Traffic Sites Research Articles

Profile of atmospheric particulate PAHs near busy roadway in tropical megacity, India

Objective: This study focuses on the profile of ambient particulate polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their seasonal distribution, source identification and human health risk assessment due to inhalation exposure of ambient PAHs in Delhi, India. Materials and Methods: Two sampling sites were chosen, one at roadway (MH) and other at urban background (JNU) site in Delhi. Determination of PAHs was carried with the help of HPLC with UV detector. Principal component analysis and Molecular diagnostic ratios were used for the source apportionment of PAHs. Health risks associated with inhalation of particulate PAHs were assessed using benzo(a)pyrene equivalent concentration and incremental lifetime cancer risk (ILCR) approach. Results: The results showed that the average mass concentration of Σ16 PAHs near roadway (67.8 ± 40.2 ng m−3) is significantly higher than urban background site (56 ± 30 ng m−3). Moreover, source apportionment study indicated that major PAH-emission sources in Delhi NCR are traffic and coal combustion. ILCR values at both the sites fall in the range of 10−2–10−4 that corresponds to the priority risk level (10−3) and higher than the acceptable risk level (10−6). conclusions: The high PAHs concentration at MH site was due to it’s nearness to busy traffic area. Thus, the spatial variations in PAHs were influenced by local emission sources. The high PAHs level during the winter season can be due to their higher emissions from local heating sources, shift of gas/particle partitioning toward the particulate phase at low temperature and reduced photochemical degradation of some PAHs in winter. The low level of PAHs in monsoon season can be attributed to their wet scavenging and higher percentage in vapor phase. PCA showed that the emissions from vehicles predominate at MH site; whereas, coal combustion and traffic both are the significant PAHs sources at JNU site. Health risk assessment revealed that the highest exposure risks occur at busy traffic site, thereby indicating a significantly higher health risk to the population of Delhi.

Air Quality of Work, Residential, and Traffic Areas during the COVID-19 Lockdown with Insights to Improve Air Quality.

This study investigated the concentrations of air pollutants (NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO, O3, PM10, and PM2.5) at three sites with different traffic loads (work, residential, and traffic sites) before, during, and after the COVID-19 lockdown. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effects and associated potential pollution control implications of the lockdown on the quality of ambient air at three selected sites in the urban area of Riyadh City. The average concentrations of NO, NO2, NOx, and CO decreased during the lockdown period by 73%, 44%, 53%, and 32% at the work site; 222%, 85%, 100%, and 60% at the residential site; and 133%, 60%, 101%, and 103% at the traffic site relative to the pre-lockdown period, respectively. The average concentration of O3 increased by 6% at the work site, whereas the concentration of SO2 increased by 27% at the residential site and decreased by 6.5% at the work site. The changes in PM10 and PM2.5 varied and did not exhibit a clear pattern. The air quality index (AQI) results indicated that the contribution to “undesired” air quality by O3 was 35.29% of the lockdown period at the work site while contributions to undesired air quality by PM10 and PM2.5 were 75.6% and 100% at the work site, 94.5% and 100% at the residential site, and 96.7% and 100% at the traffic site, respectively. The findings of this study are useful for devising effective urban pollution abatement policies. Applying control measures comparable to the lockdown measures over one week will result in a decrease of approximately 19% and 15% in CO mean concentration and 25% and 18% in NO2 mean concentration at residential and traffic sites, respectively.

