Nature India published science news based on urban nanoparticulate pollution
Thursday 15 September 2011
Nature India published a science news titled as ‘Deadly vehicular nanoparticles pollute cities' based on a research article ‘Preliminary estimates of nanoparticle number emissions from road vehicles in megacity Delhi and associated health impacts' which recently appeared in the journal ‘Environmental Science & Technology’. This study was led by Dr Prashant Kumar and co–authored by his Indian and UK colleagues from IIT Roorkee (India) and University of Birmingham (UK), resepctively. The full story can be seen here by completing a free online registration with nature India. A brief description of this work is summarised below.
Road vehicles emit majority of particles in the nanometre size range which can adversely affect the public health and environment. Concerns of nanoparticle emissions and their exposure is even greater in developing megacities like Delhi due to a peculiar combination of densely populated inhabitants and ever growing number of road vehicles.
For the first time, this study presented preliminary estimates of total particle number (ToN) emissions from road vehicles, models roadside and ambient ToN concentrations, and exposure related excess deaths in Delhi in current and future years in two different scenarios. Unlike other studies on similar topic, this research covered three inter–disciplinary areas (i.e. traffic emission modelling, environmental dispersion modelling and health impact assessment) in a comprehensive manner. Scope of this work was not limited to just estimating the traffic emissions or ambient concentrations but concluded with excess mortality estimates which are made for the first time for any megacity in the world. In doing so, a detailed methodology is developed so that the results can be re–produced or the similar study could be carried out for any developing (or developed) megacity where measurements and exposure to nanoparticles are rarely assessed.
The study highlighted the heavy duty vehicles as a dominant source of ToN emissions and the current nanoparticle concentration levels along the roadsides in Delhi up to 10’s of times higher than those found in European environments. Excess mortality due to nanoparticle exposure was not trivial, indicating their significant impact on public health and a need of control. The findings of this work could stimulate significant research activity, especially in developing world, to assess the future ToN emissions in megacities and accordingly design mitigation strategies for limiting their impact on public health and the environment.
Please feel free to contact Dr. Prashant Kumar for further details on this study which can also be accessed online here , or information on related research in the area of measurements and dispersion modelling of airborne nanoparticles in urban settings.