Urban air quality: The challenge of traffic non-exhaust emissions

• Published in: Journal of hazardous materials 2014-06, Vol.275, p.31-36
• Main Authors: Amato, Fulvio, Cassee, Flemming R., Denier van der Gon, Hugo A.C., Gehrig, Robert, Gustafsson, Mats, Hafner, Wolfgang, Harrison, Roy M., Jozwicka, Magdalena, Kelly, Frank J., Moreno, Teresa, Prevot, Andre S.H., Schaap, Martijn, Sunyer, Jordi, Querol, Xavier
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 15 Road: Environment; Air Pollutants - analysis; Air Pollutants - toxicity; Air Pollution - analysis; Air Pollution - prevention & control; Applied sciences; Atmospheric pollution; Brake; Braking; Cities; Dust; Dust - analysis; Dust - prevention & control; Environmental Monitoring; Exact sciences and technology; Exposure (human); Health; Health effects; Humans; Mitigation; Models, Theoretical; Motor Vehicles; Particulate matter; Pavement; Policy; Pollution; Prevention; Road dust; Tyre; Wear
• ISSN: 0304-3894; 1873-3336; 1873-3336
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jhazmat.2014.04.053

•Only few in vivo toxicity and epidemiological studies focused specifically on non-exhaust sources.•Further experiments are needed to better separate individual contributions and health effects.•Need of understanding of the interaction between road surface texture, moisture, chemistry, dust load and dust emission.•Poor emission inventorying on resuspension and heavy metals.•The optimal mitigation strategy for each climatic region is still unknown. About 400,000 premature adult deaths attributable to air pollution occur each year in the European Region. Road transport emissions account for a significant share of this burden. While important technological improvements have been made for reducing particulate matter (PM) emissions from motor exhausts, no actions are currently in place to reduce the non-exhaust part of emissions such as those from brake wear, road wear, tyre wear and road dust resuspension. These “non-exhaust” sources contribute easily as much and often more than the tailpipe exhaust to the ambient air PM concentrations in cities, and their relative contribution to ambient PM is destined to increase in the future, posing obvious research and policy challenges. This review highlights the major and more recent research findings in four complementary fields of research and seeks to identify the current gaps in research and policy with regard to non-exhaust emissions. The objective of this article is to encourage and direct future research towards an improved understanding on the relationship between emissions, concentrations, exposure and health impact and on the effectiveness of potential remediation measures in the urban environment.