RESUMO
Off-road vehicles used in construction and agricultural activities can contribute substantially to emissions of gaseous pollutants and can be a major source of submicrometer carbonaceous particles in many parts of the world. However, there have been relatively few efforts in quantifying the emission factors (EFs) and for estimating the potential emission reduction benefits using emission control technologies for these vehicles. This study characterized the black carbon (BC) component of particulate matter and NOx, CO, and CO2 EFs of selected diesel-powered off-road mobile sources in Mexico under real-world operating conditions using on-board portable emissions measurements systems (PEMS). The vehicles sampled included two backhoes, one tractor, a crane, an excavator, two front loaders, two bulldozers, an air compressor, and a power generator used in the construction and agricultural activities. For a selected number of these vehicles the emissions were further characterized with wall-flow diesel particle filters (DPFs) and partial-flow DPFs (p-DPFs) installed. Fuel-based EFs presented less variability than time-based emission rates, particularly for the BC. Average baseline EFs in working conditions for BC, NOx, and CO ranged from 0.04 to 5.7, from 12.6 to 81.8, and from 7.9 to 285.7 g/kg-fuel, respectively, and a high dependency by operation mode and by vehicle type was observed. Measurement-base frequency distributions of EFs by operation mode are proposed as an alternative method for characterizing the variability of off-road vehicles emissions under real-world conditions. Mass-based reductions for black carbon EFs were substantially large (above 99%) when DPFs were installed and the vehicles were idling, and the reductions were moderate (in the 20-60% range) for p-DPFs in working operating conditions. The observed high variability in measured EFs also indicates the need for detailed vehicle operation data for accurately estimating emissions from off-road vehicles in emissions inventories. IMPLICATIONS: Measurements of off-road vehicles used in construction and agricultural activities in Mexico using on-board portable emissions measurements systems (PEMS) showed that these vehicles can be major sources of black carbon and NOX. Emission factors varied significantly under real-world operating conditions, suggesting the need for detailed vehicle operation data for accurately estimating emissions inventories. Tests conducted in a selected number of sampled vehicles indicated that diesel particle filters (DPFs) are an effective technology for control of diesel particulate emissions and can provide potentially large emissions reduction in Mexico if widely implemented.
Assuntos
Poluentes Atmosféricos/análise , Veículos Off-Road , Fuligem/análise , Emissões de Veículos/análise , Dióxido de Carbono/análise , Monóxido de Carbono/análise , Monitoramento Ambiental/métodos , México , Óxidos de Nitrogênio/análiseRESUMO
Chilean law requires the assessment of air pollution control strategies for their costs and benefits. Here we employ an online weather and chemical transport model, WRF-Chem, and a gridded population density map, LANDSCAN, to estimate changes in fine particle pollution exposure, health benefits, and economic valuation for two emission reduction strategies based on increasing the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) in Santiago, Chile. The first scenario, switching to a CNG public transportation system, would reduce urban PM2.5 emissions by 229 t/year. The second scenario would reduce wood burning emissions by 671 t/year, with unique hourly emission reductions distributed from daily heating demand. The CNG bus scenario reduces annual PM2.5 by 0.33 µg/m³ and up to 2 µg/m³ during winter months, while the residential heating scenario reduces annual PM2.5 by 2.07 µg/m³, with peaks exceeding 8 µg/m³ during strong air pollution episodes in winter months. These ambient pollution reductions lead to 36 avoided premature mortalities for the CNG bus scenario, and 229 for the CNG heating scenario. Both policies are shown to be cost-effective ways of reducing air pollution, as they target high-emitting area pollution sources and reduce concentrations over densely populated urban areas as well as less dense areas outside the city limits. Unlike the concentration rollback methods commonly used in public policy analyses, which assume homogeneous reductions across a whole city (including homogeneous population densities), and without accounting for the seasonality of certain emissions, this approach accounts for both seasonality and diurnal emission profiles for both the transportation and residential heating sectors.
Assuntos
Calefação , Gás Natural , Poluição do Ar , Chile , Humanos , Emissões de VeículosRESUMO
As part of a field campaign that studied the impact of Mexico City pollution plume at the local, sub-regional and regional levels, we studied transport-related changes in PM(10) composition, oxidative potential and in vitro toxicological patterns (hemolysis, DNA degradation). We collected PM(10) in Mexico City (T(0)) and at a suburban-receptor site (T(1)), pooled according to two observed ventilation patterns (T(0) â T(1) influence and non-influence). T(0) samples contained more Cu, Zn, and carbon whereas; T(1) samples contained more of Al, Si, P, S, and K (p < 0.05). Only SO(4)(-2) increased in T(1) during the influence periods. Oxidative potential correlated with Cu/Zn content (r = 0.74; p < 0.05) but not with biological effects. T(1) PM(10) induced greater hemolysis and T(0) PM(10) induced greater DNA degradation. Influence/non-influence did not affect oxidative potential nor biological effects. Results indicate that ventilation patterns had little effect on intrinsic PM(10) composition and toxicological potential, which suggests a significant involvement of local sources.