A Characterization and Cell Toxicity Assessment of Particulate Pollutants from Road Traffic Sites in Kano State, Nigeria

Emerging African countries are characterized by explosive population growth and urbanization, which threaten environmental sustainability. This study comparatively characterized ambient aerosols and assessed cytotoxicity to facilitate improving health and environmental policy. Twenty-four air samples were collected at high and low-density traffic sites in Kano State using polysulfone and stainless steel filters attached to an automated pump. The physico-chemical properties of particulate matter were determined using scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX). In vitro, their potential toxicity was assessed using macrophages and cell fixation with staining. Results showed 51.7% of particles as PM2.5, with the highest particle concentration in mixed sites (urban and industrial). Particle classification into four groups by elemental composition and structure showed: sand particles (Si, Al, Fe, Ca, Mg, K, Na, Mo, Sr, Zr) 30–51%; other fibers 0–3%; other particles (Si, Fe, S, Mo, Zn, and other metals) 22–40%; and silicone-based fibres 23–34%. The abundant elements are: Si, Al, Ca, Ce, Ti, Fe, Cl, Pb, and Mn. The lowest viability on cytotoxicity assessment was recorded in mixed site M2. The majority of households were located within 50 m of air sampling sites. Proximity to traffic sites worsens health, as evidenced in cytotoxicity findings. We recommend improved urban planning and intensification of emissions control.

Повышение безопасности дорожного движения велосипедного транспорта в Санкт-Петербурге

The paper submits the results of an analysis of road traffic accidents with cyclists in 2020. There was taken into account the date, time, cause, area, address and number of victims in accidents, with the existing cycling infrastructure of the city (the number and location of bicycle lanes) studied. An assessment of road traffic accident concentration sites and risky traffic areas for bicycle transport was carried out on the example of St. Petersburg. Conclusions are made about the need to improve the bicycle infrastructure in order to improve the safety of bicycle traffic.

Improvement of Air Quality during the COVID-19 Lockdowns in the Republic of Slovenia and its Connection with Meteorology

Due to COVID-19 countermeasures, air quality temporarily improved in several countries around the world, especially in urban areas. This study investigates predominantly the changes in concentration levels of air pollutants (PM10 and PM2.5) in the Republic of Slovenia during the year 2020, which was marked by COVID-19 lockdowns. In this study, the data for the year 2020 were divided into four periods, i.e. the period before COVID-19 (1 January–11 March 2020), the first lockdown (12 March–31 May 2020), after the first lockdown (1 June–17 October 2020), and the second lockdown (18 October–31 December 2020). The data were obtained from 25 ground-based nationwide stations, subdivided further by traffic and background sites. For comparison, data from 2018 and 2019 were evaluated as well. Our findings indicate that COVID-19 restrictions had a moderate and indirect impact on PM10 and PM2.5 concentrations, which were more evident at PM10 monitoring sites near traffic locations. The results were additionally supported by providing t- and F- statistical tests. The impact of meteorological conditions (wind speed, temperature, relative humidity, and precipitation) on the concentration levels was also studied. The results show that, the most significant decrease of PM concentration in 2020 compared to 2018 and 2019 was found in the period after the first lockdown, while precipitation was not significantly different between the years during this time.

Decoupled elastic least-squares reverse time migration and its application in tunnel geologic forward prospecting

Accurate seismic imaging can ensure safe and efficient tunnel construction under complex geologic conditions. As a high-precision migration method, reverse time migration (RTM) has been introduced into tunnel seismic forward prospecting. However, the resolution of traditional RTM imaging results may not meet the requirements in a complex tunnel environment, which affects the interpretation of tunnel seismic forward-prospecting results. We have developed a least-squares RTM method based on the decoupled elastic wave equation in tunnels. The Born forward-modeling operator and its exact adjoint migration imaging operator are derived to ensure a stable convergence of the conjugate-gradient method. Moreover, a pseudo-Hessian-based preconditioning operator is adopted to accelerate the convergence. Numerical examples are provided to verify the efficiency of our scheme. A field test in a traffic tunnel construction site is performed to show the good application effect of the decoupled elastic least-squares RTM in practical situations.

