IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i13p2433-d246728.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Case Study of Pregnant Women in South Texas

Author

Listed:
  • Mohammad Hashem Askariyeh

    (Environment and Air Quality Division, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, 1111 RELLIS Parkway, Suite 3401, Bryan, TX 77807, USA
    Zachry Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Texas A&M University, 201 Dwight Look Engineering Building, College Station, TX 77843, USA)

  • Suriya Vallamsundar

    (Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, 12700 Park Central Dr, Suite 1000, Dallas TX 75251, USA)

  • Josias Zietsman

    (Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, 1111 RELLIS Parkway, Suite 3401, Bryan, TX 77807, USA)

  • Tara Ramani

    (Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy and Health, Texas A&M Transportation Institute, 1111 RELLIS Parkway, Suite 3401, Bryan, TX 77807, USA)

Abstract

Population groups vulnerable to adverse effects of traffic-related air pollution correspond to children, pregnant women and elderly. Despite these effects, literature is limited in terms of studies focusing on these groups and a reason often cited is the limited information on their mobility important for exposure assessment. The current study presents a method for assessing individual-level exposure to traffic-related air pollution by integrating mobility patterns tracked by global positioning system (GPS) devices with dynamics of air pollutant concentrations. The study is based on a pool of 17 pregnant women residing in Hidalgo County, Texas. The traffic-related particulate matter with diameter of less than 2.5 micrometer (PM 2.5 ) emissions and air pollutant concentrations are predicted using MOVES and AERMOD models, respectively. The daily average traffic-related PM 2.5 concentration was found to be 0.32 µg/m 3 , with the highest concentration observed in transit (0.56 µg/m 3 ), followed by indoors (0.29 µg/m 3 ), and outdoor (0.26 µg/m 3 ) microenvironment. The obtained exposure levels exhibited considerable variation between time periods, with higher levels during peak commuting periods, close to the US–Mexico border region and lower levels observed during midday periods. The study also assessed if there is any difference between traffic-related dynamic exposure, based on time-varying mobility patterns, and static exposure, based solely on residential locations, and found a difference of 9%, which could be attributed to the participants’ activity patterns being focused mostly indoors.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Hashem Askariyeh & Suriya Vallamsundar & Josias Zietsman & Tara Ramani, 2019. "Assessment of Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Case Study of Pregnant Women in South Texas," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-19, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:13:p:2433-:d:246728
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/13/2433/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/13/2433/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marianne Hatzopoulou & Jiang Hao & Eric Miller, 2011. "Simulating the impacts of household travel on greenhouse gas emissions, urban air quality, and population exposure," Transportation, Springer, vol. 38(6), pages 871-887, November.
    2. Lixin Li & Xiaolu Zhou & Marc Kalo & Reinhard Piltner, 2016. "Spatiotemporal Interpolation Methods for the Application of Estimating Population Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter in the Contiguous U.S. and a Real-Time Web Application," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Louis de Mesnard, 2013. "Pollution models and inverse distance weighting: some critical remarks," Post-Print hal-00778417, HAL.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mohammad Hashem Askariyeh & Madhusudhan Venugopal & Haneen Khreis & Andrew Birt & Josias Zietsman, 2020. "Near-Road Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Resuspended PM 2.5 from Highways and Arterials," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-11, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Seo, Youngguk & Kim, Seong-Min, 2013. "Estimation of greenhouse gas emissions from road traffic: A case study in Korea," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 777-787.
    2. Qingxu Huang & Dawn C Parker & Tatiana Filatova & Shipeng Sun, 2014. "A Review of Urban Residential Choice Models Using Agent-Based Modeling," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 41(4), pages 661-689, August.
    3. Lixin Li & Xiaolu Zhou & Marc Kalo & Reinhard Piltner, 2016. "Spatiotemporal Interpolation Methods for the Application of Estimating Population Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter in the Contiguous U.S. and a Real-Time Web Application," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-20, July.
