title: An investigation on the physical, chemical and ecotoxicological characteristics of particulate matter emitted from light-duty vehicles.
abstract: Particulate matter (PM) emitted from three light-duty vehicles was studied in terms of its physicochemical and ecotoxicological character using Microtox bioassay tests. A diesel vehicle equipped with an oxidation catalyst emitted PM which consisted of carbon species at over 97%. PM from a diesel vehicle with a particle filter (DPF) consisted of almost equal amounts of carbon species and ions, while a gasoline vehicle emitted PM consisting of approximately 90% carbon and approximately 10% ions. Both the DPF and the gasoline vehicles produced a distinct nucleation mode at 120 km/h. The PM emitted from the DPF and the gasoline vehicles was less ecotoxic than that of conventional diesel, but not in direct proportion to the emission levels of the different vehicles. These results indicate that PM emission reductions are not equally translated into ecotoxicity reductions, implying some deficiencies on the actual environmental impact of emission control technologies and regulations.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Applied Thermodynamics, Aristotle University, Thessaloniki 54124, Greece.
authors.forename: Elias
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vouitsis
authors.forename: Leonidas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ntziachristos
authors.forename: Panayiotis
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pistikopoulos
authors.forename: Zissis
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Samaras
authors.forename: Loukia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chrysikou
authors.forename: Constantini
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Samara
authors.forename: Chrysi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Papadimitriou
authors.forename: Petros
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Samaras
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sakellaropoulos
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D048908:Aliivibrio fischeri / Q000187:drug effects; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D008956:Models, Chemical; D018986:Motor Vehicles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000633:toxicity; D018675:Toxicity Tests; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis* / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D001335:Vehicle Emissions