Size-Segregated Elemental Profile and Associated Heath Risk Assessment of Road Dust along Major Traffic Corridors in Kolkata Mega City

Particle size distribution (PSD) of road dust has significant repercussions on atmospheric pollution by road dust resuspension. The PSD of road dust at a few major commercial, traffic, and residential sites in Kolkata mega city was analyzed in the size range of <28–2000 µm. Predominance of the coarse size range (212–600 µm followed by 106–212 µm) was observed. In size-segregated road dust, Fe (4.02–31.2 g kg−1) dominated other elements and was followed by Mg (2.13–10.9 g kg−1), Mn (79.2–601 mg kg−1), Li (395.8–506.8 mg kg−1), and others. Fine particles (<28 μm) had higher elemental concentrations than coarser ones. Cd and Li showed the highest degree of enrichment compared to the Earth’s crust, but only Cd posed significant ecological risk due to its high ecological toxicity. Individual elements did not post significant non-cancer health risks, except for Li in children. However, the cumulative non-cancer risk from all toxic elements for children was almost four times higher than the acceptable level. Lifetime exposure to carcinogenic elements at the current level may pose 5 to 6 times higher cancer risk in the adult population than the acceptable risk of one in a million.

Age-specific and seasonal deposition of outdoor and indoor particulate matter in human respiratory tract

Particulate matter (PM), a crucial air pollutant is related with range of human health effects. PM having aerodynamic diameter ≤10 μm enter the human airways due to its smaller size and gets deposited in various regions of lungs. However, age-specific seasonal deposition under various sampling environments and site locations are not addressed in the Indian context. Hence this study aims to estimate the PM deposition during monsoon, winter, and summer seasons in outdoor and indoor environments of traffic and residential sites for different age groups at Vellore city, India. PM was collected using nine-stage impactor. PM2.5 and PM10 deposition in infants, children, adults, and elderly were estimated using Multiple Path Particle Dosimetry (MPPD) model. Total, regional, lobar, and generation-specific PM deposition were estimated and discussed in the study. Results showed that annual average of PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations exceeded the Indian and World Health Organization standards. Total deposition of PM10 was consistently larger than PM2.5 across all age groups. Children and elderly experienced highest total PM2.5 and PM10 deposition, respectively during summer in traffic outdoor environment. Regional results showed that head and alveolar regions were dominated by PM10 and PM2.5 depositions, respectively. The deposited mass rate was found highest in elderly followed by adults, children, and infants irrespective of size. Lower lobes received maximum deposition than other lobes. Also, the trend of increased PM deposition fraction after 20th generation was found. PM pollution and deposition in residential site and indoor environment were comparable to traffic site and outdoor environment, respectively.

교통사고 차량 운전자의 인체 진동 측정 방법 및 평가 기준에 관한 연구

In a traffic accident, scientific data are needed to refute the driver's false claim or statement that the shock was not recognized at the time of the accident. ISO2631 deals with methods and evaluation criteria for measuring human vibration of vehicle occupants. In this study, we tried to find out the characteristics of human body vibration transmitted to vehicle occupants on comfort. In evaluating the impact of unpaved roads or speed bumps on vehicle drivers in future traffic accident site investigation, it is expected that objective evaluation can be performed by utilizing the human vibration measurement method, evaluation criteria, and experimental values performed in this study.

Low emission zones reduced PM10 but not NO2 concentrations in Berlin and Munich, Germany

Low emission zones (LEZs) aiming at improving the air quality in urban areas have been implemented in many European cities. However, studies are limited in evaluating the effects of LEZ, and most of which used simple methods. In this study, a general additive mixed model was utilized to account for confounders in the atmosphere and validate the effects of LEZ on PM10 and NO2 concentrations in two German cities. In addition, the effects of LEZ on elemental carbon (EC) and total carbon (TC) in Berlin were also evaluated. The LEZ effects were estimated after taking into account air pollutant concentrations at a reference site located in the regional background, and adjusting for hour of the week, public holidays, season, and wind direction. The LEZ in Berlin, and the LEZ in combination with the heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) transit ban in Munich significantly reduced the PM10 concentrations, at both traffic sites (TS) and urban background sites (UB). The effects were greater in LEZ stage 3 than in LEZ stages 2 and 1. Moreover, compared with PM10, LEZ was more efficient in reducing EC, a component that is considered more toxic than PM10 mass. In contrast, the LEZ had no consistent effect on NO2 levels: no effects were observed in Berlin; in Munich, the combination of the LEZ and the HDV transit ban reduced NO2 at UB site in LEZ stage 1, but without further reductions in subsequent stages of the LEZ. Overall, our study indicated that LEZs, which target the major primary air pollution source in the highly populated city center could be an effective way to improve urban air quality such as PM mass concentration and EC level.

