Assessment of seasonal variability of PM, BC and UFP levels at a highway toll stations and their associated health risks

Nazneen; Aditya Kumar Patra; Soma Sekhara Rao Kolluru; Abhishek Penchala; Sachidanand Kumar; Namrata Mishra; Naragam Bhanu Sree; Samrat Santra; Ravish Dubey

doi:10.1016/j.envres.2023.118028

Assessment of seasonal variability of PM, BC and UFP levels at a highway toll stations and their associated health risks

Environ Res. 2024 Mar 15:245:118028. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.118028. Epub 2023 Dec 29.

Authors

Nazneen¹, Aditya Kumar Patra², Soma Sekhara Rao Kolluru¹, Abhishek Penchala³, Sachidanand Kumar³, Namrata Mishra¹, Naragam Bhanu Sree¹, Samrat Santra¹, Ravish Dubey⁴

Affiliations

¹ School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India.
² Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India. Electronic address: akpatra@mining.iitkgp.ac.in.
³ Department of Mining Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India.
⁴ Yale School of Environment, Yale University, USA.

PMID: 38160974
DOI: 10.1016/j.envres.2023.118028

Abstract

As a part of their occupation, workers at toll stations are exposed to traffic emissions during the working shift, which sometimes stretches to 12 h. To assess the exposure and subsequent health risk of these workers, a study was performed on a highway toll station in India. PM₁, PM_2.5, PM₁₀, BC and UFP concentration were determined inside a toll collectors' cabin and outside in a free-flowing traffic section (125 m from the toll cabin). The concentrations varied in the following range: PM₁ (40.69-226.13 μg m^-3), PM_2.5 (49.71-247.36 μg m^-3), PM₁₀ (83.15-458.14 μg m^-3) and BC (2.1-87.5 μg m^-3) and UFP: 101-53705 pt cm^-3. The mean concentration inside the cabin was 1.34 (PM₁), 1.35 (PM_2.5), 1.16 (PM₁₀) and 2.91 (BC) times the concentration outside for the summer season. The corresponding levels in the winter season were 1.14 (PM₁), 1.11 (PM_2.5), 1.11 (PM₁₀), 2.50 (BC) and 1.82 (UFP). In addition to the exhaust emission, the non-exhaust emissions such as resuspension of crustal particles, fly ash and bioaerosols were identified. Using the Multiple Path Particle Dosimetry model for two groups - adults (18-21 years) and adults (21+ years), it was estimated that the pulmonary deposition of in-cabin workers were 50% (PM_2.5) -75% (PM₁) higher than the workers outside the cabin. Particle mass deposition was found to be higher for adults (21+ years) than adults (18-21 years) for both the seasons. The study quantitatively assessed the health risk faced by the workers in terms of exposure concentration and deposition in respiratory tract. More such studies at different traffic mix and climate can provide better estimates of health risk of toll workers that can be used to devise appropriate strategies for control of it.

Keywords: Air pollution; Correlation; MPPD model; Pulmonary deposition; Traffic emission.

MeSH terms

Air Pollutants* / analysis
Coal Ash
Environmental Monitoring
Humans
Particle Size
Particulate Matter / analysis
Seasons

Substances

Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter
Coal Ash