Exposure to particulate matter and gaseous pollutants during cabcommuting in Nur-Sultan city of Kazakhstan

Özet

Exposure to particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide inside a car during commuting weredetermined during the period October–November 2017 in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan. We choose to followfive busroutes (#10, 18, 19, 37 and 53) that cover the majority of the city's area. CO (ppm), CO2(ppm) and PM1,PM2.5,PM4, and PM10mass concentration (μg/m3) were measured in this study. PM1was found to be the largestfraction of all sizes of PM. The mean PM1concentrations along the forward (backward) paths for each of thefivebus routes were measured as 11 ± 14 (11 ± 7), 14 ± 8 (16 ± 6), 25 ± 11 (21 ± 14), 23 ± 8 (15 ± 6)and 76 ± 26 (99 ± 55)μg/m3, respectively. Average CO concentrations amongfive bus routes (#10, 18, 19,37 and 53) along the forward (backward) paths were 0.67 ± 0.16 (0.78 ± 0.17), 0.7 ± 0.16 (0.53 ± 0.32),1.04 ± 0.01 (2.3 ± 0.95), 2.67 ± 1.3 (2.03 ± 0.41), 3.54 ± 3.57 (2.17 ± 0.37) ppm. The mean PM1/PM2.5and PM2.5/PM10ratios were 0.96 and 0.91, respectively. Nur-Sultan could be an example for those citiesthat are under major developments and candidates to be green cities by showing the exposures to atmosphericpollutants across the city. Those cities that are developing themselves as tourist attractions should create maps ofPM exposures along major urban routes, and route traffic to exclude tourist areas from being hotspots.