enter this area, would gain 183 years-of-life per 100,000 population in the
congestion charging zone itself and a total of 1,888 years-of-life in the greater London area. It
was estimated that a similar zone in Stockholm would avoid 20–25 deaths annually due to
traffic-related air pollution in the inner city, and 25–30 deaths annually in the metropolitan area,
which contains 1.4 million inhabitants. Congestion pricing is beneficial in reducing traffic-
related health impacts, but congestion-free and congestion-related impacts were not separated.
Congestion represents a substantial share of exposure to drivers and commuters, with potentially
significant risks and impacts on health. Recurring congestion can result in repeated and chronic
exposures, and an increase in long term health risks. “Incident congestion,” such as that caused
by an accident or disabled vehicle, is not addressed, although such events may also be important
for certain acute health outcomes, e.g., asthma exacerbation.

Urban air quality is a major environmental concern around the world, and its significance is
increasing as the world becomes more urbanized. The world’s urban population was expected to
reach 5 billion in 2030 (UNFPA, 2007). Urban air pollution has been associated with increased
morbidity and mortality (WHO, 2005) and pollutant levels far exceed desired levels or standards
in many cities. Mobile sources are a major contributor to urban air pollution, and include both
on- and off-road sources (TRB, 2002; CARB, 2007). On-road sources include passenger cars,
motorcycles, trucks, and buses, while off-road sources include heavy-duty construction
equipment, recreational vehicles, marine vessels, lawn and garden equipment, and small utility
engines (CARB, 2007). These sources emit PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers
in aerodynamic diameter), PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 micrometers in aerodynamic
diameter), nitrogen oxides (NOx), hydrocarbons (HC) and carbon monoxide (CO), among other
pollutants. In the U.S., mobile source emission and on-road vehicle emissions accounted for 53%
and 30% of the national total for criteria pollutants, respectively (U.S. EPA 2003), and on-road
emissions contribute a larger share in urban areas where most people live. A recent review
(WHO, 2005) of PM apportionment studies in Europe concluded that road transport accounts for
one-quarter to one-half of PM2.5 in a typical urban area, and that road transport is the most
important source of NOx, CO, benzene and black carbon. Mobile sources also play an important
role in tropospheric ozone formation due to emissions of volatile organic compounds (VOCs)
and NOx which are precursors of ozone (TRB, 2002).

Traffic congestion has been increasing dramatically in the U.S. and elsewhere over the past 20
years (World Bank, 2006; Schrank and Lomax, 2009), and poses significant air quality
challenges. Traffic congestion is often defined as an excess of vehicles or slower speeds when
traffic volume exceeds road capacity (CAMSYS and TTI, 2005). Vehicle and fuel technology
improvements, including improved emission controls such as 3-way catalytic converters, have
significantly reduced vehicle emissions, but these can be counteracted by rapid growth in vehicle
miles traveled (VMT) and congestion (Nam et al., 2002; TRB, 2002; Panis et al., 2006; Smit,
2006). In the US, total urban VMT increased from 0.86 x 1012 miles in 1980 to 1.96 x 1012
miles in 2005 (BTS, 2006). During the same period, the urban supply or road capacity, as
measured by lane miles, grew from 1.40 x 106 to 2.26 x 106 miles (BTS, 2006). Thus, urban
VMT grew about twice as fast as the urban capacity. Such growth is reflected by marked
increases in traffic congestion, which has become nearly ubiquitous in many parts of the U.S.
and elsewhere (U.S. FHWA, 2005; The World Bank, 2006). Congestion can be caused by
physical bottlenecks (40% of cases in the U.S.), traffic incidents (25%), work zones (10%),
weather (15%), traffic control devices (5%), special events (5%), and fluctuations in normal
traffic (CAMSYS and TTI, 2005). In addition to degrading urban air quality, consequences of
congestion include travel delays, wasted fuel, decreased economic competitiveness, and
decreased quality of life (Downs, 2004). Congestion in 438 U.S. urban areas in 2007 was
estimated to cause approximately 4.2 billion hours of travel delay and waste 2.8 billion gallons
of fuel, at a total cost of $87.2 billion (Schrank and Lomax, 2009). Congestion can be divided
into recurring congestion and incident congestion, the latter caused by an accident or disabled
vehicle (CAMSYS and TTI, 2005).

