Large trucks are biggest culprits of near-road air pollution

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

A new study reveals large diesel trucks to be the greatest contributors to harmful black carbon emissions close to major roadways, indicating that vehicle types matter more than traffic volume for near-road air pollution.

For the 30 per cent of Canadians who live within 500 metres of a major roadway, a new study reveals that the type of vehicles rolling past their homes can matter more than total traffic volume in determining the amount of air pollution they breathe.

A two-year U of T Engineering study has revealed large trucks to be the greatest contributors to black carbon emissions close to major roadways. Professor Greg Evans hopes these results gets city planners and residents thinking more about the density of trucks, rather than the concentration of vehicle traffic, outside their homes, schools and daycares. The study was recently published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology.

“I’ve been asked by people, ‘We live near a high-traffic area, should we be worried?’ My response is that it’s not so much about how much traffic there is, it’s more about the percentage of trucks, older trucks in particular.”

The comprehensive study — led by Evans and collaborators at Environment and Climate Change Canada, and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks, as well as the Metro Vancouver Regional District — involved measuring vehicle emissions near roads in Vancouver and Toronto, including the 401, North America’s busiest stretch of highway.

The difference between emission levels across the sites was more correlated with the number of large trucks on the road rather than number of cars.

Researchers found that air pollution levels right beside a major trucking route within a city were close to levels seen beside Highway 401, despite the road carrying less than one-tenth of the vehicle traffic. “This was in part due to differences in wind and proximity to the road but, surprisingly, the number of vehicles didn’t make that much of a difference,” said Evans.

The data also revealed a significant drop in emissions on the 401 on the weekends, when personal vehicle traffic is still very high, but the volume of large truck traffic is low.

Research consistently links traffic emissions to negative effects on both the environment and human health. “Whether it be cancer, respiratory problems, cardiac problems or neurodegenerative problems, there are numerous adverse health effects associated with the chemicals in these emissions,” said Evans. “If we were able to reduce emission of pollutants like black carbon, we would also see an immediate climate benefit.” Black carbon — commonly called soot — is a marker for exposure to diesel exhaust which is known to have negative health effects.

Evans points out that modern trucks have made large improvements in their emissions — it’s the older diesel trucks that are the real culprits. “Those big, 18-wheeler diesel trucks last for a long time. We need to push to retrofit these old trucks with better emission treatment systems. Simply retrofitting the worse offending trucks, or getting them off the road, is a tremendous opportunity to improve air quality in our cities.”

The study will be part of a larger report in December that will stress the importance of implementing long-term monitoring of traffic related air pollution in Canada, and indicating that targeting high-emitting vehicles such as old trucks can provide a path towards improving near-road air quality.

In the meantime, Evans hopes the study gets Canadians thinking about the effects of working, playing and living near truck-related air pollution. “When a cyclist is riding near a large truck and they see a large plume of soot coming out — it’s important for them to be aware. Although shipping freight and construction by truck are critical to our economy, people need to know about the negative effects. There are ways that we can achieve a better balance.”

Story Source:

Materials provided by University of Toronto Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

via Large trucks are biggest culprits of near-road air pollution — ScienceDaily

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New Study Links Air Pollution to Dementia

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

There’s no question that air pollution is bad for your body, from lung cancer to heart disease. Even President Trump’s coal-friendly U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) admits that dirty air can increase adverse health effects and cause death.

Now, researchers from Arizona State University have determined another air pollution risk: dementia.

The new paper, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, compared fifteen years of Medicare records for 6.9 million older adults with the EPA’s air quality data. They tested whether these individuals’ onset of dementia was correlated with long-term exposure to tiny pollution particles known as PM2.5.

Indeed, the researchers found that a 1 microgram-per-cubic-meter (μg/m³) increase of PM2.5 over the course of a decade increases a person’s odds of receiving a dementia diagnosis by 1.3 percentage points.

PM2.5, which is particulate matter with a length of 2.5 microns or less, is often a cocktail of toxins from power plants, automobiles and other industrial sources.

