City air pollution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and other mutagens: occurrence, sources and health effects

T. Nielsen, Hans Ejsing Jørgensen, J.C. Larsen, M. Poulsen

    Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearch

    Abstract

    The presence of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), mutagens and other air pollutants was investigated in a busy street in central Copenhagen and in a park area adjacent to the street. The winter concentration of benzo(a)pyrene was 4.4+/-1.2 ng/m(3) in the street air and 1.4+/-0.6 ng/m(3) in the city park. The atmospheric concentrations of PAH decreased in the order of: street > city background air similar to suburbs > village > open land. The traffic contribution of PAH to street air was estimated to be 90% on working days and 60% during weekends and its contribution to city background air was estimated to be 40%. Four different approaches to evaluate the health effects are discussed. The direct effect of PAH air pollution, and other mutagens, is considered to be a maximum of five lung cancer cases each year out of one million people.
    Original languageEnglish
    JournalScience of the Total Environment
    Volume189/190
    Pages (from-to)41-49
    ISSN0048-9697
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1996

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