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Characterization of gaseous pollutants and PM2.5 at fixed roadsides and along

vehicle traveling routes in Bangkok Metropolitan Region

Article  in  Atmospheric Environment · October 2013

DOI: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.001

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Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685

Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect

Atmospheric Environment
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/atmosenv

Characterization of gaseous pollutants and PM2.5 at fixed roadsides

and along vehicle traveling routes in Bangkok Metropolitan Region
N.T. Kim Oanh a, *, J. Kongpran a, N.T. Hang a, P. Parkpian a, N.T.Q. Hung b,1, S.-B. Lee b,
G.-N. Bae b
a
Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Pathumthani, Thailand
b
Center for Environment, Health and Welfare Research, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul, South Korea

h i g h l i g h t s

PM2.5 and BTEX were measured at 2 sites across a congested road and free highway.

Both roads had comparatively high roadside PM2.5 during dry season.

BTEX were higher in the urban congested road.

SPSS confirmed multivariate relationships between pollution and traffic flows.

On-route levels of PM2.5 and BTEX were higher in the congested urban route.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Traffic is a major source of air pollution in urban areas of developing countries that leads to high
Received 26 March 2013 exposure risk of urban dwellers. This study comparatively investigated levels of fine particles (PM2.5),
Received in revised form SO2, NO2, and BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes) at fixed roadsides and on traveling
30 May 2013
routes in congested urban and less congested suburban areas of Bangkok in 2010. The roadside air quality
Accepted 1 June 2013
monitoring was done at two opposite sites across the selected roads. The traffic counting was made
simultaneously in these roads and hourly flows of 8 different vehicle types were determined. Roadside
Keywords:
PM2.5 levels during dry season were high in both the city center and suburban area, significantly above
BTEX
PM2.5
the wet season, with 65e75% measurements exceeded 24 h Thailand ambient air quality standard of
On-route 50 mg m3. Oppositely, roadside BTEX levels measured in the city center during wet season were higher
Roadside than dry season and well above those in suburban area. Diurnal variations and the results of SPSS
Bangkok (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences) analysis showed associations between roadside pollutants
Pathumthani levels and hourly traffic flows. The differences in pollution levels between 2 monitoring sites across a
road were explained by road configurations and prevalent wind directions. On-route pollution levels
were measured simultaneously both inside and outside selected vehicles (van, pickup), and on motor-
cycle. The on-route PM2.5 levels along the urban route were higher during the dry season than wet
season. PM2.5 levels inside the vehicles were lower than outside whereas the opposite was observed for
BTEX. BTEX were higher on more congested urban sub-routes with lower vehicle speeds. Higher
pollution levels suggest a high risk of exposure.
Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction pollution problems in Thailand, especially in urban areas. Bangkok,

Air pollution associated with traffic emission is a major problem
in many Asian developing cities. Likewise, rapid industrialization,
urbanization and motorization have brought about serious air
* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: kimoanh@ait.ac.th (N.T. Kim Oanh).
1
Current address: Faculty of Environment and Resources, Nonglam University,
Hochiminh City, Viet Nam.
the capital city of Thailand, had a total number of vehicles regis-
tered in 2011 of 6.8 million (Department of Land Transport (DLT),
2012). A steady growth in number of vehicles, at a rate of 5% per
year during the recent years (DLT, 2012), is disproportional to the
increase in the road surface area, hence leads to frequent conges-
tions with generally low average vehicle speeds, 20e40 km h1
(Vilaiphorn, 2010). The vehicle fleet in the city consists of a wide
range of year models and technologies (Kim Oanh et al., 2010).
Emission control measures are not strongly enforced for old