The World Health Organization has PM2.5 guidelines of 10 μg/m³—a threshold that 95 percent of the world’s population does not meet.

The good news is that average PM2.5 concentrations have decreased in the U.S. from 13.5 μg/m³ in 2000 to 8.0 μg/m³ in 2017, thanks to the EPA’s strict air pollution regulations.

As the paper was authored by economists, they concluded that air pollution regulations have helped the U.S. save money to the tune of $150 billion since the year 2000, as Slate noted from the study.

The bad news is the Trump administration could roll back these protections. Last month, in efforts to replace the Obama-era Clean Power Plan that regulates coal plants, EPA acting administrator Andrew Wheeler released the “Affordable Clean Energy Rule,” which projects 470 and 1,400 premature deaths annually by 2030 due to increased rates of PM2.5.

Other studies have found a link between air pollution and damage to the brain. A study in May suggested that many heavy metals found in the air may make it into brain tissue, and those pollutants are activating genes that may lead to cancers or neurodegenerative disorders. Additionally, a China-based study published last month found that high levels of toxic air “is equivalent to having lost a year of education.”

via New Study Links Air Pollution to Dementia

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German court says Frankfurt must ban older diesel cars

Posted on September 6, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Frankfurt, Germany’s financial center, must ban highly-polluting, older diesel vehicles from the city center from next February as part of a plan to improve air quality, the country’s administrative court ruled on Wednesday.

The decision by the court in Wiesbaden on a case brought by environmental group Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH) came after a landmark ruling by Germany’ top administrative court in February opened the door to inner-city bans.

The ban would affect about a quarter of cars registered in Frankfurt and numerous commuters who live around the city.

DUH leader Juergen Resch said the decision would help accelerate the shift to electric cars and called on Chancellor Angela Merkel to force carmakers to pay to retrofit diesel vehicles with exhaust-cleaning systems to avoid a ban.

The regional government of Hessen also called for a speedy reaction from Berlin on retrofits, which the car industry has lobbied against because it could cost billions of euros.

“We want a fundamental solution to this problem, rather than driving bans,” state premier Volker Bouffier and Environment Minister Priska Hinz said in a joint statement.

Merkel has said she will do everything possible to avoid driving bans but disagreements over how to tackle the problem of diesel cars with high nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions have strained her coalition with the Social Democrats.

The ruling comes a day after Mercedes-Benz unveiled its much-anticipated electric SUV, marking the start of a German onslaught against Tesla’s dominance of the fast-growing market for premium battery cars.

The court ruled that Frankfurt must ban from next February diesel cars that meet Euro-4 and older emission standards, and petrol cars that meet Euro-1 and 2 standards, while Euro-5 diesels must be banned from next September.

“The driving ban is necessary because all other measures considered by the state will not lead to a significant reduction of nitrogen dioxide emissions in an appropriate time,” said presiding judge Rolf Hartmann.

The court also ordered other measures to cut pollution in Frankfurt such as more electric buses, higher parking fees and more park-and-ride places on the outskirts of the city.

DUH has argued that banning diesels is the only way for Frankfurt to meet European Union clean air rules which stipulate that nitrogen dioxide pollution should not exceed 40 micrograms per cubic meter of air on average.

“We need to understand that this is about a threat to our health,” Hartmann said in his opening remarks, adding that this was not merely a niche matter for environmentalists.

Pollution levels have regularly exceeded the limit since 2010, the court heard.

The city of Hamburg this year voluntarily blocked diesel models that fail to meet the latest Euro-6 emissions standards from using selected trunk roads. Other cities including Aachen, Duesseldorf and Stuttgart, home to Daimler and Porsche (VOWG_p.DE), are also considering bans.

The threat of bans on diesel vehicles has already led to higher sales of petrol engine cars in Germany, which are less fuel efficient and cause more carbon dioxide pollution.

