Vehicular emission exposure of bicycle commuters in the urban area of Guangzhou, South China (PRC)

Abstract

Guangzhou is a major city in South China and is at the forefront of economic reform since 1978. The population of Guangzhou is rapidly increasing and most people either walk or cycle to and from work. These commuters are highly vulnerable to vehicular emissions. An indirect approach was adopted to estimate vehicular emission exposure to Guanzhou bicycle commuters. Four bus routes were selected as typical commuting routes. Concentrations of NO x and CO as well as traffic volume, vehicle speed, ground-level wind speed, and direction were measured at monitoring points set up along the routes of typical street links passing through areas of various land uses. CO and NO x were recognized to be two major vehicular emission pollutants. The average CO exposure levels of Guangzhou bicycle commuters ranged from 3.7 μL/L to 8.2 μL/L. Few CO samples exceeded the Chinese national assessment standard. No adverse effect on health was expected. The average NO x exposure levels of Guangzhou bicycle commuters ranged from 0.13 μL/L to 0.26 μL/L. More than half of the NO x samples exceeded the Chinese national assessment standard. Adverse effects on the health of bicycle commuters might result. Other factors such as street configurations and land uses were also analyzed.