1352-2310/$ e see front matter Ó 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.001
 Author's personal copy
N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685
vehicles and inadequate inspection allows dirty vehicles to remain
in use. In particular, emission measurements suggest a considerable
portion of super emitters in the fleet that had a large emission per
unit of fuel mass consumed (Subramanian et al., 2009).
Large amount of air pollution is released from the vehicle fleet,
especially fine particulate matter (PM2.5, particles with aero-
dynamic diameter less than 2.5 mm) and a range of toxic gases
including volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Particulate matter
(PM) especially PM2.5 has long known to be toxic to human health
(Pope III et al., 2009). PM can also affect the atmosphere and climate
(Bond et al., 2013). PM remains a problem in many cities in Thailand
especially at roadsides. The available data show high levels of PM2.5
in ambient air in the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, BMR (Kim Oanh
et al., 2006; Thailand-SOP, 2010; Thailand-SOP, 2011). Traffic related
VOCs may be emitted directly from vehicle exhaust (unburned or
partially burned hydrocarbons), and evaporative from the vehicle
fuel system and fuel refilling stations. Specifically, the group of
benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylenes, collectively known as
BTEX, are the most monitored among the VOCs in Asian developing
countries, partly because of their high levels in ambient air as well
as their relatively low cost of sampling and analysis.
Several studies conducted at the Asian Institute of Technology
(AIT) report high levels measured at roadsides in Southeast Asian
(SEA) cities, with hourly average ranged from dozen to hundreds
mg m3 in Hanoi (Truc and Kim Oanh, 2007) and Ho Chi Minh city
(Giang, 2008). In Thailand, VOCs are considered as an important
issue both in urban and in industrial areas. The ambient VOCs have
been regulated since 2007 with annual air quality standards
established for 9 compounds (PCD, 2008). Benzene was the most
problematic which had the annual average in 2006 ranged between
1.6 and 5.1 mg m3, i.e. mostly above the Thailand annual standard
of 1.7 mg m3 and the levels observed in Bangkok were higher than
the Maptapud industrial estate. Benzene levels also exceeded the
annual standard in most BMR monitoring stations in 2010
(Thailand-SOP, 2010) and 2011 (Thailand-SOP, 2011), and the levels
in 2011 were higher than the previous years, which indicates the
important contributions of urban sources.
People living in crowded urban areas and commuters on urban
roads are likely exposed to higher pollution levels. There is yet a
comprehensive characterization of the pollution, especially for
PM2.5, that commuters are exposed when traveling in different
transport means in BMR. This study was a part of a collaboration
project between AIT and the Korea Institute of Science and Tech-
nology (KIST) which aimed to compare the air pollution between
Bangkok and Seoul. This paper reports mass concentration of PM2.5
and gaseous pollutants along selected traveling routes (on-route)
and at fixed roadsides in BMR. Monitoring was conducted in 2
areas, the Bangkok city center and Pathumthani, an adjacent
province to the North of the Bangkok city, in 2010.
2. Methodology
2.1. Monitoring design
Monitoring in the Bangkok city was done for both wet and dry
season: 7 days at roadside and 5 days on-route during the wet
season (JuneJul) 2010, and 8 days at roadside and 4 days on-route
in dry season (Dec 2010). In Pathumthani, monitoring was done
only in the dry season, 9 days at roadside (24 Dec 2010 to 1 Jan
2011) and 4 days on-route (Dec 2010) as detailed in Table S1,
Supplementary information (SI).
2.1.1. Roadside monitoring locations and traffic recording
Dingdaeng road, running across the crowded inner Bangkok city
circle (Fig.S1, SI) with high traffic density and congestions, was
675
selected to represent the city center conditions. Two opposite sites
across this road (22 m width, 7 lanes) were selected, one was on the
roof-top of an automatic continuous roadside air monitoring sta-
tion operated by the Pollution Control Department (PCD site) and
the other was located in a school yard, across the road (school site).
The roadside monitoring for Phaholyothin was done in the subur-
ban area of Pathumthani, also at two sites across the road, the AIT
site (on the same side as AIT campus) and the opposite site. It was
an open flow part of the highway with 10 lanes embedded in 58 m
road width. This national highway connects Bangkok to Northern
and Northeastern parts of Thailand and has relatively high density
of vehicles, especially for transporting goods.
The measurement heights for all pollutants were selected to be
approximately 3 m above the ground. To avoid the mixing zone
effects, all the sites were located well beyond 3 m away from
traveling lanes (Berkowicz et al., 1997), i.e. at distances of 5e8 m in
Dingdaeng, and 8e13 m in Phaholyothin.
Simultaneously, a video camera was used to record the traffic
flows at the monitoring locations. The vehicles were counted af-
terward and classified into 8 categories, namely, private passenger
car, pickup, taxi, van, motorcycle, three-wheeler or ‘tuk-tuk’, truck
and bus.
2.1.2. Selection of traveling routes
The urban route (41.5 km long) was running inside the Bangkok
city (Fig.S1, SI) and was divided into 3 sub-routes. Sub-route 1
(23 km) had less traffic congestion because it was running through
a large green park (Chatuchak) and 2/3 of its length was made of
toll ways. Sub-route 2 (9 km) passing the most traffic congested
part of the city while sub-route 3 (9.5 km) represented a moderate
traffic congested part of Bangkok. The suburban route (55 km) was
a round trip between AIT and the Donmueang International Airport
(Fig.S1, SI). It was entirely along the Phaholyothin highway and was
not divided into sub-routes.
On-route monitoring was done while traveling in a diesel pow-
ered van, an LPG pickup, and on a gasoline powered motorcycle
(detail given in Table S1, SI). These vehicles were running on the
selected routes in the common traffic flow. Three traveling rounds
were made on each monitoring day. The morning round started at
around 6:00e6:30 and covered the morning rush hours, the noon
round started at around 11:30 and covered the less traffic jam hours
while the evening round started at 16:00 and covered evening rush
hours. On average, for the urban route, a noon round took about 1.5 h,
morning and evening rounds took 2e3 h or more depending on
traffic congestion. For the suburban route, a round took about 1 h.
Measurements were done for both inside and outside vehicle.
The inside van measurement of BTEX was done with the sampling
equipment attached to a seat behind the driver (left-hand driving)
with the air conditioner (A/C) off and the adjacent window was half
way open (photos shown in Fig. S2, SI). Simultaneously, the outside
van measurements were made with the sampling inlet attached on
the door outside the vehicle, pointing opposite to the vehicle mo-
tion. For the pickup, the inside measurements were done in the
closed cabin with A/C on and varying ventilation air intake ratios
(indicator scale of 0%, 10%, 50%, and 100%). The outside pickup
measurements were done in the open back wagon attached to the
cabin on one side, having a roof, but the other sides were mostly
open (photo in Fig. S2, SI). The measurements for motorcycle were
made with the equipment placed in a back-pack carried by the
driver. When on-route monitoring was done simultaneously with
more than one type of vehicles, they were kept running at a few
meters apart from each other, but this was not always possible
especially on the congested urban route. The diesel powered van
was kept running behind other monitored vehicles to avoid po-
tential cross pollution from the van exhaust.
 Author's personal copy
676 N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685
2.2. Sampling and laboratory analysis
2.2.1. PM2.5
For roadside monitoring, Airmetrics Mini-vol portable air samplers
with a PM2.5 inlet were used. The sampling flow rate was 5 L min1.
Two samplers were co-located to collect samples on both Teflon
(for mass quantification) and quartz filters at each roadside. Sampling
period at Dingdaeng was 24 h while that at Phaholyothin roadside was
either 12 h (6:00e18:00 for 2 days, 12:00e24:00 for 1 day) or 8 h
(6:00e14:00, 14:00e22:00, 22:00e6:00, for the rest 8 days).
For on-route sampling, a Personal Environmental Monitor
(PEM) was used. PEM has an impactor for PM2.5 collection on Teflon
filters at a flow rate of 2 L min1 which was previously reported in
Klinmalee et al. (2009). On each monitoring day three (3) PM
samples were obtained for 3 traveling rounds (morning, noon and
evening) on a selected route.
The pumping flow rates were calibrated before sampling and
were checked again at the end of each monitoring period. The mass
quantification was performed on the Teflon filters using a micro-
balance at controlled temperature and moisture conditions which
were the same as presented in Kim Oanh et al. (2009).
2.2.2. BTEX
The BTEX sampling was done using Method 1501 of the National
Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH, 2003). The
sorbent tubes, SKC-coconut shell charcoal tubes with the diameter
of 6 mm and length of 70 mm, were used. A pumping constant flow
rate of 0.18 L min1 was used for 1 h sampling at the fixed roadside
sites. For urban on-route sampling, the tubes were changed at the
end of each urban sub-route to characterize BTEX levels on three
different sub-routes. The sampling time period then depended on
the distance and vehicle speed on a particular sub-route which in
turns depended on the time of the day (morning, noon, evening) as
mentioned above. For the suburban on-route sampling, one BTEX
sample was taken over the entire route (round trip from AIT to
Donmueang airport) which was about 1 h.
The samples were extracted and analyzed at AIT following the
method given in NIOSH (2003). Detail on the equipment and
method is previously presented in Truc and Kim Oanh (2007).
Briefly, after sampling the tube was desorbed in 1 mL carbon di-
sulfide and allowed to stand with occasional shaking for 30 min.
The sample extract was analyzed using a gas chromatograph
equipped with a flame ionization detector (GCeFID) and a capillary
column (chrompack 50 m  0.25 mm ID  0.12 mm film thickness),
2 mL per injection. The oven temperature was set initially at 40  C
for 3 min and was then raised to 88  C at a rate of 8  C min1. Both
the auxiliary and detector temperatures were set at 250  C.
Benzene contamination in the carbon disulfide solvent was
removed before it was used for sample extraction using concen-
trated sulfuric acid and nitric acid (OSHA, 1980). Further, with the
purpose of checking for possible cross contamination, 4 trip blanks
were made during roadside and on-route sampling. Laboratory
blanks were also analyzed, about one tube blank for every 20
samples. The blank samples were handled and analyzed in the
same way as the actual samples. There was no other BTEX detected
in blanks except for benzene which probably still remained in the
solvent (CS2) even after the cleaning up. The analytical results were
all corrected for this benzene content. Additionally, 69 sampled
tubes collected during rush hours, when the BTEX levels were likely
the highest, were checked for the potential breakthrough of the
VOCs by separately analyzing the front and back-up parts of the
adsorbent. (Each SKC tube has two adsorbent sections, front/main
and back-up). The NIOSH (2003) criterion (for the breakthrough to
be considered to have occurred) is Wb > 0.1Wf, where Wf and Wb
are the weights of the analytes found in the front and back
adsorbent sections, respectively. Accordingly, no breakthrough had
occurred in our samples. More detail on QA/QC samples is pre-
sented in Table S2, SI.
The mixed standard of BTEX (Fluka manufacturer) was used for
quantification of the compounds. The calibration curves were
prepared using 5 data points and the R2 values of above 0.99 were
obtained for all BTEX species. The method could not separate m-
xylene and p-xylene; therefore these two compounds were quan-
tified together. The minimum detectable quantity of the method
ranged between 0.2 ng and 0.3 ng for the BTEX compounds. The
precision, ratio between the standard deviation and the average
value based on repeated injections of each sample, is in the range
from 8 to 13% for BTEX (Truc and Kim Oanh, 2007; Klinmalee et al.,
2009).
2.2.3. NO2 and SO2
These gases were measured only at the Phaholyothin roadside.
In Dingdaeng, data recorded at the PCD automatic monitoring
station were used. NO2 was sampled using tubes of SKC-Molecular
sieve (Triethanolamine-impregnated molecular sieve, TEA-IMS).
The samples were analyzed following the OSHA (1991) method.
Accordingly, the sampled tubes were desorbed using a 1.5% Trie-
thanolamine (TEA) solution and the resultant nitrite (NO 2 ) was
quantified by ion chromatography (IC) then NO2 was calculated
(Klinmalee et al., 2009). For SO2 sampling, SKC-Anasorb 747 tubes
contained impregnated activated beaded carbon, were used. The
samples were analyzed following the OSHA (1992) method, i.e. SO2
was desorbed in 15 mM sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution con-
taining 0.3 N (z1%) H2O2 and the resultant SO2
4 were analyzed by
IC then SO2 was calculated.
Each SO2 or NO2 sample was collected over 2 h, using a cali-
brated pump at a flow rate of 0.5 L min1. One trip blank for each
pollutant (NO2 and SO2) and reagent blanks were analyzed which
showed that all blanks contained non-detectable levels of the
analytes. The standard curves for NO2 and SO2 quantifications were
prepared using the standard solutions of nitrite and sulfate ions,
respectively, with 6 data points, and the R2 were all above 0.99.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Traffic density and composition
Totally, a traffic record of 32 h in the wet season and 92 h in the
dry season was obtained at Dingdaeng, and 56 h at Phaholyothin,
simultaneously with the air pollution monitoring at the roadsides.
The diurnal patterns of traffic flow in 2 roads are presented in
Fig. 1a and b, respectively. In Dingdaeng, during daytime in both
seasons, the traffic density was higher on weekdays, average
7500e8300 vehicles h1, as compared to weekend, about
6000 vehicles h1 (Table 1). Traffic jams were observed in this road
during the morning peak hours, 7:00e8:00, when the density
reached above 10,000 vehicles h1 (Fig. 1a). The vehicle density
remained high throughout the day until 18:00 and reduced after-
ward. On weekend the morning peak was delayed and appeared at
8:00e9:00. In this road the average speed of vehicles was around
25 km h1 during non-rush hours. During rush hours, when traffic
jams were commonly observed, the average speed was below
15 km h1. The traffic patterns and volume were quite similar in
both seasons considering the ranges obtained for the dry season (5-
weekday average and 3 weekend day average) that overlapped with
the daily data collected in the wet season. However, more traffic
jams were actually observed when raining which actually
happened every morning of the wet season monitoring period.
The total traffic flow on the large highway of Phaholyothin was
higher than in Dingdaeng, reaching above 12,000 vehicles h1
 Author's personal copy

