Take note, if you roll down the window while driving
Car users from the world’s least affluent cities are exposed to a disproportionate amount of in-car air pollution because they rely heavily on opening their windows for ventilation, finds a first-of-its-kind study from the University of Surrey.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year and nine out of 10 people breathe air with high levels of pollutants.
In a study published by the Science of the Total Environment journal, a global team of researchers led by Surrey’s Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE) investigated air pollution exposure levels for commuters in 10 different global cities – Dhaka (Bangladesh), Chennai (India), Guangzhou (China), Medellin (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Cairo (Egypt), Sulaymaniyah (Iraq), Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), Blantyre (Malawi), and Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania).
The research team investigated PM2.5 and PM10 exposure levels inside vehicles during peak hours in the morning and evening, as well as off-peak hours in the middle of the day. The scientists measured how exposure levels changed when drivers used recirculation systems, fans and simply opened the windows.
The study discovered that drivers in some of the world’s poorest cities experienced higher levels of in-car pollution.Irrespective of the city and car model used, a windows-open setting showed the highest exposure, followed by fan-on and recirculation.
Pollution exposure for windows-open during off-peak hours was 91 per cent and 40 per cent less than morning and evening peak hours, respectively. The study also found that the windowsopen setting exposed car passengers to hotspots of air pollution for up to a third of the total travel length.
The study found that commuters who turn on the recirculation are exposed to around 80 per cent less harmful particles than those who open their car windows. Car cabin filters were more effective in removing pollution than fine particles, suggesting that if new cars had more efficient filters, it could reduce the overall exposure of car commuters.