In-vehicle ultrafine and fine particulate matter exposures during commuting in a South Asian megacity: Dhaka, Bangladesh

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We measured ultrafine particle number concentration (PNC) and fine particulate matter mass concentration (PM2.5) levels in public buses and private cars under three conditions: windows open, windows closed with air recirculation off, and windows closed with air recirculation on in Dhaka, Bangladesh—an extremely polluted megacity in South Asia. We collected measurements on ∼10 repeated round trips on unique days for each selected transportation mode, covering various routes that spanned multiple arterial roads over several months (January to March 2020 and November to December 2020) and different times of the day to account for the variability in traffic and meteorological conditions. We used a condensation particle counter (CPC) to measure PNC and a PurpleAir sensor to measure PM2.5 mass concentrations. We applied corrections to the raw data and analyzed quality-assured data to investigate exposure differences across modes, pollutants, locations, and times. Public buses and private cars with open windows had mean PNC levels of 112,000 # cm−3 and 117,000 # cm−3, approximately 5–6 times higher than the mean urban background level of around 20,000 # cm−3. PM2.5 levels in these vehicles were approximately ∼100 μg m−3, about 20% higher than the urban background PM2.5 level of 85 μg m−3. With closed windows and air recirculation off, concentrations were 15% lower for PNC and 10% lower for PM2.5. Under closing windows and keeping air recirculation on, mean PNC and PM2.5 levels were 60,000 # cm−3 and 70 μg m−3, respectively, representing a 50% reduction for PNC and a 30% reduction for PM2.5 compared to open windows. Our findings suggest that commuters in public buses and private cars with open windows have higher and similar exposure levels, whereas those commute in private cars with closed windows and air recirculation on have lower exposure levels.