This in turn makes it harder for carmakers to cut emissions of greenhouse gases, increasing pressure on them to push electric or hybrid vehicles.

via German court says Frankfurt must ban older diesel cars | Reuters

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Nine London streets in ‘ultra-low emission’ vehicle scheme

Posted on September 3, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Petrol, diesel and older hybrid cars have been banned from nine London streets in a “pioneering” scheme.

Only electric cars, the newest hybrids, hydrogen vehicles and bikes or e-bikes will be allowed during the morning and evening rush hours in London’s first “ultra-low emissions zones”.

Other drivers face fines of £130.

Residents backed the scheme in a consultation, but others have criticised it for creating “two tiers” of motoring.

The scheme has been implemented by Hackney and Islington Councils.

Councillor Claudia Webbe, of Islington Council, said: “We are proud to be leading from the front with Hackney in this pioneering scheme – the first of its kind in the UK.”

Councillor Feryal Demirci, of Hackney Council, said the move would “reduce people’s exposure to dangerous fumes and make the streets safer when people are walking and cycling to and from work and school”.

A consultation of people living near the zones was supported by 70% of those that took part.

But Amanda Stretton, motoring editor at Confused.com, described the scheme as the start of a “two-tier system of motoring – those who can afford it and those who can’t”.

She told the BBC: “Our own study has shown that many people would like to own an electric vehicle but are put off by the cost but also the lack of charging infrastructure.”

The zones will operate from 07:00 – 10:00 and 16:00 – 19:00 Monday to Friday. They will be policed using automatic number plate recognition.

The affected roads, which are all near Old Street, are:

  • Blackall Street
  • Cowper Street
  • Paul Street
  • Tabernacle Street
  • Ravey Street
  • Singer Street
  • Rivington Street
  • Willow Street
  • Charlotte Road

Local businesses and residents are exempt from the scheme.

via Nine London streets in ‘ultra-low emission’ vehicle scheme – BBC News

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Pollutionwatch: summer’s deadly wildfires cause pollution worldwide

Posted on August 31, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Widespread wildfires have taken lives and destroyed habitats as well as causing air pollution

Wildfires are spanning the northern hemisphere. Local impacts have been severe; notably the loss of habitat and life, including the tragic deaths in Greece. Smoke has caused air pollution problems in nearby cities, exposing millions of people. Moorland fires affected air pollution in Manchester. Cities on the west coast of the US and Canada, including Seattle and Vancouver, issued pollution alerts as forest fire smoke turned day into night. During a national league soccer game in Oregon players had breaks every 15 minutes and oxygen was provided for them. But the smoke spreads further. Smoke from Siberian forest fires crossed the Arctic to reach North America in July . Weather models and satellite pictures showed that smoke from North American forest fires crossed the Atlantic in the high atmosphere and reached Europe in mid-August, causing purple skies in southern Ireland.

A study in 2011 estimated that between 260,000 and 600,000 early deaths were attributable to air pollution from landscape fires each year. The annual toll normally varies with the La Niña/El Niño cycle that causes yearly variations in global weather. The effects of this year’s fires have yet to be estimated.

via Pollutionwatch: summer’s deadly wildfires cause pollution worldwide | Environment | The Guardian

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Air pollution can put a dent in solar power

Posted on August 30, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution, especially in urban areas, can significantly reduce the power output from solar panels, and needs to be considered when design solar installations in or near cities.

Ian Marius Peters, now an MIT research scientist, was working on solar energy research in Singapore in 2013 when he encountered an extraordinary cloud of pollution. The city was suddenly engulfed in a foul-smelling cloud of haze so thick that from one side of a street you couldn’t see the buildings on the other side, and the air had the acrid smell of burning. The event, triggered by forest fires in Indonesia and concentrated by unusual wind patterns, lasted two weeks, quickly causing stores to run out of face masks as citizens snapped them up to aid their breathing.

