A Wide Area of Air Pollutant Impact Downwind of a Freeway during Pre-Sunrise Hours

Shishan Hu; Scott Fruin; Kathleen Kozawa; Steve Mara; Suzanne E Paulson; Arthur M Winer

doi:10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.02.033

A Wide Area of Air Pollutant Impact Downwind of a Freeway during Pre-Sunrise Hours

Atmos Environ (1994). 2009 May 1;43(16):2541-2549. doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2009.02.033.

Authors

Shishan Hu¹, Scott Fruin², Kathleen Kozawa³, Steve Mara⁴, Suzanne E Paulson⁵, Arthur M Winer⁶

Affiliations

¹ Environmental Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA ; Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, 405 Hilgard Ave., University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565, USA.
² Preventive Medicine, Environmental Health Division, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, 1540 Alcazar Street CHP-236 Los Angeles, CA 90032, USA.
³ Environmental Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA ; California Air Resources Board, Research Division, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA 95812, USA.
⁴ California Air Resources Board, Research Division, 1001 I Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 Air Resources Board, Sacramento, CA 95812, USA.
⁵ Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, 405 Hilgard Ave., University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1565, USA.
⁶ Environmental Health Sciences Department, School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Drive South, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1772, USA.

Abstract

We have observed a wide area of air pollutant impact downwind of a freeway during pre-sunrise hours in both winter and summer seasons. In contrast, previous studies have shown much sharper air pollutant gradients downwind of freeways, with levels above background concentrations extending only 300 m downwind of roadways during the day and up to 500 m at night. In this study, real-time air pollutant concentrations were measured along a 3 600 m transect normal to an elevated freeway 1-2 hours before sunrise using an electric vehicle mobile platform equipped with fast-response instruments. In winter pre-sunrise hours, the peak ultrafine particle (UFP) concentration (~95 000 cm^-3) occurred immediately downwind of the freeway. However, downwind UFP concentrations as high as ~ 40 000 cm^-3 extended at least 1 200 m from the freeway, and did not reach background levels (~15 000 cm^-3) until a distance of about 2 600 m. UFP concentrations were also elevated over background levels up to 600 m upwind of the freeway. Other pollutants, such as NO and particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, exhibited similar long-distance downwind concentration gradients. In contrast, air pollutant concentrations measured on the same route after sunrise, in the morning and afternoon, exhibited the typical daytime downwind decrease to background levels within ~300 m as found in earlier studies. Although pre-sunrise traffic volumes on the freeway were much lower than daytime congestion peaks, downwind UFP concentrations were significantly higher during pre-sunrise hours than during the daytime; UFP and NO concentrations were also strongly correlated with traffic counts on the freeway. We associate these elevated pre-sunrise concentrations over a wide area with a nocturnal surface temperature inversion, low wind speeds, and high relative humidity. Observation of a wide air pollutant impact area downwind of a major roadway prior to sunrise has important exposure assessment implications since it demonstrates extensive roadway impacts on residential areas during pre-sunrise hours, when most people are at home.

Keywords: Exposure Assessment; Mobile Platform; Roadway; Ultrafine Particles; Vehicle-Related Air Pollutants.

Grants and funding

K25 ES019224/ES/NIEHS NIH HHS/United States