Comparison of PM10 Sources at Traffic and Urban Background Sites Based on Elemental, Chemical and Isotopic Composition: Case Study from Krakow, Southern Poland

In large urban agglomerations, car traffic is one of the main sources of particulate matter. It consists of particulate matter directly generated in the process of incomplete liquid fuel burning in vehicle engine, secondary aerosols formed from exhaust gaseous pollutants (NOx, SO2) as well as products of tires, brake pads and pavement abrasion. Krakow is one of the cities in Europe with the highest concentrations of particulate matter. The article presents the results of combined elemental, chemical and isotopic analyses of particulate matter PM10 at two contrasting urban environments during winter and summer seasons. Daily PM10 samples were collected during the summer and winter seasons of 2018/2019 at two stations belonging to the network monitoring air quality in the city. Mean PM10 concentrations at traffic-dominated stations were equal to 35 ± 7 µg/m3 and 76 ± 28 µg/m3 in summer and winter, respectively, to be compared with 25.6 ± 5.7 µg/m3 and 51 ± 25 µg/m3 in summer and winter, respectively, recorded at the urban background station. The source attribution of analyzed PM10 samples was carried out using two modeling approaches: (i) The Positive Matrix Factorization (PMF) method for elemental and chemical composition (concentrations of elements, ions, as well as organic and elemental carbon in daily PM10 samples), and (ii) Isotope Mass Balance (IMB) for 13C and 14C carbon isotope composition of carbonaceous fraction of PM10. For PMF application, five sources of particulate matter were identified for each station: fossil fuel combustion, secondary inorganic aerosols, traffic exhaust, soil, and the fifth source which included road dust, industry, construction work. The IMB method allowed the partitioning of the total carbon reservoir of PM10 into carbon originating from coal combustion, from biogenic sources (natural emissions and biomass burning) and from traffic. Both apportionment methods were applied together for the first time in the Krakow agglomeration and they gave consistent results.

Elemental composition of fine and coarse particles across the greater Los Angeles area: Spatial variation and contributing sources

The inorganic components of particulate matter (PM), especially transition metals, have been shown to contribute to PM toxicity. In this study, the spatial distribution of PM elements and their potential sources in the Greater Los Angeles area were studied. The mass concentration and detailed elemental composition of fine (PM2.5) and coarse (PM2.5-10) particles were assessed at 46 locations, including urban traffic, urban community, urban background, and desert locations. Crustal enrichment factors (EFs), roadside enrichments (REs), and bivariate correlation analysis revealed that Ba, Cr, Cu, Mo, Pd, Sb, Zn, and Zr were associated with traffic emissions in both PM2.5 and PM2.5-10, while Fe, Li, Mn, and Ti were affected by traffic emissions mostly in PM2.5. The concentrations of Ba, Cu, Mo, Sb, Zr (brake wear tracers), Pd (tailpipe tracer), and Zn (associated with tire wear) were higher at urban traffic sites than urban background locations by factors of 2.6–4.6. Both PM2.5 and PM2.5-10 elements showed large spatial variations, indicating the presence of diverse emission sources across sampling locations. Principal component analysis extracted four source factors that explained 88% of the variance in the PM2.5 elemental concentrations, and three sources that explained 86% of the variance in the PM2.5-10 elemental concentrations. Based on multiple linear regression analysis, the contribution of traffic emissions (27%) to PM2.5 was found to be higher than mineral dust (23%), marine aerosol (18%), and industrial emissions (8%). On the other hand, mineral dust was the dominant source of PM2.5-10 with 45% contribution, followed by marine aerosol (22%), and traffic emissions (19%). This study provides novel insight into the spatial variation of traffic-related elements in a large metropolitan area.