While others were addressing the public health issues of the thick air pollution, Peters’ co-worker Andre Nobre from Cleantech Energy Corp., whose field is also solar energy, wondered about what impact such hazes might have on the output of solar panels in the area. That led to a years-long project to try to quantify just how urban-based solar installations are affected by hazes, which tend to be concentrated in dense cities.

Now, the results of that research have just been published in the journal Energy & Environmental Science, and the findings show that these effects are indeed substantial. In some cases it can mean the difference between a successful solar power installation and one that ends up failing to meet expected production levels — and possibly operates at a loss.

After initially collecting data on both the amount of solar radiation reaching the ground, and the amount of particulate matter in the air as measured by other instruments, Peters worked with MIT associate professor of mechanical engineering Tonio Buonassisi and three others to find a way to calculate the amount of sunlight that was being absorbed or scattered by haze before reaching the solar panels. Finding the necessary data to determine that level of absorption proved to be surprisingly difficult.

Eventually, they were able to collect data in Delhi, India, providing measures of insolation and of pollution over a two-year period — and confirmed significant reductions in the solar-panel output. But unlike Singapore, what they found was that “in Delhi it’s constant. There’s never a day without pollution,” Peters says. There, they found the annual average level of attenuation of the solar panel output was about 12 percent.

While that might not sound like such a large amount, Peters points out that it is larger than the profit margins for some solar installations, and thus could literally be enough to make the difference between a successful project and one that fails — not only impacting that project, but also potentially causing a ripple effect by deterring others from investing in solar projects. If the size of an installation is based on expected levels of sunlight reaching the ground in that area, without considering the effects of haze, it will instead fall short of meeting its intended output and its expected revenues.

“When you’re doing project planning, if you haven’t considered air pollution, you’re going to undersize, and get a wrong estimate of your return on investment,” Peters says

After their detailed Delhi study, the team examined preliminary data from 16 other cities around the world, and found impacts ranging from 2 percent for Singapore to over 9 percent for Beijing, Dakha, Ulan Bator, and Kolkata. In addition, they looked at how the different types of solar cells — gallium arsenide, cadmium telluride, and perovskite — are affected by the hazes, because of their different spectral responses. All of them were affected even more strongly than the standard silicon panels they initially studied, with perovskite, a highly promising newer solar cell material, being affected the most (with over 17 percent attenuation in Delhi).

Many countries around the world have been moving toward greater installation of urban solar panels, with India aiming for 40 gigawatts (GW) of rooftop solar installations, while China already has 22 GW of them. Most of these are in urban areas. So the impact of these reductions in output could be quite severe, the researchers say.

In Delhi alone, the lost revenue from power generation could amount to as much as $20 million annually; for Kolkata about $16 million; and for Beijing and Shanghai it’s about $10 million annually each, the team estimates. Planned installations in Los Angeles could lose between $6 million and $9 million.

Overall, they project, the potential losses “could easily amount to hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars annually.” And if systems are under-designed because of a failure to take hazes into account, that could also affect overall system reliability, they say.

Peters says that the major health benefits related to reducing levels of air pollution should be motivation enough for nations to take strong measures, but this study “hopefully is another small piece of showing that we really should improve air quality in cities, and showing that it really matters.”

via Air pollution can put a dent in solar power — ScienceDaily

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London boroughs to impose ultra-low emission zones

Posted on August 29, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

All but the cleanest vehicles to be banned from nine streets in Islington and Hackney

Two London councils are to ban all but the cleanest vehicles from some areas at peak times to help tackle the city’s air pollution crisis.

In the UK’s first scheme of its kind, only ultra-low emission vehicles such as electric cars, e-bikes, and the newest hybrids and hydrogen vehicles will be allowed on nine streets in Hackney and Islington from 7am-10am and 4pm-7pm on weekdays.

From 3 September, drivers of petrol, diesel and older hybrid vehicles will incur a fine if they travel into the CCTV-monitored areas.

The scheme is an attempt to “reclaim the streets” from polluting vehicles and improve quality of life in an area with among the worst air quality in London.