Concentrations of traffic-related air pollutants show strong spatial patterns (Funasaka et al.,
2000; Kingham et al., 2000; Nakai et al., 1995; Roorda-Knape et al., 1998; Zhu et al., 2002). A
review by WHO (2005) concluded that concentrations of NOx, black smoke and PM0.1 within
200 to 500 m of roadways far exceeded urban background; PM2.5 and PM10 had somewhat
higher concentrations than urban background; NO2 had no evident spatial distribution; and
higher concentrations of many pollutants were found in street canyons. A few studies have
explored temporal patterns of traffic-related air pollution. Temporal patterns can be dramatic
since traffic quantities (and congestion), as well as meteorological factors affecting dispersion of
pollutants, are substantially related to the time of the day, day of the week, and/or season
(Abraham et al., 2002; Beauchamp et al., 2004; Martuzevicius et al., 2004; Roosli et al., 2001).

3. Vehicle emissions and traffic congestion

Vehicle emissions are generated through combustion, fuel evaporation, brake and tire wear, and
re-entrainment of dust. However, most attention focuses on engine tailpipe emissions. Gasoline
and diesel engines vehicles emit pollutants that include black smoke, carbon monoxide (CO),
oxides of nitrogen (NOx), volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulates (PM2.5 and PM10),
and sulfur dioxide (SO2). Black smoke is mainly composed of carbon particles and is often
measured to represent the blackness of particles (WHO, 2005). Ground-level ozone (O3), a
secondary pollutant, is formed in the lower atmosphere (troposphere) from precursors NOx and
VOCs and photochemical reactions by the action of sunlight and warm temperatures. Vehicle
exhaust emissions from fuel combustion include cold start and hot start emissions and running
emissions (U.S. EPA, 1994). A cold start occurs when a vehicle is started after being turned off
for more than one hour; a hot start occurs when a vehicle engine starts after less than one hour
from last operation (U.S. EPA, 1994). Running emissions, the focus of this dissertation, occur
during driving and idling (U.S. EPA, 1994).
Many factors affect vehicle emissions (TRB, 1995):

 Travel-related factors: speed, acceleration, deceleration, engine demand, the number of

trips, distance traveled, etc;
 Driver behaviors affecting the smoothness and consistency of vehicle speed, e.g.,
aggressive behavoir (hard stops and quick acceleration) results in high emissions;
 Highway-related factors: signal control, road type, road grade, road conditions, geometry
design, etc;
 Vehicle-related and other factors: type and condition of engine, control technology, fuel,
ambient temperature, vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-control interactions.

Among these factors, acceleration, deceleration and engine demand are strongly related to
congestion.

4. Air pollution in Dhaka City

The main source of air pollution in the cities of developing countries , like Bangladesh , are
vehicles, manufacturing industry, construction sector , domestic activity , and natural sources.
Interestingly, Dhaka seems to enjoy two distinct advantages in terms of air pollution. First, its
vehicular traffic has rickshaw, which is totally pollution free. Second, natural gas is used, in most
cases, as fuel for domestic as well as commercial cooking.

Among the remaining sources, vehicular pollution seems to have drawn maximum attention.
Most of the vehicles in Dhaka city, due to old age and ill maintenance, black smoke and
discharge large amount of pollutant in the atmosphere. Especially those with two-stroke engines
have come under severe criticism from the government agencies and the civil society. It is
alleged that these engines, after incomplete combustion of fuel, discharge gases containing high
concentration of pollution into the air.

The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission measured 14.6µg/m of lead in ambient air in
Dhaka over the period November 1995 to January 1996 (Yano,1990). World Health
Organization (WHO) guideline (1year average) for lead in air is 0.51µg/m.