N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685 677

Hourly traffic, vehicle h-1

Hourly traffic, vehicle h-1

Time of the day, h

Fig. 1. Diurnal patterns of hourly traffic volume at Dingdaeng (a) and Phaholyothin road.

(Fig. 1b) but there were no noticeable rush hour peaks and basically
no heavy traffic jams were observed. The monitoring period in this
road, 27 Dec 2010 to 1 Jan 2011, covered the New Year Holidays and
a higher traffic density caused some traffic jams before the New
Year (29e30 Dec) whereas lower traffic density was recorded
during the holidays, 31 Dece1 Jan 2011 (Fig. 1b). The average
vehicle speed on this road was above 60 km h1 but dropped to
below 40 km h1 when traffic jams occurred.
The difference in the traffic compositions and speeds in two
roads was important because it would subsequently affect the
emission and the levels of measured pollutants at the roadsides.
The fleet in Dingdaeng (Table 1), in both seasons, was dominated by
private car (30e33%), motorcycle (18e25%), taxi (18e25%) and
pickup (13e19%) while truck and bus had a share of 1e3% each and
tuk-tuk had the smallest share, below 1%. A higher share of
motorcycle was observed on weekdays, a higher share of taxi was
on weekend while the shares of other vehicle types did not vary
much during a week. At Phaholyothin, the fleet was dominated by
private car (30e43%) and pickup (32e37%). As compared to normal
working weekdays, during the New Year Holidays a relatively
higher share of private car was observed which was compensated
by lower shares of pickup and truck.

Table 1
Traffic fleet composition, %, in two selected roads during monitoring periods (average and 1 SD).

Vehicle type Dingdaeng road, 2010 Phaholyothin road, 2010e2011

29 Jun (Tue., 3 Jul (Sat., 4e11 Dec, (5 weekdays, 4e11 Dec 27e30 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2010e1 Jan 2011
wet season) wet season) dry season) (weekend, 3 days) (0:00e24:00, weekdays) (6:00e22:00, holidays)

Private car 29.8  5.3 30.6  3.1 33.6  6.1 33.5  4.3 30.9  5.9 43.1  6.8
Pickup 16.7  2.4 19.4  2.8 13.2  3.2 13.1  3.3 37.0  4.2 32.2  4.9
Taxi 19.2  3.9 22.2  3.7 18.6  4.5 24.7  3.9 7.0  1.5 7.4  1.2
Van 3.5  0.6 3.6  0.5 4.2  0.9 4.0  0.7 7.3  1.5 7.2  1.6
Motorcycle 25.5  4.5 18.3  2.9 25.3  5.5 18.5  2.8 6.8  1.4 5.5  1.6
Tuk-tuk 0.6  0.3 0.8  0.3 0.5  0.2 0.7  0.4 0.0  0.0 0.0  0.0
Truck 1.8  1.6 2.2  0.8 1.7  1.3 2.1  1.2 5.1  3.8 1.3  0.5
Bus 2.9  0.5 3.0  0.4 3.0  0.6 3.4  0.7 3.4  1.2 3.4  1.2
Traffic volume, 7526  1012 6377  709 8286  2334 6095  975 8001  3854 8904  1744
vehicle h1
 Author's personal copy

678 N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685

The statistics of fuel used in registered vehicles in BMR in 2010

(4.4e41)
(2.3e43)
(2.3e43)
(DLT, 2012) show that gasoline was used in majority of motorcycles

(0e15)

(0e10)
(99.9%) and private cars (64.6%) while tuk-tuk mainly used LPG/
CNG (72%). The dual fuel (gasoline and LPG/CNG) was used in

SO2 (ppb)

3.4  3.0

1.9  2.0

17  9.8
18  11
18  10
majority of taxi (95.5%) and in a significant portion (26%) of tuk-tuk.
Majority of pickup and van fleet (92.4%), truck (92.2%) and bus

e
e

e
e
(61%) were still diesel powered. About 14% of the bus fleet used
LPG/CNG and 24% was on dual fuel (diesel and CNG). Using these

(25e112)
statistics to match with the observed shares in the vehicle fleet

(2.3e39)
(4.8e57)
(2.3e57)
(25e65)
revealed that at Dingdaeng during the monitoring period the gas-
oline fueled vehicles were dominant with a share of about 43%,

Note: Concentrations in mg m3 are given at 25  C and 1 atm, NO2 and SO2 data on Dingdaeng road were extracted from PCD monitoring data for the same monitoring period, (e) no data.
NO2 (ppb)

35  10

57  19

17  7.7
20  12
18  9.8
followed by diesel fueled vehicle (30%) and dual fueled vehicle
(CNG/LPG with gasoline or diesel) of about 25%. On the contrary, in

e
e

e
e
Phaholyothin, the diesel fueled vehicles were dominant, followed
by gasoline fueled and dual fueled vehicles, with 54%, 31%, and 14%

(2.8e35)
(2.1e23)
(2.1e35)

(0.7e14)
(1.2e20)

(0.7e20)
(1.3e13)
(0.7e13)
(0.7e13)
share, respectively.

3.2. Roadside air pollution levels

X (mg m3)

4.8
4.2
4.7

2.5
3.5

3.1
2.7
2.8
2.7











3.2.1. PM2.5

12
9.5
11

6.0
5.8

5.9
3.4
3.8
3.7
The total number of PM2.5 samples simultaneously collected on
both roadsides at Dingdaeng was 30 (24 h sampling) and that at

(0.4e8.8)
(0.5e6.3)

(0.4e8.8)
(0.4e7.0)
(0.4e7.8)
(0.4e7.8)
Phaholyothin was 22 (12 h and 8 h sampling). A summary of PM2.5

(1.6e13)
(1.4e18)
(1.4e18)
levels along the roads is included in Table 2. At Dingdaeng, the
average concentration over the wet season monitoring period was

E (mg m3)
30 mg m3 at the PCD side, higher than that (21 mg m3) at the

2.0
2.7
2.3

1.2
1.2

1.2
1.6
1.8
1.7











school side. The concentrations during the dry season were

4.4
4.4
4.4

2.4
2.1

2.3
2.4
2.2
2.3
significantly above the wet season, i.e. 61 and 52 mg m3 at the two
sites, respectively. Higher PM levels in dry seasons than wet sea-
sons have always been reported for BMR (Kim Oanh et al., 2006;
(9.8e91)
(1.5e60)
(1.5e91)

(0.7e40)
(1.8e50)

(0.7e50)
(1.3e67)
(2.2e66)
(1.3e67)
Pongkiatkul and Kim Oanh, 2007) that are consistent with typical
meteorological conditions (less wet removal, lower mixing height,
33  12

30  13
17  10
17  7.2
27.4  13.5

17  8.8
13.2  13.5
14.7  13.9
13.9  13.6
potential long-range transport contribution), more intensive
T (mg m3)

photochemistry, as well as additional emission sources (biomass

open burning) in the dry season. The 24 h PM2.5 levels observed at
roadsides during the dry season in both roads frequently exceeded
the 24 h PM2.5 ambient air quality standard of Thailand (50 mg m3),
Roadside air pollutant concentrations, average value and 1 SD with the range is given in brackets.

i.e. 75% of the measurements in Dingdaeng and 66% of the mea-

(1.2e29)
(0.5e17)
(0.5e29)

(0.1e15)
(1.2e18)

(0.1e18)
(0.6e15)
(0.6e13)
(0.6e15)

surements (converted to 24 h averaged) in Phaholyothin.

PM2.5 concentrations at the PCD site in Dingdaeng road were
B (mg m3)

4.6
3.7
4.5

2.6
3.2

2.9
3.4
2.8
3.1

consistently higher than the school site in both seasons (Fig. S3, SI).












The Dingdaeng road is a semi-street canyon road with the PCD side
11
7.8
9.7

7.1
6.7

6.9
5.5
5.2
5.3

bounded by buildings of 4e5 storey (about 15 m height) while the

school side was an open school yard extended to about 10 m from
the outmost traffic lane. The mean wind directions during the wet
(24e102)
(16e103)
(16e103)
(25e36)
(16e27)
(16e36)

(34e66)
(38e76)

(34e76)

season were mostly from the southesouthwest sector (Fig. S4, SI)
PM2.5 (mg m3)

and the average speed was 0.6 m s1. With the orientation of NWe
SE of this road (Fig.S1, SI), the PCD side is the leeward when SW
30  5
21  3
25  6

52  11
61  14

57  13
57  28
50  28
53  27

wind prevails in the wet season. This should bring in a higher

contribution from the road traffic emission to the PCD site that
explained the higher measured PM2.5 levels. During the dry season
the winds, around 1 m s1, were mainly blowing from the east and
Side of road

School side

School side
Both side

Both side

Opp. side
Both side

the north (Fig. S4, SI), i.e. more parallel to the road than the wet
PCD side

PCD side

AIT side

season hence less difference in PM2.5 levels between two roadsides

was expected. Although the PCD side was more likely windward in
the dry season higher PM2.5 levels than the school site were still
observed. The direct influence of the traffic emission at the bus stop
Season

in front of the PCD site and other intensive human activities,

Wet

Dry

Dry

including cooking by nearby food vendors observed at this side

were likely the cause of the higher PM2.5 levels at this side all year
round.
Phaholyothin
Dingdaeng

In Phaholyothin, the PM sampling time was 8 h or 12 h hence

the range of the PM2.5 may not be strictly comparable to 24 h
Table 2

Road

averaged levels measured in Dingdaeng because these shorter

averaging periods would yield higher maximum values. However,
 Author's personal copy
N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685
the average levels over the monitoring period should be compa-
rable (to Dingdaeng) because 2 consecutive 12 h samples per day
and 3 consecutive 8 h samples per day etc. would be equivalent to a
24 h sample. The Phaholyothin roadside levels of PM2.5 were
generally similar to that in Dingdaeng. The average level at the AIT
side was slightly higher than the opposite side but the ranges for
both sides were overlapped. The similar levels of PM2.5 observed at
both roadsides may be explained by the open air flow in this road,
its NeS orientation (Fig. S1, SI), the equal prevalence of westerly
and easterly winds directions (Fig. S4, SI), and low wind speeds
(0.4 m s1). More detail day-to-day analysis shows that the
downwind site was always observed with higher PM2.5 pollution
(Fig. 2). Note that in this sampling area there were no other sig-
nificant sources of air pollution in vicinity hence the traffic should
be the main contributors to the roadside pollution levels. Fig. 2
plots the PM2.5 levels together with the hourly flow of heavy duty
diesel vehicles (truck and bus), which could be considered as the
main source of PM2.5 at the location. There was a certain association
between PM2.5 levels and the hourly flow of heavy diesel vehicles.
Accordingly, higher PM2.5 was observed when higher density of
diesel vehicles in the road except for two nighttime observations
(22:00 to 6:00 am next day). The remarkably high PM2.5 levels
during nighttime may be the effects of shallower mixing depths as
compared to better dispersion during daytime. A larger number of
data points are still required for in depth analysis.
3.2.2. BTEX
During the monitoring period, there were totally 380 hourly
BTEX samples collected from fixed sites in Dingdaeng and 110
samples at Phaholyothin roadsides. The average levels during the
monitoring period are shown in Table 2. The benzene levels
observed at Dingdaeng over our shorter sampling periods were
higher but still in the same range of the PCD monitoring results
which show the annual average of 5.2 mg m3 in 2010 and
6.3 mg m3 in 2011 (Thailand-SOP, 2010, 2011).
Overall, average BTEX levels obtained in this study were lower
than those reported in other cities in the world over the past 10
years. For example, average benzene levels in different cities in the
world were 30e123 mg m3, compiled by Truc and Kim Oanh
(2007), which were higher than the averaged values of 5e
11 mg m3 in our studied roads. Note that the maximum hourly
average of benzene of 29 mg m3 was observed in Dingdaeng which
always had the highest benzene levels among the available moni-
toring sites in Thailand (Thailand-SOP, 2011). The BTEX concen-
trations measured about 2 m away from a 12-lane road in a street
Fig. 2. PM2.5 concentration presented with share (%) of heavy-duty diesel powered truck and bus in the total traffic flow in Phaholyothin, time periods of the day are also indicated.
679
canyon in Daegu city, Korea, covering all 4 seasons in 1999e2000,
were about 1.5 times lower than our average benzene results but
about 2 times higher for other compounds (Kim et al., 2002). Lower
levels of BTEX obtained in this study for BMR may be a result of the
recent progressive implementation of the Euro standards for the
vehicles fleet and improvements in fuel quality, such as lowering
the aromatic content (Warapetcharayut et al., 2007).
The diurnal variations of BTEX (Fig. 3a and b) were consistent to
the patterns of hourly traffic density (Fig. 1a and b). At Dingdaeng
there was not much fluctuation during a day but the highest BTEX
levels were still observed during morning rush hours (6:00e8:00)
and some small peaks were also observed during evening rush
hours, 18:00e20:00. At Phaholyothin, more remarkable peaks were
found in the morning rush hours, 6:00e9:00, and in the evening
rush hours, 16:00e19:00. In this road the total traffic flow did not
clearly show evening peaks (Fig. 1b) hence higher BTEX levels may
also be related to other factors, such as the traffic composition and
less removal by photochemistry in the evening, which need further
investigation.
Between 2 sides of the Dingdaeng road, during the wet season,
higher levels were generally observed at the PCD side than the
school side. During the dry season, the levels were more or less the
same between two sides considering the average values and the
ranges. This may be explained by the air flow patterns in this semi-
street canyon in relation to the main wind directions similar to the
discussion for PM2.5 above. For Phaholyothin, similar to PM2.5,
there was no significant difference in BTEX levels observed be-
tween two roadsides due to the same reasons given above for
PM2.5.
At Dingdaeng, during the wet season higher BTEX levels were
observed and with clearer diurnal variations than the dry season,
which was opposite to PM2.5. The difference in the seasonal varia-
tions between the 2 groups of pollutants could be related to the
differences in contributing sources, removal processes and chem-
istry. Although both measured pollutant groups at the roadsides
should be largely originated from traffic, the wet removal by rain in
the wet season, for example, is expected to be more effective for
PM2.5 than VOCs. Less photochemical activity during wet season in
BMR (Zhang and Kim Oanh, 2002) would result in less VOCs
consumed in photochemical reactions. In fact, traffic in Dingdaeng
had similar hourly flows (Fig. 1a) and compositions (Table 1) in both
seasons. Higher levels of BTEX during the wet season may also be
caused by lower wind speeds and slower traffic movement espe-
cially when rainy. Light rain was observed every morning during
the wet season monitoring period which caused heavy traffic jams
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680 N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685

around the monitoring sites. Consequently, the stop-and-go mode
of vehicles on this road contributed significantly to the BTEX levels
measured at the sites which were also higher than the levels
recorded in the free flow Phaholyothin (Table 2) despite the larger
traffic volume in the latter (Fig. 1a and b). In addition, better
dispersion conditions should be expected in the open Phaholyothin
highway than in the semi-street canyon of Dingdaeng. Regarding
the traffic composition, more gasoline powered vehicles were
running on Dingdaeng than the Phaholyothin highway (Table 1)
which may contribute more to BTEX than the diesel-powered ve-
hicles (Schauer et al., 1999, 2002).
3.2.3. NO2 and SO2
Total of 72 samples of each pollutant were collected during the
dry season monitoring period at the Phaholyothin roadside and the
results are summarized in Table 2. The method used cannot mea-
sure NO hence only NO2 results are hereby reported. The 2 h levels
of NO2 varied within 2e39 ppb, averaged at 17 ppb, on the AIT side
and 5e57 ppb, averaged at 20 ppb, at the opposite side. The ranges
of 2 h SO2 were 4e41 ppb, averaged at 17 ppb, for the AIT site and
2e43 ppb, averaged at 18 ppb, at the opposite site.
Diurnal variations generally show higher concentrations at
Phaholyothin roadsides during evening hours, 17:00e19:00 (Fig. S5,
SI). The higher shares of diesel powered buses and trucks at
nighttime suggested their higher relative contributions to the
roadside air pollution. Likewise, the highest SO2 levels were found
on 29e30 Dec 2010 at both roadsides which may be caused by a
higher number of diesel vehicles (pickup, van, bus and truck)
observed before the New Year Holidays. Note that there were no
other significant NOx and SOx sources observed around this

Fig. 3. a) Diurnal variation of hourly BTEX levels at Dingdaeng roadside. b) Diurnal variation of BTEX at Phaholyothin roadside (blank cells are for not detected values).
 Author's personal copy

N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685 681

b
Benzene, µg m -3
Toluene, µg m -3
Ethylb. µg m -3
Xylenes, µg m -3

Time of the day, h

Fig. 3. (continued)

location hence traffic should be the main contributors to the
measured roadside pollution levels.
As compared to the averaged levels measured at the PCD station
in Dingdaeng, the SO2 levels at Phaholyothin road were higher
while the NO2 levels were lower (Table 2). Larger shares and den-
sity of diesel vehicles observed on Phaholyothin (Table 1) may be a
reason for the high SO2 levels. The sulfur content in diesel in
Thailand during the monitoring period was regulated at 350 ppm
(ESMAP, 2008). Higher NO2 levels at Dingdaeng in the dry season
compared to the wet season (Table 2) may be caused by several
factors, for example a higher photochemical intensity, less wet
removal, and potential regional transport during the dry season
under the influence of the northeast monsoon.
3.2.4. Relationship between pollutant levels and traffic flows
The SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences), Version 16,
was used to reveal multivariate relationships between the levels of
different pollutants and traffic (flow and composition) in both
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682 N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685

roads. The data set for Dingdaeng included the hourly measure- (averaged for both sides), and NO2, SO2 (averaged for both sides)
ments of BTEX (averaged for both sides of the road), hourly flow of and hourly flow of each vehicle type. No hourly PM data were
each vehicle type, hourly measurements obtained at the PCD sta- available for the analysis. Three PC were extracted which collec-
tion for NO, NOx, SO2, CO and PM10 (at PCD side) for dry and wet tively explained 81% of the total variance. PC1 (43%) shows strong
season, respectively. Note that at the PCD station the gases were associations between all vehicle types which rather indicate their
measured using online automatic analyzers while hourly PM10 was similar diurnal variation patterns. Exceptional was for the truck
measured using a tapered element oscillating microbalance fleet that had a different pattern with a higher share at nighttime
(TEOM). During wet season, 4 principal components (PC) were because in Bangkok heavy trucks are allowed on the roads only
extracted from the Dingdaeng data set which collectively explained after 21:00. Bus and motorcycle have high loadings in PC2 (25%) for
76% of the total variance in the original data set (Table 3). PC1 which SO2 and BTEX had the highest loadings (Table 3), suggesting
(explaining 26% of the total variance) shows high loadings (above that these vehicles were contributing sources of the pollutants. PC3
0.4) of pollutants (ranked in the descending order: NO, BTEX, CO, (13%) shows the association between truck and NO2. However, the
SO2, NO2, and PM10) and the traffic flow of motorcycle, van and bus. association of NO2 with the truck flow both in Dingdaeng and
PC2 (24%) also confirms a rather strong association between BTEX Phaholyothin may be also linked to the fact that at nighttime higher
and vehicle types (personal car, motorcycles bus, pickup and van). NO2 was observed in BMR due to less photochemistry and more
PC3 (15%) confirms the association between NO2 and taxi and truck, stable atmosphere.
whereas PC4 (11%) shows the association between SO2 and PM10
and pickup, tuk-tuk and truck. High loadings of a particular vehicle 3.3. On-route pollution levels
type and a pollutant on a PC indicate that the pollutant may be
potentially released from this vehicle type. However, if several 3.3.1. On-route PM2.5
vehicle types have similar diurnal variations in the street they may On-route PM2.5 was monitored in the city center (wet and dry
together have high loadings on a PC. For example, tuk-tuk in BMR in season) and suburban area (dry season) yielded 34 and 24 samples,
principle use clean fuels (72% LPG/CNG, 26% dual fuel, 0% diesel) respectively. The on-route PM2.5 concentration in city center during
hence should not expect to be the source of SO2 and PM10 (PC4). wet season was 35  4 (ranged: 31e38) mg m3 for the inside van (a
However, the diurnal variations (hourly flows) of tuk-tuk appeared window half open) whereas higher levels with larger fluctuations
similar to pickup hence they are shown in one PC. In its turn, pickup were observed outside the van along the route, 41  20 (ranged:
and also truck, with over 90% diesel fueled, are expected to be the 21e71) mg m3 (Fig. 4). During the dry season, the PM2.5 concen-
major sources of SO2 and PM10 which explains their high loadings tration inside the van (47  16 mg m3) was higher than the wet
in PC4. The SPSS analysis for the dry season data set did not reveal season. In the closed cabin of the pickup, the PM2.5, averaged for all
any clear association between traffic flow and BTEX, which may be fresh air intake rates while air condition (A/C) was on, was 23  15
attributed to high background pollution levels contributed by other (13e40) mg m3 which was the lowest among the levels measured
sources hence the results are not discussed here. on the urban route (Fig. 4). This may be attributed to the PM
For Phaholyothin, the data set generated in this study for the dry removal by the pickup cabin A/C ventilation system. More free air
season was used which consisted of hourly measurements of BTEX flows in the open back wagon of the pickup could minimize the
accumulation of pollutants while passing polluted parts of the ur-
ban route hence would result in lower levels than those measured
inside van with an open window. Note that the pickup used LPG
Table 3 hence its exhaust was not expected to contribute PM to the samples
Loadings of variables on selected principal components for Dingdaeng and Phaho-
taken in the open back wagon.
lyothin roadside data sets (SPSS for normalized variables with Varimax).
In suburban area, the on-route PM2.5 concentration during dry
Variables Principal component (PC) season was 14  12 (ranged: 3e34) mg m3 in the pickup cabin
1 2 3 4 which was lower than the levels in the open back wagon of 44  13
Dingdaeng roadside, wet season (4 PC) (ranged: 29e73) mg m3 thus also showed the effects of the A/C
Private car .101 .779 .321 .049 filtration. Higher levels of PM2.5 were observed in the open back
Taxi .019 .086 .840 .260 wagon and on the motorcycle and were comparable to the urban
Motorcycle .553 .722 .009 .112 route. This is consistent to the findings for the fixed roadsides with
Tuk tuk .024 .008 .546 .440
Truck .368 .397 .486 .421
comparably high PM2.5 measured in both roads in the dry season
Bus .388 .513 .167 .108 (Table 2).
CO .674 .574 .212 .053
NO .702 .629 .039 .256 3.3.2. On-route BTEX
SO2 .641 .058 .283 .500
A summary of on-route BTEX levels, averaged for 3 rounds in
PM10 .472 .380 .367 .587
Pickup .077 .568 .207 .619 each monitoring day, is presented in Table 4. On-route urban (wet
Van .547 .596 .237 .002 and dry season) and suburban BTEX sampling (dry season) yielded
BTEX .701 .458 .008 .076 186 and 30 samples, respectively. The results are highlighted in
NO2 .632 .098 .678 .096 Fig. 5. Noted that the ratios of B, T, E, X, respectively, to total BTEX
Phaholyothin roadside, dry season (3 PC)
Private car .794 .342 .125
for all cases were quite similar which suggests the similar pre-
Pickup .921 .092 .255 dominant contributing sources to the measured levels, i.e. the
Taxi .971 .128 .003 traffic, consistently to the SPSS results above. The difference be-
Van .921 .004 .170 tween the levels measured inside and outside the van while trav-
Motorbike .852 .336 .180
eling on the urban route was not large and largely overlapped. The
Truck .133 .105 .859
Bus .395 .841 .149 highest levels were observed during the dry season in both the van
NO2 .081 .165 .652 and pickup cabin, which reflects general higher background
SO2 .249 .893 .120 pollution levels in BMR, due to, for example, more open burning
BTEX .159 .827 .101 sources and more stagnant air. The levels measured while traveling
Note: Values considered significant are bolded. on the urban route were significantly higher than those on the
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N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685 683

PM2.5 , µg m -3

Fig. 4. On-road levels of PM2.5 during the monitoring periods, 2010.

suburban route which also consistent to the BTEX roadside moni-
toring data presented above with higher levels observed in the city
center.
When simultaneous BTEX measurements were made inside and
outside a vehicle the inside levels were always higher than those
measured outside. For the outside van monitoring one could expect
certain aerodynamic effects on pumping flow rates which may
possibly affect the measurements. However, for the sampling in
pickup back wagon this effect would be minimum as the sampling
inlet was placed in the middle of the wagon under a roof (Fig. S2,
SI). Thus, the higher BTEX levels inside vehicles may be linked to
the trapping/circulating of polluted air inside, evaporation of fuel,
and human bio-effluents (2e3 persons were present in a vehicle).
Note that the difference in the BTEX levels between inside and
outside vehicle monitoring was opposite to that for PM2.5 pre-
sented above which was partly because the filtration by the A/C
ventilation system could be more effective for removal of PM than
VOCs. The BTEX levels measured while traveling by a motorcycle on
the suburban route were comparable to the levels inside the closed
cabin but higher than those in the pickup open back wagon. The
samples may be directly affected by the exhaust emission from the
motorcycle itself.
Further, the BTEX levels are also presented for each urban sub-
route (Table 4). Sub-route 1 running mainly along toll ways with
the least traffic jams hence the vehicle speeds were the highest
(41  14 km h1 for van, wet season), sub-route 2 passing through
the most traffic congestion part hence had the lowest vehicle
speeds (22  11 km h1), and sub-route 3 passing through a
moderate traffic congestion part hence had the middle range of
vehicle speeds (27  20 km h1). The BTEX were the highest on
the most congested sub-route 2 and lowest on the least congested
sub-route 1 (Table 4). Note that the average vehicle speeds on the
urban route were generally in the same range in both seasons and
were significantly below the vehicle speeds on the suburban
route of 53  6 km h1. Our intention was to keep all monitored
vehicles on a route at the same speed however it was easier to
achieve that on the suburban route than on the congested urban
route.
The BTEX levels measured along the urban route during the dry
season were higher than the wet season which was opposite to that
at the fixed roadsides discussed above. This may be attributed to
the predominant contribution of the fresh emission from vehicles
to the roadside BTEX. Meantime, the on-route pollution levels may
be affected by other sources and processes that determine the

Table 4
Summary of on-road air pollutant levels in mg m3, average and SD (in brackets is the range).

Route Vehicle Sub-routeb (speed, km h1) B T E X

Urban route, In-Van Sub-route 1 (41  14) 11  3.7 (5.4e17) 35  16 (18e52) 5.5  1.6 (3.0e7.8) 18  7.6 (9.3e39)
wet season (open window) Sub-route 2 (22  11) 20  8.3 (10e38) 70  28 (32e119) 10  3.8 (5.1e17) 39  18 (19e82)
Sub-route 3 (27  22) 17  4.9 (8.2e26) 57  26 (15e96) 10  5.5 (3.6e22) 35  20 (7.7e75)
Route whole (30 ± 14) 14 ± 4.4 47 ± 16 6.9 ± 2.6 25 ± 11
Out-Van Sub-route 1 13  5.2 (5.0e23) 32  8.7 (15e42) 5.3  2.1 (2.8e12) 14  4.4 (5.7e21)
Sub-route 2 20  7.7 (11e36) 50  20 (24e88) 7.1  2.2 (3.1e11) 23  10 (8.2e39)
Sub-route 3 16  7.5 (7.0e31) 41  22 (14e88) 8.1  5.4 (2.5e20) 19  11 (5.7e38)
Route whole 15 ± 4.4 38 ± 13 5.7 ± 2.2 17 ± 6.5
Urban route, In-Van Sub-route 1 (36  12) 23  14 (5.8e58) 76  48 (19e198) 9.2  5.3 (2.2e20) 29  19 (7.4e74)
dry season (open window) Sub-route 2 (20  6.6) 31  18 (14e70) 101  62 (41e229) 10  6.7 (4.4e24) 37  26 (16e96)
Sub-route 3 (31  11) 31  9.4 (18e45) 90  36 (43e148) 9.5  3.7 (3.6e18) 31  13 (16e64)
Route whole (30 ± 6.9) 26 ± 11 84 ± 41 9.4 ± 4.8 31 ± 16
In-Pickupa Sub-route 1 (35  8.3) 16  5.3 (9.2e26) 50  18 (22e71) 5.3  1.7 (2.4e7.7) 15  5.4 (7.2e23)
(closed cabin) Sub-route 2 (17  8.7) 36  22 (12e85) 103  59 (41e224) 9.3  5.2 (4.0e18) 31  19 (12e65)
Sub-route 3 (27  15) 33  15 (7.2e53) 91  45 (16e150) 8.6  4.3 (1.6e15) 28  15 (3.7e51)
Route whole (26 ± 10) 24 ± 9.0 71 ± 28 6.9 ± 2.5 22 ± 8.8
Out-Pickup Sub-route 1 11  2.9 (5.9e16) 27  8.9 (13e41) 3.2  1.0 (2.0e4.8) 9.7  3.9 (5.0e15)
(back wagon) Sub-route 2 16  5.8 (9.0e29) 46  23 (21e83) 5.2  2.3 (2.6e10) 16  10 (5.6e38)
Sub-route 3 18  6.4 (8.5e29) 40  17 (19e86) 4.9  1.7 (3.0e8.6) 14  7.3 (6.9e33)
Route whole 13 ± 3.0 33 ± 11 3.4 ± 1.4 12 ± 4.6
Suburban route, In-Pickupa Route (53  5.5) 14  5.5 (8.9e26) 33  13 (17e65) 3.5  1.0 (2.1e5.2) 8.9  2.9 (3.3e14)
dry season (closed cabin)
Out-Pickup Route (53  5.5) 4.9  1.6 (1.9e7.0) 9.1  3.1 (5.1e16) NDe1.7 2.8  0.9 (1.6e3.9)
(back wagon)
Motorcycle Route (51  5.5) 15  4.0 (11e20) 39  12 (18e49) 4.5  1.4 (2.0e5.8) 14  5.0 (6.2e19)
(backseat)
a
For pickup cabin the door was closed and values are the average over all air intake ratios (0%, 25%, 50% and 100%).
b
Route whole is weighted average against the distances of sub-routes, the average vehicle speeds on the route are in parentheses.
 Author's personal copy
684 N.T. Kim Oanh et al. / Atmospheric Environment 77 (2013) 674e685
Fig. 5. On-road levels of BTEX during the monitoring periods, 2010.
background air pollution levels. In particular, intensive agricultural
residue field burning activity in the dry season in the surrounding
areas of BMR may contribute significantly to the background BTEX
(and PM2.5) levels. Levels of the pollutants measured along the
traveling routes can be further used to assess the exposure risk for
commuters in different transport means in BMR.
4. Conclusions
Roadside levels of 24 h PM2.5 were high and frequently excee-
ded the Thailand 24 h PM2.5 standards in the dry season while no
such exceedance was recorded in the wet season. The period
(weekly) average roadside PM2.5 levels measured in suburban area
along the free flow Phaholyothin highway were comparable with
those recorded in the congested urban road of Dingdaeng passing
the city center. Roadside BTEX levels in the congested urban road
in the wet season, when heavy traffic jams observed on every rainy
day, were higher than the dry season, and also well above the
levels measured along the suburban highway. Higher levels of
BTEX and PM2.5 measured on the leeward side of Dingdaeng dur-
ing the wet season showed the direct influence of fresh road traffic
emission although contributions of other human activities nearby
were also important. For the open flow highway, there was no
significant difference in the average pollution levels between the
two opposite sides that were explained by the road orientation
(NeS) and the equal prevalence of easterly and westerly wind
directions.
Diurnal variation of roadside BTEX levels reflected the diurnal
vehicle flows in both roads with more pronounced peaks during the
morning rush hours and less pronounced peaks during evening
rush hours. The PM2.5, NO2 and SO2 diurnal levels measured at the
highway roadside were found to vary with the density of the large
diesel vehicle fleet observed in this road. The multivariate re-
lationships between the roadside pollutant levels and the volume
of different vehicle types in the roads were confirmed by SPSS
results.
BTEX levels on the urban route were higher at lower average
vehicle speeds that in turn indicated the link to the traffic
congestion. PM2.5 and BTEX levels measured simultaneously inside
and outside a vehicle while traveling on the urban route were
significantly higher than those measured on the suburban route.
PM removal by A/C filtration probably resulted in lower PM2.5 levels
measured inside the closed pickup cabin than those outside, and
this was opposite to the observed BTEX trend. Higher BTEX levels
recorded inside a closed vehicle may indicate that A/C filtration was
not effective for BTEX removal while other factors could also lead to
BTEX build-up including human bio-effluents and circulation of the
trapped polluted air. Commuters along the congested urban roads
would be exposed more to air pollution than those in free flow
highway in suburban area. Commuters in closed vehicles with A/C
on may have exposed to lower PM2.5 but higher BTEX than those in
open vehicles. Motorcycle riders may be exposed to high levels of
both PM2.5 and BTEX. Further studies should aim to assess the
health risk due to exposure to air pollution while commuting in
urban areas.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to acknowledge the partial funding
provided by the collaboration project between AIT and KIST
(2E22181) and Institutional Program of KIST (2E23951). Special
thanks go to the Pollution Control Department (PCD) and the Thai
Meteorological Department for providing the air quality and
meteorology data that were used in this research, and to the or-
ganizations that supported electricity and places for our sampling
activities. Finally we would like to thank the drivers for their
cooperation and supports during the on-route sampling.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data related to this article can be found at http://
dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.001.
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Supplementary Information

Table S1. Monitoring Schedule and Parameters

Time/ Parameter
Season City Center, Bangkok Suburban area, Phathumthani
Roadside On-road Roadside On-road
Wet 28 Jun-4 Jul 7-11 Jul 2010
Season 2010 PM2.5, BTEX
PM2.5, BTEX, Diesel van (Toyota, 14
Traffic - -
seat-passenger, 4 years
old), inside and outside
measurements
Dry 4-11 Dec 2010 12-15 Dec 2010 24 Dec 10-1 Jan 18-21 Dec 10
Season PM2.5, BTEX, PM2.5, BTEX 11 PM2.5, BTEX
Traffic Diesel van, inside PM2.5, BTEX, LPG Pickup (inside
measurement, LPG Pickup NO2, SO2, cabin, and in wagon
(Mitsubishi, Strada, 2800 Traffic outside);
cc, 7 years), measurements on Motorcycle
inside cabin, and in wagon (gasoline, Honda,
outside Wave, 125 cc, 6
years)
Table S2. Detail of QA/QC samples

Blank Wet season Dry season

Bangkok Bangkok Phatumthani

Roadside On-route Roadside On-route Roadside On-route

Trip blank - - 1 tube 1 tube 1 tube 1 tube (inside

(inside pick up)
van)
Lab blanks One blank per every 20 samples
Break Daily, Daily (7 8 days x 2 4 days x 2 9 days x 2 4 days (pick up)
through each site days), 7 sites = 16 vehicles sites = 18 = 4 tubes
7 days x tubes tubes (van and tubes 2 days
2 sites = pick up) = (motorcycle) = 2
14 tubes 8 tubes tubes
 N N

N N

Figure S1. Roadside sampling sites and urban monitoring route in Bangkok city center and
suburban area of Pathumthani
 In-van Out-van

Out-pickup on the back wagon

In-pickup cabin

Figure S2. Photos showing the monitoring equipment inside and outside selected vehicles
Figure S3. 24 h PM2.5 levels at Dingdaeng roadside
Dingdaeng, wet season Dingdaeng, dry season Phaholyothin, dry season
(28 Jul-4 Jun 2010) (4-11 Dec 2010) (24 Dec 10-1 Jan 2011)

Fig S4. Windrose during monitoring period at 2 roads

 80
AIT site Opp. site

60
NO2 (ppb)

40

20

0
6-8

5-7
7-9

6-8

4-6

7-9

4-6

7-9

4-6
9-11

8-10
16-18

11-13
13-15
15-17
17-19
12-14
14-16
16-18
18-20
20-22
22-24

10-12
22-24

14-16
17-19

11-13
22-24

14-16
17-19
20-22

11-13
22-24

14-16
17-19
20-22
24 Dec 25 Dec 2010 26 Dec 2010 27 Dec 2010 28 Dec 2010 29 Dec 2010 30 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2010 1 Jan 2011
2010

Time

60
AIT site Opp. site

45
SO2 (ppb)

30

15

0
6-8

5-7
7-9

6-8

4-6

7-9

4-6

7-9

4-6
9-11

8-10
16-18

11-13
13-15
15-17
17-19
12-14
14-16
16-18
18-20
20-22
22-24

10-12
22-24

14-16
17-19

11-13
22-24

14-16
17-19
20-22

11-13
22-24

14-16
17-19
20-22
24 Dec 25 Dec 2010 26 Dec 2010 27 Dec 2010 28 Dec 2010 29 Dec 2010 30 Dec 2010 31 Dec 2010 1 Jan 2011
2010

Time

Fig S5. Diurnal variation of NO2 and SO2 levels at Phaholyonthin road during monitoring
period

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