Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan
The sampling sites, including roadsides and residential areas, were set up to collect ambient air and determine the volatile organic species it contained. For the roadside air, the average VOCs (volatile organic compounds) abundant at rush hour periods was two times that at non-rush hour periods. In...
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doaj-a41bb3d8fc1242dabb7df5bb4b1070762020-11-25T03:40:10ZengMDPI AGAtmosphere2073-44332020-09-01111015101510.3390/atmos11091015Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern TaiwanJiun-Horng Tsai0Yen-Ting Lu1I-I Chung2Hung-Lung Chiang3Department of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, TaiwanDepartment of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, TaiwanDepartment of Environmental Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, TaiwanDepartment of Safety Health and Environmental Engineering, National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin 640, TaiwanThe sampling sites, including roadsides and residential areas, were set up to collect ambient air and determine the volatile organic species it contained. For the roadside air, the average VOCs (volatile organic compounds) abundant at rush hour periods was two times that at non-rush hour periods. In the residential area, the VOC concentrationswere106 and 129 ppb during rush hour periods. The VOC concentration ratios of roadside and residential areas were in the range of 1.08–1.75 and the traffic emissions were related to the VOCs abundant in air. The highest VOC concentration was 168 ppb at midnight at residential sites and the VOC abundance could be two times that of roadside sites. This level of concentration could be attributed to the application of solvents and to human activity in a nearby motorcycle/vehicle maintenance plant, laundry rooms, etc. High abundant species were similar in both the roadside and residential air samples. These highly abundant species included toluene, acetone, acetonitrile, m,p-xylene and n-pentane, all of which can be emitted from traffic exhaust. Benzene, acrolein, formaldehyde, vinyl chloride and 1,3-butadiene were the main species with health impacts collected at both sites. In the micro-scale environment, the residential ambient air was affected by traffic flow from morning to night. In the midnight period, some local activities (a motorcycle/vehicle maintenance shop and laundry shops) affected the concentrations of certain VOCs (acetonitrile, toluene, hexane, 2-methylpentane, methyl cyclopentane and 3-methylpentane). The traffic and motor vehicles’ effects were determined, which could be useful for air quality management and strategy development in an urban area.https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/9/1015volatile organic compounds (VOCs)ozone formation potential (OFP)benzenetolueneethylbenzenexylene |
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DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Jiun-Horng Tsai Yen-Ting Lu I-I Chung Hung-Lung Chiang |
spellingShingle |
Jiun-Horng Tsai Yen-Ting Lu I-I Chung Hung-Lung Chiang Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan Atmosphere volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ozone formation potential (OFP) benzene toluene ethylbenzene xylene |
author_facet |
Jiun-Horng Tsai Yen-Ting Lu I-I Chung Hung-Lung Chiang |
author_sort |
Jiun-Horng Tsai |
title |
Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan |
title_short |
Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan |
title_full |
Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan |
title_fullStr |
Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan |
title_full_unstemmed |
Traffic-Related Airborne VOC Profiles Variation on Road Sites and Residential Area within a Microscale in Urban Area in Southern Taiwan |
title_sort |
traffic-related airborne voc profiles variation on road sites and residential area within a microscale in urban area in southern taiwan |
publisher |
MDPI AG |
series |
Atmosphere |
issn |
2073-4433 |
publishDate |
2020-09-01 |
description |
The sampling sites, including roadsides and residential areas, were set up to collect ambient air and determine the volatile organic species it contained. For the roadside air, the average VOCs (volatile organic compounds) abundant at rush hour periods was two times that at non-rush hour periods. In the residential area, the VOC concentrationswere106 and 129 ppb during rush hour periods. The VOC concentration ratios of roadside and residential areas were in the range of 1.08–1.75 and the traffic emissions were related to the VOCs abundant in air. The highest VOC concentration was 168 ppb at midnight at residential sites and the VOC abundance could be two times that of roadside sites. This level of concentration could be attributed to the application of solvents and to human activity in a nearby motorcycle/vehicle maintenance plant, laundry rooms, etc. High abundant species were similar in both the roadside and residential air samples. These highly abundant species included toluene, acetone, acetonitrile, m,p-xylene and n-pentane, all of which can be emitted from traffic exhaust. Benzene, acrolein, formaldehyde, vinyl chloride and 1,3-butadiene were the main species with health impacts collected at both sites. In the micro-scale environment, the residential ambient air was affected by traffic flow from morning to night. In the midnight period, some local activities (a motorcycle/vehicle maintenance shop and laundry shops) affected the concentrations of certain VOCs (acetonitrile, toluene, hexane, 2-methylpentane, methyl cyclopentane and 3-methylpentane). The traffic and motor vehicles’ effects were determined, which could be useful for air quality management and strategy development in an urban area. |
topic |
volatile organic compounds (VOCs) ozone formation potential (OFP) benzene toluene ethylbenzene xylene |
url |
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/11/9/1015 |
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