Abstract
Professional drivers working in congested urban areas are required to work near harmful traffic related pollutants for extended periods, representing a significant, but understudied occupational risk. This study collected personal black carbon (BC) exposures for 141 drivers across seven sectors in London. The aim of the study was to assess the magnitude and the primary determinants of their exposure, leading to the formulation of targeted exposure reduction strategies for the occupation. Each participant’s personal BC exposures were continuously measured using real-time monitors for 96 h, incorporating four shifts per participant. ‘At work’ BC exposures (3.1 ± 3.5 µg/m3) were 2.6 times higher compared to when ‘not at work’ (1.2 ± 0.7 µg/m3). Workers spent 19% of their time ‘at work driving’, however this activity contributed 36% of total BC exposure, highlighting the disproportionate effect driving had on their daily exposure. Taxi drivers experienced the highest BC exposures due to the time they spent working in congested central London, while emergency services had the lowest. Spikes in exposure were observed while driving and were at times greater than 100 µg/m3. The most significant determinants of drivers’ exposures were driving in tunnels, congestion, location, day of week and time of shift. Driving with closed windows significantly reduced exposures and is a simple behaviour change drivers could implement. Our results highlight strategies by which employers and local policy makers can reduce professional drivers’ exposure to traffic-related air pollution.
Highlights
Continuous measurements of individuals’ personal exposure to air pollution is considered the ‘gold standard’ for exposure assessment (Health Effects Institute, 2010), as personal measurements more accu rately represent the complexity and variability in daily exposures experienced by individuals compared to other assessment methods (Kaur et al, 2007)
The study found that professional drivers are disproportionately exposed to black carbon (BC), due to the prolonged time spent in the transport microenvironment and at times were exposed to extremely high spikes of BC
Time spent ‘at work driving’, resulted in the highest levels and proportion of BC exposure experienced by partici pants throughout their day with average exposure being twice as high compared to time spent ‘at work not driving’ and four times higher compared to when participants were ‘at home’
Summary
Continuous measurements of individuals’ personal exposure to air pollution is considered the ‘gold standard’ for exposure assessment (Health Effects Institute, 2010), as personal measurements more accu rately represent the complexity and variability in daily exposures experienced by individuals compared to other assessment methods (Kaur et al, 2007). While time-integrated measurements are useful for epidemiological studies, time-resolved monitors, which can measure at resolutions as low as one second, can provide specific information on the magnitude and de terminants of exposure throughout the day and can better formulate targeted strategies to reduce professional drivers’ exposure These occupational studies have often focussed on longhaul drivers, with few studies conducted in urban areas. Few studies have investigated urban professional drivers’ exposure to traffic related pollutants at high time resolutions (Bos et al, 2021; Gany et al, 2017; Hachem, Bensefa-Colas, et al, 2020; Hachem et al, 2021; Hachem, Saleh, et al, 2020; Lee et al, 2015; Moreno et al, 2019; Riediker et al, 2003; Yu et al, 2018) These studies have been performed on a relatively small scale (50 drivers or less) and only focused on individual professional driving sectors (for example taxi or waste truck drivers). A better understanding of how much these workers are exposed to during their day, and what influences their exposures, across a range of professional driving sectors is needed
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