VEHICULAR EMISSION EXPOSURE OF BICYCLE COMMUTERS IN THE URBAN AREA OFGUANGZHOU, SOUTH CHINA (PRC)

Guangzhou is a major city in South China and is at the forefront of ec onomic reform since 1978. The population of Guangzhou is rapidly incre asing and most people either walk or cycle to and froM Work. These com muters are highly vulnerable to vehicular emissions. An indirect appro ach was adopted to estimate vehicular emission exposure to Guangzhou b icycle commuters. Four bus routes were selected as typical commuting r outes. Concentrations of NO(x) and CO as well as traffic volume, vehic le speed, ground-level wind speed, and direction were measured at moni toring points set up along the routes of typical street links passing through areas of various land uses. CO and NO(x) were recognized to be two major vehicular emission pollutants. The average CO exposure leve ls of Guangzhou bicycle commuters ranged from 3.7 muL/L to 8.2 muL/L. Few CO samples exceeded the Chinese national assessment standard. No a dverse effect on health was expected. The average NO. exposure levels of Guangzhou bicycle commuters ranged from 0.13 muL/L to 0.26 muL/L. M ore than half of the NO(x) samples exceeded the Chinese national asses sment standard. Adverse effects on the health of bicycle commuters mig ht result. Other factors such as street configurations and land uses w ere also analyzed.