High level of air pollution causes serious damage to health is a well-known phenomenon. Long
term espouser to air pollution can lead to premature death by increasing the rate at which lung
tissues ages, by contributing to chronic obstructive lung disease (Yano,1990).severe air pollution
is threatening human health and economic growth in Dhaka. Ostro(1994) and Xie et al.(1998)
estimated that Dhaka encounters 3,580 premature deaths ,10 million restricted activity days and
87 million respiratory symptom days per annum.

The economic loss associated with these health problems could range from a low estimate of
US$60 million to a high estimate of US$270 million equivalent to 1.7 to 7.5 per cent of the city’s
gross product. If added with traffic jams ,global warming ,soliding of materials ,and aesthetic
degradation ,the total cost of air pollution would be substantially larger (Xie etal.,1998)

Combustion of leaded gasoline is the main source of lead exposure in Dhaka, resulting in
ubiquitous contamination of the environment. In February 200, Kaiser et al. (2001) evaluated
children at five primary schools in Dhaka was in order to determine blood lead (BPb) levels ,
sources of environmental exposure ,and potential risk factors for lead poising . Most of the
surveyed children (8.4%) had BPb levels above the Centre for Disease Control and prevention’s
level of concern (10µg/dL).

Figure 2. Vehicle Traffic in Dhaka city

The visible signs of ambient air quality of Dhaka is indicating an upward trend in gross
emissions in recent years. Motor vehicles, especially the two strokes engine vehicles (TSEV) are
responsible for the increase in emissions of both local pollutants and green house gases due to
the rapid growth in the number and use of motor vehicles. The number of registered vehicles in
Dhaka has grown by 60% from 1990 to 1996. TSEVs have outgrown all other types of vehicles.
Air pollution in Dhaka is serious due to increasing population and associated motorization.
Although existing air quality monitoring data is limited, it has been clearly shown that the
average ambient concentrations of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and airborne lead are
higher than the Bangladesh national ambient air quality standards and much higher than the
WHO guidelines. The city's average SPM levels are about 2 times higher than the Bangladeshi
standard of 200 µg/m3 in residential areas and are more than 10 times higher than the WHO
guidelines of 120 µg/m3 (24 hours) in commercial areas. Lead levels are also high compared to
other cities in the world. Although there is a lack of time-series data, the ambient air quality
measurements available for 1990 and 1996 onward indicate that the air pollution is worsening.
Severe air pollution is threatening human health and economic growth in Dhaka. Ostro (1994)
and Brandon (1997) estimated that Dhaka encounters 3,580 premature deaths, 10 million
restricted activity days and 87 million respiratory symptom days. The economic loss associated
with these health problems could range from a low estimate of US$ 60 million to a high estimate
of US$ 270 million, equivalent to 1.7% to 7.5% of the city's grows product. If added with traffic
jams, global warming, soiling of materials, and asthetic degradation, the total cost of air pollution
would be substantially larger. Present Status At present, there is little knowledge about the extent
of the problem and essentially no air quality management system in place in Bangladesh today to
tackle air pollution. Rapid vehicular growth in the metropolitan areas of Bangladesh in recent
years has been accompanied by an associated increase in emissions of harmful pollutants. The
poor are particularly vulnerable to air pollution, due to above-average physical exposure to air
pollution; furthermore, impoverished children suffer from additional effects of air pollution due
to malnutrition.

"Air pollution impedes development in Bangladesh. It is estimated that if particulate pollution

levels in the four largest cities in Bangladesh were reduced to the standards in force in developed
countries, as many as 15,000 deaths, 6.5 million cases of sickness requiring medical treatment,
and 850 million minor illnesses could be avoided annually. The economic cost of this avoided
sickness and death is estimated to be US$200- 800 million per year," says Jitendra Shah, a
Senior Environmental Engineer in the World Bank's South Asia Environment Unit. Vehicles
constitute the dominant source of air pollution in Dhaka. Two categories of vehicles making
significant contributions to overall fine particulate emissions are two-stroke engine three-
wheelers and heavy-duty diesel vehicles. As vehicle ownership and use are growing rapidly, the
need to initiate pollution control activities is urgent.
 Figure 3. Contribution of vehicle types to emission in Dhaka city.

