Exposure Levels of Cyclists and Pedestrians to Black Carbon in 2017 Rainy Season in Muang District, Udon Thani Province

Abstract

          This research aimed to: 1) assess the levels of  exposure to black carbon of cyclists and pedestrians during the rainy season in Udon Thani Province; 2) assess the risk of health affected  by black carbon exposure in cyclists and pedestrians during the rainy season in Udon Thani Province; and 3) determine areas that are vulnerable to health problems in Udon Thani Province by studying the amount of black carbon concentration, temperature, relative humidity and traffic volume which were measured in weekdays and weekends in the rush time, between 06.00-09.00 in the morning and between 15.00-18.00 in the afternoon. These parameters were analyzed to obtain statistical data using Independent- samples T-Test. The results showed that exposure levels of the black carbon in pedestrians were higher than in cyclists during weekday morning. In contrast, the levels found in cyclists were higher than pedestrians in weekday afternoons. The measurement of the weekends showed the same results as those of the weekdays. The pedestrians risk having health problems from the black carbon more than the cyclists. The potential diseases are: an abnormal narrowing in a blood vessel, also known as stenosis (Barath et al., 2010) (Mills et al., 2005), problems of respiratory system, and lung disease (Sawant et al., 2008). Two areas in Udon Thani which were vulnerable to health problems are: in front of Wing 23 Udon Thani Air force Base and in front of fort Prachaksinlapakhom Hospital, Tahan road, Muang district. Of these areas, the traffic volume ratio per road capacity (Volume/Capacity Ratio, V/C Ratio) on weekdays was 0.88-1.00 (88-10%) while the traffic volume on the weekends was 0.67-0.88 (67-88%) in the severe traffic conditions. Comparison between the average amount of black carbon concentration during weekdays in the morning rush hour and in the afternoon indicated that the amount of black carbon concentration was not significantly different (p> 0.05). However, the amount of black carbon concentration during the weekends showed a significant difference (p= 0.002).