Toxicity screening of air extracts representing different source sectors in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton areas: In vitro oxidative stress, pro-inflammatory response, and toxicogenomic analysis

In the present study, the suitability and sensitivity of different in vitro toxicity endpoints were determined to evaluate and distinguish the specific contributions of polycyclic aromatic carbon (PAC) mixtures from various sites in Toronto (Canada), to pulmonary toxicity. Air samples were collected for two-month periods from April 2014 to March 2015 from one location, and from August 2016 to August 2017 from multiple locations reflecting different geographical areas in Toronto, and the Greater Toronto Area, with varying source emissions including background, traffic, urban, industrial and residential sites. Relative concentrations of PACs and their derivatives in these air samples were characterised. In vitro cytotoxicity, pro-inflammatory, and oxidative stress assays were employed to assess the acute pulmonary effects of urban-air-derived air pollutants. In addition, global transcriptional profiling was utilized to understand how these chemical mixtures exert their harmful effects. Lastly, the transcriptomic data and the chemical profiles for each site and season were used to relate the biological response back to individual constituents. Site-specific responses could not be derived; however, the Spring season was identified as the most responsive through benchmark concentration analysis. A combination of correlational analysis and principal component analysis revealed that nitrated and oxygenated polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) drive the response at lower concentrations while specific PAHs drive the response at the highest concentration tested. Unsubstituted PAHs are the current targets for analysis as priority pollutants. The present study highlights the importance of by-products of PAH degradation in the assessment of risk. The study also demonstrates the usefulness of in vitro toxicity assays to derive meaningful data in support of risk assessment.

Toward improving road traffic noise characterization: A reduced-order model for representing traffic flow dynamics

The National Transportation Noise Map predicts time-averaged road traffic noise across the continental United States (CONUS) based on average annual daily traffic counts. However, traffic counts may vary significantly with time. Since traffic noise is correlated with traffic counts, a more detailed temporal representation of traffic noise requires knowledge of the time-varying traffic counts. Each year, the Federal Highway Administration tabulates the hourly traffic counts recorded at more than 5000 traffic monitoring sites across CONUS. Each site records up to 8760 traffic counts corresponding to each hour of the year. The hourly traffic counts can be treated as time-dependent signals upon which signal processing techniques can be applied. First, Fourier analysis is used to find the daily, weekly, and yearly temporal cycles present at each traffic monitoring site. Next, principal component analysis is applied to the peaks in the Fourier spectra. A reduced-order model using the first 11 principal components represents much of the temporal variability in traffic counts while requiring only 0.13% as many values as the original hourly traffic counts. This reduced-order model can be used in conjunction with sound mapping tools to predict traffic noise on hourly, rather than time-averaged, timescales. [Work supported by U.S. Army SBIR.]

