Impact of Motor Vehicle Exhaust on the Air Quality of an Urban City

Abstract

The development of the economy and the prosperity of the industry have not only promoted the great progress of motor vehicle industry, but also made the number of motor vehicles in large and medium cities increase rapidly. In recent years, with the increasing number of urban motor vehicles, the environmental pollution caused by motor vehicle exhaust on both sides of the road has become increasingly serious. The high concentration of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles will seriously affect and threaten the health of pedestrians on both sides of the road and surrounding residents. In this work, the environmental monitoring data (NO2) from different areas of Jinan city over different time periods were summarized from 2001 to 2007. It was found that the NO2 concentration in the ambient air of Jinan gradually decreased due to the treatment of motor vehicles taken in Jinan for the 29th Olympic Games in 2005, the NO2 concentration during the urban heating period fell by nearly 70%, and the air during the urban heating period was significantly higher than that in the non-heating period. In 2004, the concentration of NO2 in the air during the urban heating period was nearly twice as high as during the non-heating period. Taking the city of Jinan, China in 2008 as an example, the contribution of motor vehicle emissions to the ambient air quality in Jinan, especially CO and NO2, was investigated through real-time monitoring of pollutants emitted by motor vehicles on several main roads in Jinan. The results showed that the pollutants emitted by motor vehicles in Jinan, especially CO and NO2, contribute greatly to the ambient air quality of Jinan. Among them, the highest average CO concentration was measured beside Jingqi Road, which was attributed to poor vehicle driving conditions and low speeds due to congestion on Jingqi Road. The necessary motor vehicle exhaust control measures were proposed.