Assuntos
Poluentes Atmosféricos/química , Poluentes Atmosféricos/toxicidade , Monitoramento Ambiental , Material Particulado/química , Material Particulado/toxicidade , Células 3T3 , Poluição do Ar , Animais , Cidades , Dano ao DNA/efeitos dos fármacos , Eritrócitos/efeitos dos fármacos , Promoção da Saúde , Hemólise/efeitos dos fármacos , Humanos , México , Camundongos , Oxirredução , Tamanho da PartículaRESUMO
Recent ice core measurements show lead concentrations increasing since 1970, suggesting new nonautomobile-related sources of Pb are becoming important worldwide (1). Developing a full understanding of the major sources of Pb and other metals is critical to controlling these emissions. During the March, 2006 MILAGRO campaign, single particle measurements in Mexico City revealed the frequent appearance of particles internally mixed with Zn, Pb, Cl, and P. Pb concentrations were as high as 1.14 microg/m3 in PM10 and 0.76 microg/m3 in PM2.5. Real time measurements were used to select time periods of interest to perform offline analysis to obtain detailed aerosol speciation. Many Zn-rich particles had needle-like structures and were found to be composed of ZnO and/or Zn(NO3)2 x 6H2O. The internally mixed Pb-Zn-Cl particles represented as much as 73% of the fine mode particles (by number) in the morning hours between 2-5 am. The Pb-Zn-Cl particles were primarily in the submicrometer size range and typically mixed with elemental carbon suggesting a combustion source. The unique single particle chemical associations measured in this study closely match signatures indicative of waste incineration. Our findings also show these industrial emissions play an important role in heterogeneous processing of NO(y) species. Primary emissions of metal and sodium chloride particles emitted by the same source underwent heterogeneous transformations into nitrate particles as soon as photochemical production of nitric acid began each day at approximately 7 am.
Assuntos
Aerossóis/análise , Cloretos/análise , Cidades , Indústrias , Chumbo/análise , Zinco/análise , Cloretos/química , Espectrometria de Massas , México , Nitratos/química , Tamanho da Partícula , Material Particulado/análise , Material Particulado/química , Espectrometria por Raios X , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
A large study has been undertaken to assess the exposure to diesel exhaust within diesel trucking terminals. A critical component of this assessment is an analysis of the variation in carbonaceous particulate matter (PM) across trucking terminal locations; consistency in the primary sources can be effectively tracked by analyzing trends in elemental carbon (EC) and organic molecular marker concentrations. Ambient samples were collected at yard, dock and repair shop work stations in 7 terminals in the USA and 1 in Mexico. Concentrations of EC ranged from 0.2 to 12 microg m(-3) among the terminals, which corresponds to the range seen in the concentration of summed hopanes (0.5 to 20.5 ng m(-3)). However, when chemical mass balance (CMB) source apportionment results were presented as percent contribution to organic carbon (OC) concentrations, the contribution of mobile sources to OC are similar among the terminals in different cities. The average mobile source percent contribution to OC was 75.3 +/- 17.1% for truck repair shops, 65.4 +/- 20.4% for the docks and 38.4 +/- 9.5% for the terminal yard samples. A relatively consistent mobile source impact was present at all the terminals only when considering percentage of total OC concentrations, not in terms of absolute concentrations.
Assuntos
Poluentes Ocupacionais do Ar/análise , Carbono/análise , Exposição por Inalação/análise , Compostos Orgânicos/análise , Material Particulado/análise , Emissões de Veículos/análise , Humanos , México , Tamanho da Partícula , Medição de Risco , Estados Unidos , Emissões de Veículos/toxicidade , Local de TrabalhoRESUMO
Automobile exhaust catalysts using platinum group elements (PGE) have been mandatory on new cars in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCMA) since 1991. Platinum, Pd, Rh, Ir, and Os concentrations and the isotopic composition of Os were determined in PM10 samples from the MCMA. Samples were prepared by isotope dilution NiS fire assay, and analysis was performed by magnetic sector ICP-MS using a single collector instrument for Pt, Pd, Rh, and Ir analysis and a multicollector instrument for Os analysis. Pt, Pd, and Rh concentrations at a downtown location (Merced) increased from < or =1.7 pg of Pt m(-3), 2.7 (4.0) pg of Pd m(-3), and 1.2+/-0.9 pg of Rh m(-3) in 1991 to 9.6 +/- 1.8 pg of Pt m(-3), 10.2+/-1.8 pg of Pd m(-3), and 2.8 +/-0.6 pg of Rh m(-3) in 2003. Concentrations at five sites in MCMA in 2003 averaged 9.3+/-1.9 pg of Pt m(-3), 11+/-4 pg of Pd m(-3), and 3.2+/- 1.0 pg of Rh m(-3). In contrast, Ir and Os concentrations and Os isotopic composition remained relatively constant and were 0.08+/-0.04 pg of Ir m(-3), 0.030 +/-0.007 pg of Os m(-3), and 0.60+/-0.04, respectively, in the MCMA in 2003. Elevated Pt, Pd, and Rh concentrations in the MCMA are attributed to automobile catalysts. A Pt-Pd-Rh concentration peak in 1993 suggests that early catalysts emitted a larger amount of PGE, possibly due to factors inherent in the technology or the use of inappropriate gasoline. Therefore, this study suggests that the current introduction of automobile catalysts in developing countries may result in elevated PGE concentrations if it is not accompanied by infrastructures and policy measures supporting their efficient use.