References

1. Batterman S, Zhang K, Kononowech R. Prediction and analysis of near-road

concentrations using a reduced-form emission/dispersion model. Environ
Health. 2010;9:29
2. Benson P. FHWA-CA-TL-84-15. Sacramento, CA: California Department of
Transportation; 1989. CALINE4 — a dispersion model for prediction air pollutant
concentrations near roadways.
3. Brown SG, Wade KS, Hafner HR. [Accessed April 2, 2010];Summary of recent ambient
air quality and accountability analyses in the Detroit
area. 2007 http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/specialstudies/2007detroit_summary_report.pdf.
4. Brugge D, Durant JL, Rioux C. Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: a
review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks. Environ
Health. 2007;6:23.
5. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [Accessed April 2, 2010];Part IV
of the Environment Act 1995, Local Air Quality Management Technical Guidance. 2003
:6–33.http://www.ni-environment.gov.uk/technical_guidance.pdf.
6. Dowling R. National Cooperative Highway Research planning report. Vol. 387.
Washington DC: National Research Council; 1997. Planning techniques to estimate
speeds and service volumes for planning.
7. Downs A. Still stuck in traffic: coping with peak-hour traffic congestion. Washington,
DC: Brookings Institution Press; 2004.
8. Eliasson J, Hultkrantz L, Nerhagen L, Rosqvist LS. The Stockholm congestion —
charging trial 2006: overview of effects. Transp Res A Policy Pract. 2009;43(3):240–50.
9. EPA. User’s guide to MOBILE6.1 and MOBILE6.2. 2003.
10. EPA. [Accessed November 20, 2009];Risk and exposure assessment to support the
review of the NO2 primary National Ambient Air Quality
Standard. 2008 http://www.epa.gov/ttn/naaqs/standards/nox/data/20081121_NO2_REA_f
inal.pdf.
11. EPA. [Accessed February 27, 2010];MOVES2010 policy
guidance. 2009 http://www.epa.gov/otaq/models/moves/420b09046.pdf.
12. Greco SL, Wilson AM, Hanna SR, Levy JI. Factors influencing mobile source particulate
matter emissions-to-exposure relationships in the Boston urban area. Environ Sci
Technol. 2007;41:7675–82.
13. Health effects institute. [Accessed on March 10, 2009];Traffic-related air pollution: a
critical review of the literature on emissions, exposure, and health
effects. http://pubs.healtheffects.org/getfile.php?u=5532010.
14. Levy JI, Buonocore JJ, von Stackelberg K. Evaluation of the public health impacts of
traffic congestion: a health risk assessment. Environ Health. 2010;9:65.
15. Michigan Department of Transportation. [Accessed April 28, 2009];Ann Arbor 2008
annual average daily traffic
map. 2008 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/annarbor_19544_7.pdf &http://mdotwas
1.mdot.state.mi.us/public/maps_adtmaparchive/2007cadt/Ann%20Arbor.pdf.
16. Michigan Department of Transportation. [Accessed April 1, 2010];Detroit 2008 annual
average daily traffic
map. 2009 http://www.michigan.gov/documents/detmetro_19640_7.pdf.
17. Pierce T, Isakov V, Haneke B, Paumier J. [Accessed June 26, 2009];Emission and air
quality modeling tools for near-roadway
applications. 2008 http://www.epa.gov/airscience/pdf/Pierceetal_EPA2008.pdf.
18. Schrank D, Lomax T. [Accessed March 22, 2008];The 2007 urban mobility
report. 2007 http://financecommission.dot.gov/Documents/Background%20Documents/
mobility_report_2007_wappx.pdf.