Features of Religious Organizations Activity in Ukraine

Over the past hundred years, the secularization thesis has allowed religion to be left aside when analyzing economic development, evolution of political regimes, or, for example, the peculiarities of state structure in any country. But today religion is becoming an increasingly significant force, the church is regaining its lost positions. Scientists have counted four stages of desecularization, the last of which began on September 11, 2001 and has been continuing to this day.
 The World Wide Web has challenged the Church by creating an otherworldly (surreal or virtual) world. And the church humbly accepted its existence, just as it recognized the presence of a man in space, next to God. And all this follows one goal — to be close to the own flock. The massive fascination of people with computers, gadgets and the virtual world, including believers, led the Church to understand the obvious fact: the virtualization of being is a long process and can become useful.
 Using the examples of religious organizations activity on the Internet, the question is investigated: what will ultimately result in their presence in the virtual world — in a person’s cognition of a new (digital) formation in order to effectively keep it in his bosom, or will it become a reason for a new wave of desecularization in the post­industrial world?
 The analysis of the content of the sites of the main confessions in Ukraine showed a more secular nature of the activities of religious organizations in comparison with the time before the emergence of the Internet. Their relations with all spheres — government, business, army, society have become public and stronger. The author came to the conclusion that the Church, as the personification of the main confessions, accepted virtual reality as a fact because believers have loved it. For the first time in the history of the Church, the attitude to a new phenomenon — virtual space — was dictated to her by believers. 2. In pre­Internet history, the Church fought for the “souls” of people. With the adoption of virtual space, human brains became its target. Using information technologies, computers, gadgets, smartphones and virtual space, the Church is fighting to remain an influential force in our time. 3. The content of the sites of religious organizations in Ukraine reflects a different level of trust (internal resistance, self­censorship) to the World Wide Web. They can be conditionally divided into three types. The first one — organizations fill websites like personal diaries, inspiring confidence with texts and illustrations of the church life of priests and parishioners. The second one — organizations use websites only for posting sermons, information about holidays, rituals, testimonies of a righteous life and so on. The third type of sites is a business card, which only declares the presence of an organization on the Internet: information about the chapter, about the organization, the schedule of current events and contact information. Accordingly, the first type has the highest traffic (site traffic), the latter has the lowest. 4. Common to all of them (with the exception of the UOC­MP) is the attitude towards the armed conflict in the East of the country (support for the institution of chaplaincy, guardianship of family members of military personnel who died in the combat zone, support of civilians that are suffering from hostilities, etc.) and to the unification of Orthodox communities into a single local church — the OCU (with the exception of the UOC­MP and the UOC­KP).

Investigation of Ambient Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in a Populated Middle Eastern City

Characteristics, sources and health risks of atmospheric PM10-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on residents living in different regions of Ahvaz, Southwest Iran were investigated during 2016–2017. 84 samples were taken from the different regions: (S1) industrial; (S2) high traffic and (S3) residential sites in Ahvaz metropolitan. Urinary samples were collected from people who came to the east health center of Ahvaz. Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene and PAHs levels were analyzed by Gas Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS). Exposure and risk assessment (Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR), Lifetime Average Daily Dose (LADD) and hazard index (HI)) of these pollutants were estimated, using USEPA’s exposure parameters. Results of this study showed that in the air of residential and industrial areas observed the lowest and the highest level of PAHs, respectively. High molecular weight compounds (2–4rings), contributed to 85% of ∑PAHs mass in the atmospheric PM10-bound samples. Industrial processing and petroleum refining, were identified to be major outdoor resources of PAHs. Based on the result of this study, the highest and the lowest concentration of PAHs metabolites were observed in the industrial and residential areas. Average urinary 1-hydroxypyrene levels of S1, S2 and S3 regions were 0.4735; 1.311 and 1.4942 ng/dL, respectively. The values of ILCR in cold (0.06913) and warm (0.052854) seasons were higher than EPA which, was significantly correlated with the concentration of PAHs. In conclusion, increasing exposure concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons would have a significant potential for increased ILCR and risk of health endpoint. ILCR in different areas was significantly higher than standard. Our results show that the air quality of Ahvaz city was in an unfavorable condition and increasing exposure concentration of PAHs would have a significant potential for increased ILCR and risk of diseases.

Morphological properties, chemical composition, cancer risks and toxicological potential of airborne particles from traffic and urban background sites