Assuntos
Poluentes Atmosféricos/análise , Platina/análise , México , Tamanho da PartículaRESUMO
Based on data from the 1997 Investigación sobre Materia Particulada y Deterioro Atmosférico-Aerosol and Visibility Evaluation Research (IMADA-EVER) campaign and the inorganic aerosol model ISORROPIA, the response of inorganic aerosols to changes in precursor concentrations was calculated. The aerosol behavior is dominated by the abundance of ammonia and thus, changes in ammonia concentration are expected to have a small effect on particle concentrations. Changes in sulfate and nitrate are expected to lead to proportional reductions in inorganic fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Comparing the predictions of ISORROPIA with the observations, the lowest bias and error are achieved when the aerosols are assumed to be in the efflorescence branch. Including crustal species reduces the bias and error for nitrate but does not improve overall model performance. The estimated response of inorganic PM2.5 to changes in precursor concentrations is affected by the inclusion of crustal species in some cases, although average responses are comparable with and without crustal species. Observed concentrations of particle chloride suggest that gas phase concentrations of hydrogen chloride may not be negligible, and future measurement campaigns should include observations to test this hypothesis. Our ability to model aerosol behavior in Mexico City and, thus, design control strategies, is constrained primarily by a lack of observations of gas phase precursors. Future campaigns should focus in particular on better understanding the temporal and spatial distribution of ammonia concentrations. In addition, gas phase observations of nitric acid are needed, and a measure of particle water content will allow stable versus metastable aerosol behavior to be distinguished.
Assuntos
Aerossóis/análise , Poluentes Atmosféricos/análise , Modelos Teóricos , Cidades , México , Tamanho da PartículaRESUMO
The development and effective implementation of solutions to the air pollution problems in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area is essential to guarantee the health and welfare of its inhabitants. To achieve this, it is essential to have the active and informed participation of the civil society, the academic community, the private sector, and the government, because dealing with pollution requires the use of different strategies in multiple fields of action. The Mexico City case study brings together health, transportation, administration, and many other interdisciplinary approaches to understanding and defeating air pollution. Although focused on the Mexico City area, the work conducted under this case study has significance for developing nations generally. Although policies to reduce air pollution should be based on the best available scientific knowledge, political will and capacity must transform this knowledge into action. This case study has developed a series of recommendations emphasizing the interaction between different disciplines that have provided the foundation for the 10-year air quality management program prepared by the Mexican Metropolitan Environmental Commission.
Assuntos
Poluição do Ar/prevenção & controle , Planejamento Ambiental , Poluentes Atmosféricos/análise , Planejamento de Cidades/métodos , Monitoramento Ambiental , Órgãos Governamentais , Relações Interprofissionais , México , Meios de TransporteRESUMO
Surface properties of aerosols in the Mexico City metropolitan area have been measured in a variety of exposure scenarios related to vehicle emissions in 2002, using continuous, real-time instruments. The objective of these experiments is to describe ambient and occupational particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) concentrations associated with vehicular traffic and facilities using diesel vehicles. Median total particulate PAH concentrations along Mexico City's roadways range from 60 to 910 ng m(-3), averaged over a minimum of 1 h. These levels are approximately 5 times higher than concentrations measured in the United States and among the highest measured ambient values reported in the literature. The ratio of particulate PAH concentration to aerosol active surface area is much higher along roadways and in other areas of fresh vehicle emissions, compared to ratios measured at sites influenced more by aged emissions or noncombustion sources. For particles freshly emitted by vehicles, PAH and elemental carbon (EC) concentrations are correlated because they both originate during the combustion process. Comparison of PAH versus EC and active surface area concentrations at different locations suggests that surface PAH concentrations may diminish with particle aging. These results indicate that exposure to vehicle-related PAH emissions on Mexico City's roadways may present an important public health risk.