    4. Dawei Li & Cheng Li & Tomio Miwa & Takayuki Morikawa, 2019. "An Exploration of Factors Affecting Drivers’ Daily Fuel Consumption Efficiencies Considering Multi-Level Random Effects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-13, January.
    5. George E. Halkos & Dimitra C. Kitsou, 2018. "Weighted location differential tax in environmental problems," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 20(1), pages 1-15, January.
    6. Julia Rechlitz & Luis Sarmiento & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2020. "Make Sure the Kids are OK: Indirect Effects of Ground-Level Ozone on Well-Being," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1877, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    7. Luis Sarmiento, 2020. "Waiting for My Sentence: Air Pollution and the Productivity of Court Rulings," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1878, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. Luis Sarmiento, 2022. "Air pollution and the productivity of high‐skill labor: evidence from court hearings," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 124(1), pages 301-332, January.
    9. Heinrichs, Heidi & Jochem, Patrick & Fichtner, Wolf, 2014. "Including road transport in the EU ETS (European Emissions Trading System): A model-based analysis of the German electricity and transport sector," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 708-720.
    10. Guimbeau, Amanda & Ji, Xinde James & Long, Zi & Menon, Nidhiya, 2023. "Ocean Salinity, Early-Life Health, and Adaptation," IZA Discussion Papers 16463, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Li, Zhouyuan & Liu, Xuehua & Ma, Tianxiao & Kejia, De & Zhou, Qingping & Yao, Bingquan & Niu, Tianlin, 2013. "Retrieval of the surface evapotranspiration patterns in the alpine grassland–wetland ecosystem applying SEBAL model in the source region of the Yellow River, China," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 270(C), pages 64-75.
    12. Yang, Yuan & Wang, Can & Liu, Wenling & Zhou, Peng, 2017. "Microsimulation of low carbon urban transport policies in Beijing," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 561-572.
    13. Daniel Dunea & Stefania Iordache & Alin Pohoata, 2016. "Fine Particulate Matter in Urban Environments: A Trigger of Respiratory Symptoms in Sensitive Children," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-18, December.
    14. Moshe Givoni & Eda Beyazit & Yoram Shiftan, 2016. "The use of state-of-the-art transport models by policymakers – beauty in simplicity?," Planning Theory & Practice, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(3), pages 385-404, July.
    15. Yichao Xu & Zhiqiang Jiang & Yi Liu & Li Zhang & Jiahao Yang & Hairun Shu, 2023. "An Adaptive Ensemble Framework for Flood Forecasting and Its Application in a Small Watershed Using Distinct Rainfall Interpolation Methods," Water Resources Management: An International Journal, Published for the European Water Resources Association (EWRA), Springer;European Water Resources Association (EWRA), vol. 37(5), pages 2195-2219, March.
    16. Lixin Li & Travis Losser & Charles Yorke & Reinhard Piltner, 2014. "Fast Inverse Distance Weighting-Based Spatiotemporal Interpolation: A Web-Based Application of Interpolating Daily Fine Particulate Matter PM 2.5 in the Contiguous U.S. Using Parallel Programming and ," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-41, September.
    17. Ifaei, Pouya & Farid, Alireza & Yoo, ChangKyoo, 2018. "An optimal renewable energy management strategy with and without hydropower using a factor weighted multi-criteria decision making analysis and nation-wide big data - Case study in Iran," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 357-372.
    18. João Soares & Bruno Canizes & Cristina Lobo & Zita Vale & Hugo Morais, 2012. "Electric Vehicle Scenario Simulator Tool for Smart Grid Operators," Energies, MDPI, vol. 5(6), pages 1-19, June.
    19. Guimbeau, Amanda & Ji, Xinde & Menon, Nidhiya & Long, Zi, 2022. "An Extra Grain of Salt: The Effect of Salinity Exposure on Early Life Health Outcomes in Coastal Bangladesh," 2022 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Anaheim, California 322076, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    20. Hualong Yang & Xuefei Ma & Yuwei Xing, 2017. "Trends in CO 2 Emissions from China-Oriented International Marine Transportation Activities and Policy Implications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-17, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:13:p:2433-:d:246728. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.