Abstract
Environmental health in subway stations, a typical type of urban underground space, is becoming increasingly important. Ventilation is the principal measure for optimizing the complex physical environment in a subway station. This paper narratively reviews the environmental and health effects of subway ventilation and discusses the relevant engineering, environmental, and medical aspects in combination. Ventilation exerts a notable dual effect on environmental health in a subway station. On the one hand, ventilation controls temperature, humidity, and indoor air quality to ensure human comfort and health. On the other hand, ventilation also carries the potential risks of spreading air pollutants or fire smoke through the complex wind environment as well as produces continuous noise. Assessment and management of health risks associated with subway ventilation is essential to attain a healthy subway environment. This, however, requires exposure, threshold data, and thereby necessitates more research into long-term effects, and toxicity as well as epidemiological studies. Additionally, more research is needed to further examine the design and maintenance of ventilation systems. An understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms and aerodynamic characteristics of various pollutants can help formulate ventilation strategies to reduce pollutant concentrations. Moreover, current comprehensive underground space development affords a possibility for creating flexible spaces that optimize ventilation efficiency, acoustic comfort, and space perception.
Highlights
Subways, a typical type of urban underground space (UUS), are the most commonly used mode of public transportation, and are gradually becoming an indispensable component of large cities.With rapid urban development, transit-oriented developments (TODs) and are gradually becoming a new urban model [1,2,3,4]
What environmental factors are affected by ventilation systems in subway stations?
There has been a limited review of the health effects due to poor ventilation for both aboveground or underground buildings
Summary
A typical type of urban underground space (UUS), are the most commonly used mode of public transportation, and are gradually becoming an indispensable component of large cities.With rapid urban development, transit-oriented developments (TODs) and are gradually becoming a new urban model [1,2,3,4]. A typical type of urban underground space (UUS), are the most commonly used mode of public transportation, and are gradually becoming an indispensable component of large cities. Subways, dubbed “the lifeline of urban development,” connect city regions, relieve road traffic congestion, and provide hubs of interest and commerce in the underground network [5,6,7]. Compared with cars and buses, the subway is a low-carbon transport mode and is crucial in meeting climate goals. In China, daily passenger volumes of Beijing and Shanghai subways are more than 10 million. As a consequence, confined and crowded subway environments carry potential health risks and may trigger acute and chronic health issues as well as transmit epidemic diseases [8,9,10,11,12]
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