Abstract
Air pollution has become a pressing issue in today’s society because of its significant effects on humans, animals, plants, air quality, climate and the wider environment. Most urban areas are associated with one or more air pollutants which are emitted from local or regional pollution sources including vehicle exhausts, fossil fuels using in energy production, emissions from industrial and mining activities, agricultural and construction operations, household usage of chemicals and materials and natural causes. Most personal exposure studies are focused on local environments and short-term periods. Previous controlled experiments and studies were done in a small number of designated areas in cities. Our research study used time-based activity data; 3 main and 17 sub-microenvironments were applied over 37 days-long research while traveling through Southeast Asian countries. In this study, personal exposure of PM2.5 for a traveler was monitored using an assembled low-cost monitor with Plantower PMS 3003 PM2.5 sensor which has a light-scattering principle. All time-based activity data was recorded with a smartphone whenever microenvironments changed during the study period. The goal of this study was to understand more about the personal exposure to PM2.5 related air pollution in the global travel environment as a traveler and to understand how an individual’s activity and location impact PM2.5 exposure. According to the results from the Southeast Asia study, the personal PM2.5 exposure varied in the categorized microenvironments. Port/Station (outdoor) and Cafe/Pub/Restaurant (indoor-outdoor) were the most polluted microenvironments with 32.8 and 29.6 µg/m3 1-h mean PM2.5 concentration, respectively. Market/Shopping Mall (indoor), Street (outdoor) and Cable Car/Metro/Tram (vehicle) were also concerning microenvironments with 19.3, 19.3 and 18.9 µg/m3 1-h mean PM2.5 concentrations, respectively. Passenger Car microenvironment had the lowest 1-h mean PM2.5 concentration of 2.3 µg/m3 which agrees with some other studies on transportation microenvironments in the literature.
Highlights
Within the last two decades, urban air pollution from large cities has been recognized as one of the world’s most concerning environmental issues (Koçak et al, 2011; Yusuf and Resosudarmo, 2009)
A previous study focused on assessing the performance of a Plantower PMS 1003 sensor against one of the Federal Reference Method (FRM), two of the Federal Equivalent Methods (FEM) (TEOM and Sharp) and a research-grade monitor (GRIMM) under ambient PM2.5 concentrations in Salt Lake City, Utah during winter
Another study focused on using a Plantower PMS 3003 sensor and an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) to gather environmental data including temperature, humidity and PM in Nan province of Thailand
Summary
Within the last two decades, urban air pollution from large cities has been recognized as one of the world’s most concerning environmental issues (Koçak et al, 2011; Yusuf and Resosudarmo, 2009). The World Health Organization (WHO) states that 92% of the world’s population lives in cities and metropolises where PM2.5 concentration levels exceed the WHO suggested PM2.5 concentration limits which are 10 μg/m3 annual mean and 25 μg/m3 24-h mean (2017). Those limits are suggested as guidance to reduce the health impacts of air pollution, but they are not legally binding policies. Some countries regulate PM2.5 with higher concentration values than WHO’s guidelines; this makes it difficult for some cities to comply with the WHO’s ambient air quality guidelines (Molina et al, 2004; Sharma et al, 2013). It is not surprising that PM2.5 related air pollution is a global environmental health problem that affects people worldwide, but lowincome and middle-income countries experience this burden more than high-income countries
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