A recent publication by one of our members addresses the impact of the bus fleet and transportation infrastructure works on the air quality in Rio de Janeiro. We re-print the abstract below. Congratulations to this great work!
Abstract:
The study's objective was to determine the chemical composition and levels of PM10 and PM2.5 collected in different regions of the Metropolitan Region of Rio de Janeiro before, during, and after the Olympic Games and to apply the PMF model to identify sources. The influence of urban bus emissions on the formation of secondary inorganic aerosols was also investigated. The results showed that the average annual concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in 2016 and 2017 exceeded the WHO air quality guideline. From the PMF model, it was possible to identify four sources: vehicular, marine spray, secondary and industrial formation mixed with soil resuspension. Diesel oil, used in buses, was shown to be related to the highest concentrations of NO3-. Due to the lower sulfur content in diesel oil, SOx levels were lower than NOx.
