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Development of outdoor exposure model of traffic-related air pollution for epidemiologic research in Japan

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 23, pages 487–497 (2013)Cite this article

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Abstract

We developed an exposure estimation model for an epidemiological study on the effect of traffic-related air pollutants on respiratory diseases. The model estimates annual average outdoor concentration of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and elemental carbon (EC). The model is composed of three nested plume dispersion type submodels treating different spatial scales from a few meters to tens of kilometers. The emissions from road traffic was estimated at high spatial resolution along the paths of roads taking into account the effects of individual building shape and traffic signals to secure accuracy near trunk roads where most of the subjects of the epidemiological study resided. Model performance was confirmed by field measurements at permanent local government stations and purpose-built temporary stations; the latter supplemented roadside monitoring points and provided EC concentrations, which are not measured routinely. We infer that EC emissions were underestimated by using the available database because there were significant contributions to EC concentrations from sources that did not emit much NOx. An adjustment concentration yielded good agreement between model estimates and field measurements.

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Acknowledgements

The work was conducted as a part of the SORA project administered by the Japanese Ministry of Environment.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ehime University, Matsuyama, Ehime, Japan

    Isao Kanda

  2. National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan

    Toshimasa Ohara, Hiroshi Nitta & Kenji Tamura

  3. HAO Engineering Consultant Office, Chiba, Japan

    Taro Nataami

  4. Center for Environmental Science in Saitama, Kazo, Saitama, Japan

    Shuichi Hasegawa & Kazuhiko Sakamoto

  5. Hyogo College of Medicine, Nishinomiya, Hyogo, Japan

    Masayuki Shima

  6. Yokohama National University, Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan

    Satoshi Nakai

  7. Tokyo Metropolitan Research Institute, Koto, Tokyo, Japan

    Hisashi Yokota

Authors
  1. Isao Kanda
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  2. Toshimasa Ohara
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  3. Taro Nataami
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  4. Hiroshi Nitta
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  5. Kenji Tamura
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  7. Masayuki Shima
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  8. Satoshi Nakai
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  9. Kazuhiko Sakamoto
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  10. Hisashi Yokota
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Toshimasa Ohara.

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The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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Supplementary Information accompanies the paper on the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology website

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Kanda, I., Ohara, T., Nataami, T. et al. Development of outdoor exposure model of traffic-related air pollution for epidemiologic research in Japan. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 23, 487–497 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.29

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2013.29

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