From a sampling campaign from December 2018 to June 2019, at a traffic and an urban background site in Coimbra, Portugal, two particulate matter (PM10) samples from each month were selected to characterise the morphology by scanning electron microscopy, to determine the organic and inorganic chemical composition by multiple analytical techniques and to assess the ecotoxicity by the Vibrio fischeri bioluminescence inhibition assay. PM10 concentrations in winter were approximately twice as high as those recorded in the spring. Biomass burning was the greatest contributor to air pollution in winter at both sites. The contribution of vehicle emissions to the PM10 at the roadside was, on average, 7 times higher than at the background location. Distinct particle morphologies were observed. Higher abundances of aggregates enriched in Fe, Ti, Ba, Cr, Co, Cu, Zr, Mn and soot particles were registered in samples from the roadside. Bivariate plots suggested common sources of PAHs, mostly traffic and biomass burning, across the city. Benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentrations were within the values documented for other European cities. Cancer risks resulting from exposure to PAHs by inhalation were estimated to be low (10−6 ≤ to <10−4) for both sites. The noncarcinogenic risks from particulate trace elements were always higher than the target value of 1. Cancer risks for Cr were found to be higher than the acceptable level (10−6). The calculation of toxic units indicated that 64% of the samples from the roadside location were toxic and 14% very toxic, while the corresponding shares for the urban background site were 50% and 7%, respectively. Many PM10-bound constituents, especially markers of biomass burning (e.g. anhydrosugars) and traffic emissions (e.g. Fe, Cu, Zn), showed significant statistical correlations with toxicity.

Cardio-respiratory disease with contrasted air pollution levels in three municipalities of Abidjan district hospitals, Cote d’Ivoire

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The human health effects for both particulate matter and gaseous contaminants are global public health concern. The objective of this study was to assess any variations of air pollution in contributions from waste burning, heavy motor vehicle traffic and biomass burning and the impact on health in Abidjan, with special attention to cardiorespiratory diseases, METHODS: A survey was conducted during two years in 5 hospitals, 3 months during the rainy and the dry season. We estimated air pollution levels simultaneously with health care assessment with a particular attention for cardio-respiratory diseases. PM2.5 concentration and cardiorespiratory diseases outcomes were recorded in a questionnaire sheet in the district hospitals. The relative Risks (RR) of the relationship between the observed cardiorespiratory outcomes and air pollution exposure were estimated using a Poisson regression model. RESULTS:The results showed that PM2.5 Concentrations from the waste burning and traffic sites were comparable with annual averages of 28.51 µg/m3 and 29.69 µg/m3 respectively. In Yopougon, where domestic fires are common, the annual average is drastically higher at 155.1 µg/m3. PM2.5 were elevated in both seasons with an average of 145µ/m3; more than the one recommended by WHO. Also, cardiorespiratory diseases occurred in 66% and the most affected were women (54%) and children under 18 years old. The highest PM2.5 concentrations were due to biomass burning, seen in Yopougon. Outpatient visits for cardiorespiratory symptoms showed a significant association with PM2.5 concentrations during the rainy season and respiratory outpatient visits were significant throughout the entire year. Overall, we estimate that 143 hospital visits could have been avoided during the rainy seasons of our study period CONCLUSIONS:Accessing to air pollution data has been difficult in developing countries. This survey was one the first conducted so far in Côte d’Ivoire addressing pollutant concentrations and cardiorespiratory outcomes. KEYWORDS: Air pollution, Cardio-respiratory disease, health care

BIM-based traffic analysis and simulation at road intersection design

Traffic analysis at road intersections is an important activity in the project design and planning phases because it allows selecting the most suitable traffic requirements and site characteristics. Therefore, traffic simulation models are indispensable and useful tools to support collaborative decision-making. The building information modeling (BIM) approach shows great potential to contribute to the traffic analysis and road design improvement; however, BIM has been adopted mainly in the building sector, rather than road infrastructure projects. Therefore, this paper presents a BIM-based methodological framework for traffic analysis and simulation of road intersection design. The proposed framework has five main steps: 1) BIM models and traffic information collection; 2) BIM model configuration; 3) BIM simulation, analysis, and calibration; 4) BIM cost analysis and documentation; and 5) alternatives comparison and recommendations. The application of the proposed framework to a case study shows several BIM implementation benefits in the traffic analysis at road intersections. Some of the most prominent BIM benefits observed in the case study are a better understanding of design, improved project quality, more efficient communications, scope clarification, and speed up the design process.

Erratum to “Characterization of PM2.5 at a Traffic Site Using Several Integrated Analytical Techniques”

Erratum to “Characterization of <scp>PM₂</scp>_.5 at a Traffic Site Using Several Integrated Analytical Techniques”