“Failing to act on poor air quality, which causes nearly 10,000 premature deaths across London every year, is not an option, and that’s why we’re being bolder than ever in our efforts to tackle it,” said Feryal Demirci, the deputy mayor of Hackney.

“We’re thrilled to be launching our ultra-low emissions streets – the first of their kind in the UK – which will reclaim the streets from polluting petrol and diesel vehicles, and improve the area for thousands of people every day.”

Similar initiatives could become more common across the UK as awareness of the effects of poor air quality increases.

“Our ultimate goal is to reclaim the streets from polluting motor vehicles – this groundbreaking scheme is the first step towards doing that,” Demirci said in March when the scheme was announced.

The original scheme was backed by 70% of people living within 10km of the affected roads, while 56% of respondents to a more recent consultation said they were in favour.

Claudia Webbe, Islington council’s executive member for environment and transport, said: “Air pollution is a huge issue for Islington residents… and we are proud to be leading from the front to tackle this life or death issue.

“This ground-breaking proposal for ‘electric streets’ – the first of its kind in the UK – will prioritise low-pollution transport such as electric cars and cut polluting vehicles during peak hours in the streets surrounding Central Foundation Boys school in Islington – the most polluted state secondary in London.”

The ban on polluting vehicles comes as Hackney council announced plans to install around 180 electric vehicle charging points, in addition to the existing 22 across the borough, in the next year.

The ultra-low emissions streets initiative is partially funded by the mayor of London’s air quality fund and the government’s Office for Low Emission Vehicles.

via London boroughs to impose ultra-low emission zones | Environment | The Guardian

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Air pollution is making us dumber, study shows

Posted on August 28, 2018 by Respro® UK Ltd

Air pollution could be more damaging to our health than previously thought, according to a new study, which found that prolonged exposure to dirty air has a significant impact on our cognitive abilities, especially in older men.

According to the study published Tuesday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, breathing polluted air causes a “steep reduction in verbal and math tests scores.”
Researchers at the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) examined data from the national China Family Panel Studies longitudinal survey, mapping the cognitive test scores of nearly 32,000 people between 2010 and 2014 against their exposure to short and long-term air pollution.

Researchers found that both verbal and math scores “decreased with increasing cumulative air pollution exposure,” with the decline in verbal scores being particularly pronounced among older, less educated men.

“The damage air pollution has on ageing brains likely imposes substantial health and economic cost, considering that cognitive functioning is critical for the elderly to both running daily errands and making high-stakes economic decisions,” study author Xiaobo Zhang of Peking University said.

Cognitive decline or impairment, which could be caused by air pollution according to the study, are also potential risk factors in developing Alzheimer’s disease or other forms of dementia.

Poor hardest hit

While the study adds to the already numerous health concerns regarding air pollution, it will be of particular concern to developing nations, whose smoggy cities could be hampering national economic development.

“The damage on cognitive ability by air pollution also likely impedes the development of human capital. Therefore, a narrow focus on the negative effect on health may underestimate the total cost of air pollution,” Zhang said. “Our findings on the damaging effect of air pollution on cognition imply that the indirect effect of pollution on social welfare could be much larger than previously thought.”

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), nine out of every 10 people on the planet breathe air containing a high level of pollutants, with the worst affected regions being Africa and Asia.

Of the world’s top 20 most polluted cities, as measured by the WHO, all are in developing countries. Almost all cities in low to middle-income countries with more than a million residents fail to meet minimum WHO guidelines.
City dwellers aren’t the only ones breathing in smog either, a study in January found that 75% of deaths related to air pollution in India were in rural areas.

While some countries, including China, are taking measures to address air pollution, this will also potentially effect economic growth.

Meanwhile, the wealthiest city dwellers are able to buy their way out of smog.

In Beijing, the rich are specially designing their homes and buying appliances to filter out pollutants in their air and water, while poorer residents are stuck breathing in the unfiltered smog, affecting not only their health but also, according to the new study, their cognitive abilities.

via Air pollution is making us dumber, study shows – CNN

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