Personal exposure of commuters in public transport to PM2.5 and fine particle counts

Abstract To investigate fine particulate air pollution generated by public transport and its microenvironment, PM 2.5 measurements and particle number counts for six particle size ranges (0.3–0.5 µm, >0.5–1.0 µm, >1.0–3.0 µm, >3.0– 5.0 µm, >5.0–10 µm and >10 µm) were obtained for four public transport modes: bus, metro–bus, car and walking. The measurements were repeated for each transport mode twice a day for 7–10 measurement days. The highest average PM 2.5 concentration was measured inside a bus (10 6 µg/m 3 ) during rush hours. The highest single peak measurement was a concentration of 316 µg/m 3 for walking during non–rush hours. The PM 2.5 level in a car with the air conditioning fan off was approximately 2.5 times lower than the level with the air conditioning fan on. Moderate correlations were found between PM 2.5 concentrations and wind speed. Weak correlations were found between PM 2.5 concentrations, relative humidity and temperature. The results showed that the diameters of most of the particles were smaller than 0.5 µm, regardless of the transport mode. The average fine particle number (size range 0.3–0.5) for all transport modes ranged from 54 647 to 209 746 particles/10 3 cm 3 during rush hours and from 49 423 to 184 866 particles/10 3 cm 3 during non–rush hours.

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