Potential health risks due to in-car aerosol exposure across ten global cities

Prashant Kumar; Sarkawt Hama; Rana Alaa Abbass; Thiago Nogueira; Veronika S Brand; K V Abhijith; Maria de Fatima Andrade; Araya Asfaw; Kosar Hama Aziz; Shi-Jie Cao; Ahmed El-Gendy; Mukesh Khare; Adamson S Muula; S M Shiva Nagendra; Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi; Khalid Omer; Yris Olaya; Abdus Salam

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2021.106688

Potential health risks due to in-car aerosol exposure across ten global cities

Environ Int. 2021 Oct:155:106688. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106688. Epub 2021 Jun 15.

Authors

Prashant Kumar¹, Sarkawt Hama², Rana Alaa Abbass², Thiago Nogueira³, Veronika S Brand⁴, K V Abhijith², Maria de Fatima Andrade⁵, Araya Asfaw⁶, Kosar Hama Aziz⁷, Shi-Jie Cao⁸, Ahmed El-Gendy⁹, Mukesh Khare¹⁰, Adamson S Muula¹¹, S M Shiva Nagendra¹², Aiwerasia Vera Ngowi¹³, Khalid Omer⁷, Yris Olaya¹⁴, Abdus Salam¹⁵

Affiliations

¹ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland. Electronic address: p.kumar@surrey.ac.uk.
² Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom.
³ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Departamento de Saúde Ambiental - Faculdade de Saúde Pública, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil; Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas - Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas- IAG, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas - Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas- IAG, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas - Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas- IAG, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁶ Physics Department, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
⁷ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
⁸ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China.
⁹ Department of Construction Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.
¹⁰ Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India.
¹¹ University of Malawi, Malawi; Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Blantyre, Malawi.
¹² Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India.
¹³ Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.
¹⁴ Departamento de Ciencias de la Computación y la Decisión, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Sede Medellín, Colombia.
¹⁵ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.

PMID: 34139587
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2021.106688

Abstract

Car microenvironments significantly contribute to the daily pollution exposure of commuters, yet health and socioeconomic studies focused on in-car exposure are rare. This study aims to assess the relationship between air pollution levels and socioeconomic indicators (fuel prices, city-specific GDP, road density, the value of statistical life (VSL), health burden and economic losses resulting from exposure to fine particulate matter ≤2.5 µm; PM_2.5) during car journeys in ten cities: Dhaka (Bangladesh); Chennai (India); Guangzhou (China); Medellín (Colombia); São Paulo (Brazil); Cairo (Egypt); Sulaymaniyah (Iraq); Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Blantyre (Malawi); and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania). Data collected by portable laser particle counters were used to develop a proxy of car-user exposure profiles. Hotspots on all city routes displayed higher PM_2.5 concentrations and disproportionately high inhaled doses. For instance, the time spent at the hotspots in Guangzhou and Addis Ababa was 26% and 28% of total trip time, but corresponded to 54% and 56%, respectively, of the total PM_2.5 inhaled dose. With the exception of Guangzhou, all the cities showed a decrease in per cent length of hotspots with an increase in GDP and VSL. Exposure levels were independent of fuel prices in most cities. The largest health burden related to in-car PM_2.5 exposure was estimated for Dar-es-Salam (81.6 ± 39.3 μg m^-3), Blantyre (82.9 ± 44.0) and Dhaka (62.3 ± 32.0) with deaths per 100,000 of the car commuting population per year of 2.46 (2.28-2.63), 1.11 (0.97-1.26) and 1.10 (1.05-1.15), respectively. However, the modest health burden of 0.07 (0.06-0.08), 0.10 (0.09-0.12) and 0.02 (0.02-0.03) deaths per 100,000 of the car commuting population per year were estimated for Medellin (23 ± 13.7 μg m^-3), São Paulo (25.6 ± 11.7) and Sulaymaniyah (22.4 ± 15.0), respectively. Lower GDP was found to be associated with higher economic losses due to health burdens caused by air pollution in most cities, indicating a socioeconomic discrepancy. This assessment of health and socioeconomic parameters associated with in-car PM_2.5 exposure highlights the importance of implementing plausible solutions to make a positive impact on peoples' lives in these cities.

Keywords: CArE-cities project; Hotspots; In-car aerosol exposure; Inhaled doses; PM(2.5); Potential health risks.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution* / analysis
Automobiles
Bangladesh
Brazil
Cities
Environmental Exposure
Ethiopia
India
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter