Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472

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

Air quality impacts of the low emission zone policy in Haifa

Dmitry Tartakovsky a, *, Levana Kordova – Biezuner b, Ella Berlin c, David M. Broday d
a
Shalhevet Information Systems Ltd, Rishon Lezion, Israel
b
Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, Air Quality and Climate Change Division, Israeli Air Monitoring Network, Israel
c
Haifa Bay Municipal Association for Environmental Protection, Israel
d
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

H I G H L I G H T S

� Performance of the implementation of the low emission zone in Haifa was studied.
� Statistically significant reduction of BC and NOX concentrations was observed.
� NOX reduction was more pronounced while BC reduction was less than formerly reported.
� The measures taken to reduce air pollution in Haifa were successful.

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study analyzes the performance of the first year of implementation of the low emission zone policy in Haifa
Black carbon (February 2018–January 2019), looking at its effects on ambient black carbon, NOX and particulate matter
Low emission zone concentrations. Statistically significant reduction of black carbon and NOX concentrations, and a decline in the
Nitrogen oxides
black carbon fraction in PM1 was observed at the Atzmaut monitoring station, suggesting that the measures taken
Particulate matter
Traffic related air pollution
to reduce air pollution as part of the Haifa low emission zone were successful. Regarding NOX concentrations, the
reported results for Haifa after the first year of the low emission zone policy (12.9%) are better than those
previously reported in Western Europe (mostly 0–7%). As for black carbon, the concentration reduction (10.6%)
is less than that reported in Western Europe (mostly 14–60%). Yet, traffic volumes in general and, the fraction of
diesel vehicles in the total fleet in particular, differ considerably among different cities. Comparison of trends of
black carbon and NOX showed good correlations on both daily (0.96) and half-hourly (0.92) basis. Trends of
black carbon, benzene, PM2.5 and PM1 agreed relatively nicely on a daily basis (correlation coefficients of 0.84,
0.52 and 0.54, respectively) but only partially on a half-hourly basis (correlation coefficients of 0.52, 0.31 and
0.37, respectively). Thus, in spite of the LEZ starting only one year ago, observations suggest that it has
considerable effect of the air quality in Haifa.

1. Introduction constituent of anthropogenic fine particulate matter (PM1 and PM2.5),

Low Emission Zones (LEZ) are urban areas in which the entry of
polluting vehicles is either prohibited or restricted. LEZ mainly affect
heavy diesel trucks (above 3.5 tons gross weight), buses, and in some
cases, based on Euro certification levels (Table 1), also light commercial
vehicles (LCVs), private diesel and petrol cars, and even motorcycles.
The idea behind LEZ is to reduce traffic-related air pollution (i.e. BC,
PM1, PM2.5 and NOX) within the city center.
Black carbon (BC) is a product of incomplete combustion of fossil
fuels, biofuels and biomass. It is the major component of soot and is a
emitted mainly from diesel engines, in particular from old vehicles that
do not comply with modern regulation. BC emissions per diesel vehicle
kilometer travelled is up to one order of magnitude higher than from
gasoline direct-injection vehicles (per kilometer travelled), and up to
two orders of magnitude higher than from gasoline port-fuel injection
vehicles (Zheng et al., 2017). It should be noted that modern diesel cars
equipped with particle filters emit black carbon at similar levels as
gasoline direct-injection vehicles (Zheng et al., 2017; Chang and Shields,
2017; Zusman et al., 2012). Hence, in practice, most BC emissions in
urban settings are from old diesel cars. BC reduces Earth albedo,

* Corresponding author. Shalhevet information systems ltd, 20 Freiman Street, Rishon Lezion, Israel.
E-mail address: dlt75@tx.technion.ac.il (D. Tartakovsky).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117472
Received 2 December 2019; Received in revised form 8 March 2020; Accepted 3 April 2020
Available online 25 April 2020
1352-2310/© 2020 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
D. Tartakovsky et al. Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472

absorbing solar radiation and thus warming the planet. The small size
(tens of nanometers) and large surface area of BC particles enable them
to absorb co-emitted toxic compounds. The major health outcomes of BC
and of ultrafine particles are qualitatively similar, although they can
differ quantitatively. In particular, human exposure to fine and/or ul­
trafine particles has been associated with respiratory and cardiovascular
diseases (Atkinson et al., 2013; Janssen et al., 2011; WHO, 2012; Sarnat
et al., 2008), cancer (Janssen et al., 2011; Hoek and Raaschou-Nielsen,
2014), birth defects (Brauer et al., 2008; Kingsley et al., 2017; Ritz et al.,
2007), increased emergency room visits (Cakmak et al., 2009a; Sarnat
et al., 2008; Janssen et al., 2011), hospital admissions (Ostro et al.,
2009; Peng et al., 2009; Janssen et al., 2011) and premature mortality
(Cakmak et al., 2009b; Mar et al., 2000; Ostro et al., 2007; Crouse et al.,
2012; Heinrich et al., 2013; Puett et al., 2009; Janssen et al., 2011).
These effects are more severe in the elderly, young children and espe­
cially in people suffering from heart or lung deceases (Simoni et al.,
2015; WHO, 2013). Janssen et al. (2011) concluded that BC is an
important indicator of combustion-related particulate air pollution and
could be used for evaluating health effects caused by it. Based on thor­
ough literature review, Janssen et al. (2011) found that BC better rep­
resents the harmful components of combustion-related emissions than
the commonly used PM2.5. Indeed, implementation of BC mitigation
measures (such as installation of particle filters in diesel vehicles,
removing of polluting vehicles off the road, regulating emissions from
kilns, ovens and stoves, and banning open-field waste burning) was
estimated to prevent about 1–7% of the total mortality (Weinhold,
2012).
Nitrogen oxides (NOX) is a generic term for a family of gaseous
pollutants, comprised of NO2 and NO. NO2 is considered the more
harmful component among the NOX family. The main health effects of
NOX are respiratory problems, including cough, inflammation and
dysfunction of lungs and bronchi, and asthma (Gillespie-Bennett et al.,
2011; US EPA, 2008). The harmful effects of NOX were largely reported
for children and adults suffering from cardiovascular diseases. Exposure
to nitrogen oxides, in particular NO2, was reported to shorten survival
after lung cancer diagnosis (Eckel et al., 2016) and increase the risk of
incidence of- and mortality from several types of cancer in coronary
patients, in particular lung, prostate and breast (Cohen et al., 2018,
2019). Short-term exposure to NO2 has been associated with increased
total-, cardiovascular and respiratory mortality (Cesar et al., 2015; Tao
et al., 2012; Chen et al., 2012; Shang et al., 2013), increased hospitali­
zation due to respiratory diseases (Gouveia et al., 2006; Negrisoli and
Nascimento, 2013), and emergency room visits due to severe cough,
wheezing and asthma attacks (US EPA, 2016). Long-term exposure to
elevated concentration of NO2 has been associated with increased
all-cause, respiratory and cardiovascular mortality among the general
population, and with respiratory symptoms in children. Yet, it is still
unclear whether these effects are directly related to exposure to NO2 or
whether the latter serves only as a proxy for exposure to other
traffic-related pollutant emissions (US EPA, 2016). Recent studies esti­
mated that exposure to NOX emissions from diesel vehicles causes about
38,000 premature deaths worldwide (Anenberg et al., 2017) and about
10,000 premature deaths of adults over 30 years old in the European
Union and Switzerland (Jonson et al., 2017). The environmental effects
of NOX include contribution to acid precipitation that negatively affects
vegetation, building materials and metal structures (Likens et al., 1979;

Table 1
Impact of LEZ on reducing ambient pollutant concentrations.
Reference City Main LEZ measures at the time studied in the Pollutant Concentration Time
reference reduction (%) period

Lutz (2009) Berlin Diesel vehicles limited to Euro 4 EC 14–16 1 year

Cyrys et al. (2014) Petrol vehicles without catalytic converter soot 52 3 years
Lutz (2013) limited to Euro 1 diesel particles 63 (emissions
reduction)
EC 42 5 years
Sadler Consultants Ltd (2011) London Diesel vehicles >2.5 ton limited to Euro 3 and BC 40–50 5 months
AIRUSE (2016) Euro 4 BC 15–17 1 year
Ellison et al. (2013) PM2.5 5–11
NOX 3–7
NOX no effect 5 years
Bruxelles Environment (2019) Brussels Diesel vehicles limited to Euro 3 BC no effect 1 year
Petrol limited to Euro 2 PM2.5 6.4 (emissions
reduction)
NOX 4.7 (emissions
reduction)
L€
oschau et al. (2013, 2017) Leipzig Diesel vehicles limited to Euro 4 EC 6–14 3 years
Petrol vehicles without catalytic converter BC 59 6 years
limited to Euro 1 NOX no effect 6 years
Moroni et al. (2013) Milan Diesel vehicles limited to Euro 3 BC 32
Sadler Consultants Ltd (2011) Petrol vehicles limited to Euro 0 BC 28–43
Invernizzi et al. (2011) Trucks >7.5 m restricted PM1, PM2.5, no effect
PM10
Panteliadis et al. (2014) Amsterdam Vehicles >3.5 ton or without particle filter EC 2.9 2 years
limited to Euro 3 PM10 no effect
NOX, NO2 no effect
Qadir et al. (2013) Munich Diesel vehicles limited to Euro 4 EC ~60 2 years
Petrol vehicles limited to Euro 1
Boogaard et al. (2012) Amsterdam, The Hague, Den Vehicles >3.5 ton or without particle filter PM2.5, PM10, no effect 2 years
Bosch, Tilburg, Utrecht limited to Euro 3 NOX, NO2
Jensen et al. (2011) Copenhagen Vehicles >3.5 ton limited to Euro 4 PM2.5 5 3 years
NOX no effect
Da Silva et al. (2014) Lisbon All vehicles limited to Euro 2 (Zone 1) or Euro 1 NO2 6 1 year
Ferreira et al. (2015) (Zone 2) NO2 12 2 years
Morfeld et al. (2014) 17 German cities Diesel vehicles without particle reduction limited NO2 up to 4
to Euro 2
Petrol vehicles without catalytic converter
limited to Euro 1
Sadler Consultants Ltd (2011) Bremen, Cologne, Hannover Diesel vehicles were limited to Euro 4, petrol NO2 1.5–6
(cited by AIRUSE, 2016) vehicles without catalytic converter – to Euro 1

2
D. Tartakovsky et al.
American Chemical Society, 1982), and can lead to eutrophication of
water bodies. Moreover, nitrogen oxides are active ozone precursors
(Jhun et al., 2015), playing an important role in smog formation (Tyler
Miller and Hackett, 2011) and in the formation of secondary nitrate
particles in the atmosphere (Kuprov et al., 2014).
To date, about 250 cities in 16 countries (mostly in Europe and East
Asia) have already implemented a LEZ policy. Yet, since there is no
common international LEZ standard, LEZ regulations are local and are
set at the country or city level. It has been suggested that studying
changes in black carbon (BC) or elemental carbon (EC) concentrations is
a better indicator of the effectiveness of LEZ policy than changes in
PM10, PM2.5, PM1 and NOX concentrations (Cyrys et al., 2014; Lo €schau
et al., 2017). In the Leipzig LEZ, preventing the passage of heavy-duty
diesel trucks through the city was found to be one of the main factors
for BC concentrations reduction (Rasch et al., 2013; Lo €schau et al.,
2017). Yet, applying restrictions only on heavy diesel vehicles outside
Germany resulted in mostly ambiguous results (Holman et al., 2015),
possibly due to different vehicle fleet makeup. It is noteworthy that
despite the large number of LEZ that have been implemented, the impact
of LEZ on ambient air quality, especially BC concentrations, was hardly
evaluated, with some indications that no concentration reduction has
been obtained (Table 1). Bigazzi and Rouleau (2017) reviewed the ef­
fects of different traffic management strategies on ambient air quality
and concluded that there is limited evidence of LEZ effects, defining LEZ
as “moderately successful” in decreasing ambient air pollution. Yet,
although Bigazzi and Rouleau (2017) reported that air quality
improvement from applying LEZ policy is modest, it is important to
remember that there is no safe concentration threshold for some air
pollutants (WHO, 2006), so even small decrease in exposure to pollutant
concentrations can bring considerable health benefits. The present study
examines the effects of LEZ policy on air quality by first summarizing
and updating the literature reviews of AIRUSE (2016), Holman et al.
(2015) and Pasquier and Andre (2017), and then by reporting the results
from a recent LEZ that has been implemented in Haifa, Israel.
Haifa is the third largest city in Israel (about 280,000 inhabitants).
The topography of Haifa is diverse – planar areas along the Mediterra­
nean Sea coast (on average 5 m above the sea level), as well as extensive
areas on Mt. Carmel (on average, 380 m above the sea level). The Carmel
ridge prevents pollutant dispersion towards the mainland. As per
climate, Haifa is classified as Csa (Hot-summer Mediterranean climate),
according to the Ko €ppen climate classification. The main NOX and PM
emission sources in the Haifa area are road traffic, petrochemical com­
plex and power station. Before implementation of the Haifa LEZ, all of
the trucks and buses in the Haifa area operated on diesel whereas almost
all private cars were petrol-operated. It is estimated that traffic in the
Haifa Bay area contributes 48% of the total NOX emissions, 46% of the
total particulate matter emissions, and 31% of the total VOC emissions
(Haifa Bay Municipal Association for Environmental Protection, 2018).
In particular, trucks, which are only 3% of the vehicle fleet in the Haifa
Bay area, are estimated to contribute 40% of the vehicular NOX emis­
sions (Haifa Bay Municipal Association for Environmental Protection,
2018). In 2015, the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection
(IMoEP) and the Israeli Ministry of Transportation (IMoT), in coopera­
tion with the Haifa Municipality and the Haifa Bay Municipal Associa­
tion for Environmental Protection, prepared a program for abating
traffic and industrial emissions in the Haifa Bay area by applying a LEZ
policy. In general, the purpose of the LEZ was to rout heavy vehicles out
of the residential areas. The program included a number of measures,
such as replacing 25 municipal diesel garbage trucks with trucks that
operate on natural gas, replacing 50 diesel buses with electrical buses,
establishing electric car sharing (100 electric cars in the first stage and
additional 100 electric cars in the second stage), installing particle filters
in diesel vehicles, requiring all the gasoline stations in the area to install
petrol vapor recovery systems (stage I and II), and reducing the Carmel
Tunnel fare, thus routing more vehicles through the Carmel tunnels
rather than through the city center. Moreover, diesel vehicles that did
3
Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472
not comply with the policy criteria were prohibited from entering the
LEZ. The total cost of the program was 11 million NIS (about 3 million
USD).
The first stage of the Haifa LEZ policy started on Feb 1st, 2018, with
trucks heavier than 3.5 tons that were manufactured before 2005 and
were not compatible with the Euro 4 emission standard and/or not
equipped with particle filter (with efficiency >95%) not allowed to enter
the LEZ. In the second stage, which began on 2019, the restrictions were
extended to diesel vehicles less than 3.5 tons that were manufactured
before 2006, and to taxis manufactured before 2009, with the same
requirements to comply with the Euro 4 emission standard or have a
particle filter installed. All types of vehicles are allowed to use the
Carmel Tunnels but polluting vehicles are not allowed to use the Ruppin
Exchange exits. Hence, they are required to use the northern exit,
located at the border of the LEZ, and the southern exit, leading to
Highway 2. The Haifa LEZ includes all the residential neighborhoods of
the city and is split into two areas, separated by the port and the
petrochemical industrial complex (Fig. 1), with the LEZ regulations
enforced 24/7.
2. Methods
This work summarizes changes in the air quality following the first
year of enforcement of the Haifa LEZ (February 2018–January 2019).
Pollutant levels in this period were compared to those from the previous
year, (February 2017–January 2018), before commencing the Haifa LEZ
policy. We examined the following pollutants: BC, NOX, PM2.5 and PM1.
These pollutants were monitored at the Atzmaut traffic air quality
monitoring (AQM) station, located at downtown Haifa, and reporting
30-min average pollutant concentrations. As part of this study, we
compared concentration trends of BC to those of NOX, benzene, PM2.5
and PM1 on both a daily and 30-min basis, using records from both the
Atzmaut and the Hadar (began operating in January 2018) traffic AQM
stations. Daily pollutant concentration averages can be compared
against daily standards of ambient pollutant (i.e. NOX, benzene and
PM2.5). They are also the highest temporally resolved exposure metrics
used by epidemiologist when studying health effects in relation to
exposure to ambient pollutants. Daily patterns are also useful when
comparing anthropogenic activities (i.e. in terms of day-of-the week)
whereas intra-daily temporally resolved concentrations enable zooming
on detailed anthropogenic patterns (e.g. day-night). The latter can be
linked also to traffic patterns. The analyzers installed in the AQM station
were: Aethalometer AE33 (Magee Scientific) that uses aerosol light ab­
sorption for measuring BC; 42i (ThermoFisher Scientific) that uses
chemiluminescence for measuring NOX; FH62C-14 (ThermoFisher Sci­
entific) that uses beta attenuation for measuring PM1 and PM2.5; and
GC966 (Chromatotec) which uses gas chromatography for measuring
benzene. All the traffic monitoring stations were located at the roadside
(about 3 m from the nearest lane). Mann-Whitney statistical tests (sig­
nificance level of 0.05) were used to examine the significance of the
changes in the concentrations. Finally, we also examined the BC fraction
in the PM1, calculated as the ratio between the BC and PM1 concentra­
tions, assuming that the BC (soot) is found in the <1 μm particulate
matter. At the Atzmaut AQM station, monitoring of BC was performed
both before and during the LEZ period, allowing comparison of con­
centration changes. In the Ahuza AQM station there was no BC analyzer
during 2017 so similar comparison could not be done. The Kiryat Yam
(background) AQM station was not included in this work as its obser­
vations were noisy and could not be explained. Specifically, the criterion
for inclusion of AQM data was >75% observation coverage throughout
the study period. The parameters that did not meet this criterion were
benzene at the Atzmaut AQM station and PM1 at the Hadar AQM station
during June 2018. Hence, AQM data used in this work were observed at
(1) Atzmaut AQM station (Feb 1st, 2017–Jan 31st, 2018 (pre LEZ) and
Feb 1st, 2018–Jan 31st, 2019 (LEZ); BC, NOX, PM2.5, PM1). These data
were used for comparison between the two periods: the first year of the
D. Tartakovsky et al.
Fig. 1. The Haifa LEZ (green) and the locations of the traffic (Atzmaut, Hadar, Ahuza) and the background (Kiryat Yam) AQM stations that measure traffic related air
pollutants (TRAP) in the Haifa Bay area. Route 23 that traverses the Haifa LEZ is the Carmel Tunnels. (For interpretation of the references to colour in this figure
legend, the reader is referred to the Web version of this article.)
LEZ and the last year before the LEZ, and for studying correlation be­
tween the different pollutants and BC, taken to be a marker of diesel
engine exhaust. (2) Hadar AQM station (Feb 1st, 2018–Jan 31st, 2019),
used for comparing the BC content in PM1 to that in the Atzmaut AQM
station.
As part of the analyses, we accounted for various time periods that
follow diesel vehicle patterns: (a) daytime hours (7:00 to 19:00), (b)
nighttime hours (19:00 to 7:00), (c) working days daytime hours (Sun­
day to Thursday, excluding holidays and holiday eves), (d) Fridays and
holiday eves’ daytime hours (7:00 to 16:00), and (e) Saturdays and
holidays’ daytime hours (7:00 to 19:00). The effect of varying meteo­
rological conditions was studied by (a) comparing BC and NOX con­
centrations in Saturdays and holidays daytime hours, when bus activity
is very low and there was no truck traffic, to patterns observed during
the day in working weekdays and (b) comparing daytime and nighttime
patterns. Moreover, we evaluated the LEZ policy efficiency also on a
seasonal basis, thus studying possible seasonal effects.
4
Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472
3. Results and discussion
The probability distribution functions of the pollutant concentrations
were not Gaussian (Fig. 2), hence the non-parametric Mann-Whitney
statistical test was applied to examine the significance of the observed
changes. Figs. 3 and 4 present the monthly variations of BC and NOX
average concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station during the first year
of the Haifa LEZ and the preceding year. Behavior of both pollutants
during the first year of the Haifa LEZ generally followed the seasonal
patterns in the previous year, decreasing from January to June, plateau
from June to August, and increasing thereafter until November. Unlike
the year before the Haifa LEZ commenced, when the winter minima in
the pollutant concentrations occurred in Jan 2018, the minima in the
following winter took place in Dec 2018.
Tables 2 and 3 show average and median concentrations of BC and
NOX at the Atzmaut AQM station for the LEZ and the control periods. It is
clear that both the average and median BC and NOX concentrations at
D. Tartakovsky et al. Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472

Fig. 2. Probability distribution function of BC concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station, Feb 2017–Jan 2018 (before the application of the Haifa LEZ policy).

Fig. 3. Monthly average BC concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station before and after the implementation of the Haifa LEZ policy.

Fig. 4. Monthly average NOX concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station before and after the implementation of the Haifa LEZ policy.

5
D. Tartakovsky et al. Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472

Table 2
BC concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station before and after the enforcement of the Haifa LEZ policya.
Averaging period Time period 02/17–01/18 Time period 02/18–01/19 Concentration
reduction

Mean (ng/ Median (ng/ StD (ng/ Avail. Mean (ng/ Median (ng/ StD (ng/ Avail. Mean Median
m3) m3) m3) (%) m3) m3 ) m3) (%) (%) (%)

Whole year 2255 1319 2413 94 1963 1157 2101 96 12.9 12.3
Daytime hours 1981 1293 1885 94 1771 1150 1656 96 10.6 11.1
Nighttime hours 2528 1369 2818 94 2155 1170 2451 96 14.8 14.5
Sun - Thu daytime hours 2278 1467 1803 94 2044 1300 2011 95 10.3 11.4
Fri & holiday eve daytime 1882 1141 1818 94 1534 966 1347 96 18.5 15.3
hours
Sat & holidays daytime 1055 767 950 94 1015 747 878 98 3.8 2.6
hours
Winter 3307 2634 2846 86 2758 2050 2571 89 16.6 22.2
Spring 2194 1298 2467 95 2152 1316 2321 98 1.9 1.4b
Summer 1409 1076 1297 99 967 788 751 99 31.4 26.8
Autumn 2274 1311 2481 97 2078 1344 1933 96 8.6 2.5b
a
Calculated from the 30-min concentrations.
b
The "-" indicates increasing rather than decreasing concentrations.

Table 3
NOX concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station before and after the enforcement of the Haifa LEZ policya.
Averaging period Time period 02/17–01/18 Time period 02/18–01/19 Concentration reduction

Mean Median StD Avail. Mean Median StD Avail. Mean (%) Median
(ppb) (ppb) (ppb) (%) (ppb) (ppb) (ppb) (%) (%)

Whole year 43.3 37 58.1 94 38.7 32.7 51.8 96 10.6 11.6

Daytime hours 37.7 19.9 46.3 98 34.8 18.9 42.3 97 7.7 5.0
Nighttime hours 49.4 19 68 90 42.9 16.5 60.1 89 13.2 13.2
Sun - Thu daytime hours 46.3 24.3 50.1 97 43.3 23.2 46.3 96 6.5 4.5
Fri & holiday eve daytime 32.5 14.3 43.7 99 26.1 12.2 33.2 98 19.7 14.7
hours
Sat & holidays daytime hours 12.3 7.3 13.8 98 11.8 6.2 15.2 98 4.1 15.1
Winter 76.2 96.4 77.3 93 59.4 56.5 65.2 87 22.0 41.4
Spring 39.3 40.2 47.4 96 43.6 41.9 54.1 96 10.9b 4.2b
Summer 16.1 22.2 21 92 12.7 17.3 14.6 93 21.1 22.1
Autumn 42.6 38 55.8 95 40.6 38 48.6 95 4.7 0.0
a
Calculated from the 30-min concentrations.
b
The "-" indicates increasing rather than decreasing concentrations.

the Atzmaut AQM station decreased after the Haifa LEZ policy became
effective relative to the preceding year. In particular, the reduction in
the annual mean concentrations of BC and NOx were 12.9% and 10.6%,
respectively. For BC, this result is smaller than those reported for Berlin,
Milan, Munich, London, Leipzig and Milan (mostly 14–60%; Lutz, 2009,
2013; Moroni et al., 2013; Qadir et al., 2013; Cyrys et al., 2014; AIRUSE,
2016; Lo €schau et al., 2017; Sadler Consultants, 2011). For NOX, this
result is higher than those reported for Copenhagen, Bremen, Cologne,
Hannover, Amsterdam, The Hague, Den Bosch, Tilburg, Utrecht, Lon­
don, Leipzig and Brussels (mostly 0–7%; Jensen et al., 2011; Sadler
Consultants, 2011; Boogaard et al., 2012; Ellison et al., 2013; Da Silva
et al., 2014; AIRUSE, 2016; L€ oschau et al., 2017; Bruxelles environne­
ment, 2019). The differences between the impact of Haifa LEZ and the
LEZ implemented in other cities could result from numerous reasons,
such as different vehicle fleet makeup (e.g. 42% of passenger cars are
diesel vehicles in the EU (ACEA website) vs. only 4.9% in Israel (IMoEP,
2018)), different meteorological conditions, and distinct land use and
topography. In particular, the lower NOX reduction in Western Europe
may be attributed to the increasing fraction of diesel vehicles in the
automobile fleet in the last decades (Grange et al., 2017). On the other
hand, no evidence was found that the dieselization pattern in Western
Europe slows down the BC concentration reduction by the LEZ. This may
be related to the fact that new diesel cars emit less BC per km travelled
than older diesel vehicles due to engine improvements and exhaust
emission control technologies. To assess what is the most probable cause
for the statistically significant observed concentration reduction it
should be noted that the temporal concentration patterns of both BC and
NOX were similar: the highest reduction was observed on Fridays and
holiday eves during both daytime and nighttime hours. The lowest
concentration reduction was observed on Saturdays and holidays day­
time hours, when traffic, and in particular industry and commerce
related truck traffic (which has disproportionate impact on air quality
and specifically on BC concentrations), is negligible. Clearly, diurnal
variations in pollutant concentrations reduction patterns result from
daily varying meteorological conditions and emissions. During daytime
hours, the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) is unstable, which sup­
ports enhanced vertical mixing (Yuval et al., 2020). This causes vertical
convection of pollutants that are emitted at the surface, reducing their
ground-level concentrations. At night, vertical mixing is suppressed due
to the development of a stable boundary layer (Stull, 2017; Yuval et al.,
2020). Indeed, according to meteorological data from the AQM stations
in the Haifa LEZ area, the predominant stability conditions during the
daytime hours in the study period were unstable (A, B and C, together
72%) and neutral (D, 22%), whereas stable conditions (E and F)
occurred in only 6% of the daytime hours. In contrast, during the
nighttime hours meteorological conditions were mostly stable (E, F and
G, together 81.6%) and neutral (D, 18.1%), while slightly unstable
conditions (C) occurred only in 0.3% of the nighttime hours. Thus,
pollutants emitted at night near the surface mostly accumulate there.
Therefore, the effect of the LEZ measures is greater at night (reduction of
14.8% BC and 13.2% NOx) than during the day (reduction of 10.6% BC
and 7.7% NOX). As for Fridays, according to traffic data collected before
the Haifa LEZ came into effect (Chen et al., 2016), the percent of the
diesel vehicles (trucks and buses) was larger than on weekdays, so the

6
D. Tartakovsky et al.
effect of the Haifa LEZ was felt more strongly. On Saturdays, the number
of vehicles is smaller regardless of the LEZ, with no trucks and LCVs and
fewer buses. Hence, traffic-related pollutant concentrations are gener­
ally lower on Saturdays, and the changes following the implementation
of the LEZ policy in Saturday pollutant concentrations were weaker.
Specifically, the reduction in the average concentrations of BC and NOX
in Saturdays and holidays daytime hours was only 3.8% and 4.1%,
respectively. This suggests that a large part of the observed pollutant
concentrations reduction in the working days daytime hours was prob­
ably not derived by changing meteorological conditions but was most
likely due to abatement of BC and NOX anthropogenic (i.e.
traffic-related) emissions.
To further examine the possible impact of varying meteorological
conditions on the observed reduction in the pollutant concentrations we
studied seasonal pollutant patterns. It is noteworthy that summer
meteorological conditions in Israel vary very little due to the presence of
the Azores high aloft and the Persian trough near the surface. In
contrast, meteorological conditions in the other seasons in Israel
(especially in spring and autumn) vary considerably (Dayan et al.,
2015). Thus, comparing pollutant concentrations in the summer before
and after the LEZ implementation can eliminate to great extent the effect
of varying meteorological conditions on the observed changes in the
pollutant concentrations. Changes in pollutant concentrations in the
summer (BC: 31.4%, NOX: 21.1%) were larger than the annual average
changes. This result strengthens our conclusion that a large part of the
changes in the concentrations after the LEZ policy has been imple­
mented could be attributed to reduced traffic-related emissions. More­
over, due to summer vacation from school and at work, the private car
volume (mostly petrol) is lower. Thus, the reduced BC and NOX emis­
sions from diesel trucks and buses, due to the implementation of Haifa
LEZ policy, was probably felt stronger. In winter, meteorological con­
ditions in Israel show considerable year-to-year variability. Yet, while
the LEZ enforcement in the first few months, i.e. in winter 2018, was less
strict than on the rest of the year, in particular in winter 2019, the
reduction in winter BC and NOX concentrations (16.6% and 22%,
respectively) was still statistically significant. It is noteworthy that these
changes are larger than the annual average and the nighttime hours
pollutant concentration reduction. While the BC concentration reduc­
tion in the winter was smaller than in the summer, the NOX concen­
tration reduction was similar (the changes in spring and autumn for both
pollutants were statistically non-significant, probably because meteo­
rological conditions in these seasons in Israel vary considerably; Dayan
et al., 2015).
The change in PM1 concentrations followed those in the BC and NOX
concentrations although the reduction in the average PM1 concentra­
tions was smaller (only 3.7%) relative to the control period. In contrast,
the average PM2.5 concentration at the Atzmaut AQM station during the
LEZ period increased by 4.4% relative to the control period (Table 4).
Yet, the changes in both PM2.5 and PM1 concentrations were not sta­
tistically significant. This supports the common notion that while BC is a
particulate constituent of fine particles that are formed by incomplete
combustion that is attributed in urban settings mainly to (older) diesel
vehicles, PM2.5 is often (and certainly in the East Mediterranean; see
Remoundaki et al., 2013; Tutsak and Kocak, 2019) constituted of
considerable fractions of sulfates, nitrates and carbonates, which are not
markers of local traffic emissions. Indeed, a large fraction of the PM2.5 in
Table 4
PM2.5 and PM1 concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station before and after the enforcement of the Haifa LEZ policya.
Pollutant Time period 02/17–01/18
Mean (μg/m3) Median (μg/m3) StD (μg/m3) Avail. (%)
PM2.5 18.3 16.6 7.7 98
PM1 13.5 12.6 4.7 99
a
Calculated from the 30-min concentrations.
b
The "-" indicates increasing rather than decreasing concentrations.
Atmospheric Environment 232 (2020) 117472
Israel is attributed to long range transport to the region from Eastern
Europe, and/or is resuspended desert dust from North Africa and Saudi
Arabia (Yuval et al., 2015). In particular, the 90th percentile of the daily
average PM2.5 concentrations in the Haifa bay area (without accounting
for dust storms) amounts to 25.2 μg/m3, and the annual average PM2.5
(without accounting for dust storms) is 15.3 μg/m3 (IMoEP, 2014).
Relative to these values, the observed reduction in BC concentrations
(0.292 μg/m3) is negligible.
Table 5 presents the BC fraction in PM1 at the Atzmaut and the Hadar
AQM stations. The difference in the results in the two sites (15.1% and
14.3%) is not statistically significant, suggesting that they experience
similar traffic impact (diesel vehicles in particular). The decline in the
BC-to-PM1 ratio at the Atzmaut AQM station between the pre-LEZ and
the LEZ periods (9%, statistically significant) further supports our
conclusion that the first year of the Haifa LEZ brought about decreased
traffic-related emissions. Finally, the BC and NOX concentrations time
series are highly correlated (Table 6) whereas lower correlations were
found between the BC and benzene, PM2.5 and PM1 concentrations time
series. Naturally, correlations between the smoothed time series of the
daily average concentrations were higher than between the noisy, 30-
min resolved concentration time series. Similar correlations were ob­
tained using concentration time series from before and after the
implementation of the Haifa LEZ. The lower correlation between BC and
the 2 p.m. size fractions supports the notion that in the study area PM is
not a good marker of exposure to traffic-related air pollution.
4. Conclusions
Statistically significant reduction in the average and median BC and
NOX concentrations occurred following the implementation of the Haifa
LEZ. The decrease in emissions, which is manifested in terms of decrease
in ambient concentrations, is observed in most of the analyses per­
formed, i.e. for the different time windows examined (whole year,
winter, summer, daytime hours, nighttime hours, working days daytime
hours, Fridays and holiday eves daytime hours, and Saturdays and
holidays daytime hours). It is most likely that a large part of the con­
centrations reduction of both BC and NOX does not derive from changing
meteorological conditions but is rather due to decrease in anthropogenic
traffic-related emissions. Specifically, the annual average BC and NOX
concentrations at the Atzmaut AQM station decreased by 12.9% and
10.6%, respectively. Likewise, a decline in the BC content in PM1 after
the implementation of the LEZ was 9%. These indications suggest that
the measures taken to reduce traffic-related air pollution in Haifa, by
means of setting the LEZ policy, were successful. Further work is needed
to determine unequivocally if the LEZ-induced changes in the traffic
patterns are the only source for the above reported reduction in ambient
pollutant concentrations.
It is noteworthy that the results reported here for the Haifa LEZ are
Table 5
BC-to-PM1 ratio (average (STD); %) at the Atzmaut and Hadar AQM stations.
BC content in PM1 (%)
AQN station 02/17–01/18 02/18–01/19
Atzmaut 16.6 (8.2) 15.1 (8.4)
Hadar NA 14.3 (9.0)
Time period 02/18–01/19 Concentration reduction
Mean (μg/m3) Median (μg/m3) StD (μg/m3) Avail. (%) Mean (%) Median (%)
b
19.1 17.6 8.6 96 4.4 6.0b
13.0 12.0 4.6 98 3.7 4.8
7
D. Tartakovsky et al.
Table 6
Pearson correlation between concentration time series of BC and NOX, benzene,
PM1 and PM2.5 at the Atzmaut AQM station in the first year after the imple­
mentation of the Haifa LEZ policy (significance level 0.05).
Pollutants 30-min concentration Daily average concentration
BC vs. NOX 0.92 0.96
BC vs. benzene 0.52 0.84
BC vs. PM1 0.31 0.52
BC vs. PM2.5 0.37 0.54
more pronounced than the reduction reported for NOX in most European
cities that applied LEZ (mostly 0–7%) but is less pronounced than the
reduction reported for BC in European cities that applied LEZ (mostly
14–60%). As each city applied somewhat different LEZ regulations, as
reviewed in this work, and as each city has distinct characteristics,
comparison of LEZ performance across cities is not simple. Based on the
reported results in this work, we estimate that applying a similar LEZ
policy in other cities in Israel and throughout the Middle East could
result in significant impact on urban air quality.
The high correlations between BC and NOX supports the common
notion that they can both serve as proxies for traffic emissions in urban
areas. The lower correlation between BC and benzene suggests that
trucks and other diesel-operated vehicles affected our results to a greater
extent than gasoline-operated vehicles, in agreement with the expecta­
tions from the LEZ regulations. Moreover, the lower correlations be­
tween BC, PM2.5 and PM1 suggest that the latter have other, more
significant, sources than traffic, which in the East Mediterranean can be
attributed mostly to dust (including resuspended road dust), long range
transport of secondary PM (often termed background levels), and
possibly also industrial emissions.
Declaration of competing interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Dmitry Tartakovsky: Formal analysis, Writing - original draft,
Writing - review & editing. Levana Kordova – Biezuner: Conceptual­
ization, Resources. Ella Berlin: Visualization, Resources. David M.
Broday: Methodology, Writing - review & editing.
Acknowledgment
The research was performed by Shalhevet information systems ltd for
Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, Air quality and climate
change division, Israeli Air Monitoring Network.
Appendix A. Supplementary data
Supplementary data to this article can be found online at https://doi.
org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2020.117472.
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