Comparison of charged nanoparticle concentrations near busy roads and overhead high-voltage power lines.
Overhead high-voltage power lines are known sources of corona ions. These ions rapidly attach to aerosols to form charged particles in the environment. Although the effect of ions and charged particles on human health is largely unknown, much attention has focused on the increasing exposure as a result of the expanding power network in urban residential areas. However, it is not widely known that a large number of charged particles in urban environments originate from motor vehicle emissions. In this study, for the first time, we compare the concentrations of charged nanoparticles near busy roads and overhead power lines. We show that large concentrations of both positive and negative charged nanoparticles are present near busy roadways and that these concentrations commonly exceed those under high-voltage power lines. We estimate that the concentration of charged nanoparticles found near two freeways carrying around 120 vehicles per minute exceeded the corresponding maximum concentrations under two corona-emitting overhead power lines by as much as a factor of 5. The difference was most pronounced when a significant fraction of traffic consisted of heavy-duty diesel vehicles which typically have high particle and charge emission rates.
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
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Jayaratne
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia.
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Ling
International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Institute for Health and Biomedical Innovation, Queensland University of Technology, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane, QLD 4001, Australia. Electronic address: l.morawska@qut.edu.au.
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Morawska
D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D000397:Air Pollution / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004560:Electricity; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D053758:Nanoparticles; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis
D000393:Air Pollutants; D052638:Particulate Matter; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
Charged particle; Dispersion; Ion; Pollution; Power line; Vehicle emission