Analysis of roadside air pollutant concentrations and potential health risk of exposure in Hanoi, Vietnam

Abstract

The large number of vehicles plying in roads is the main cause of traffic jam and air pollution in Hanoi. In this study, the vehicle density and shares of different vehicle types, the traffic flow velocity and roadside air pollutants concentrations were monitored in Chua Boc street, a typical arterial road in the city. The shares of the motorcycle, car and bus fleets in the total on-road traffic in the street were 78.4-87.3, 12.3-20.2 and 0.4-1.4%, respectively. The high density of vehicles caused traffic jam during rush hours and considerably reduced the vehicle speed. The traffic flow velocity during non-rush and rush hours was found to vary from 26.4-34.5 and 10.3-12.1 km/h, respectively. The average concentrations of PM10, PM2.5, SO2, NO2, CO and NMVOC during the rush hours were the following: 117.1 ± 8.5, 65.2 ± 10.6, 113.5 ± 10.9, 138.5 ± 16.0, 6792 ± 998 and 451 ± 71 µg/m3, respectively, which were about 1.9-2.6 times above the levels during non-rush hours. The decrease in vehicle speed during rush hours were strongly correlated with the increase in concentration of PM10 (R2 = 0.732), PM2.5 (R2 = 0.685), SO2 (R2 = 0.578), NO2 (R2 = 0.738), CO (R2 = 0.689) and NMVOC (R2 = 0.747). High levels of these toxic air pollutants in Hanoi city posed a high health risk to humans. Facemask use was more popular among the motorcycle commuters and pedestrians, especially during rush hours, than among the people working for extended time period alongside of the street.