Case Studies of the Spatial Variation of Benzene and Toluene Concentrations in Parks and Adjacent Built-up Areas

Upmanis, H.; Eliasson, I.; Andersson-Sköld, Y.

Case Studies of the Spatial Variation of Benzene and Toluene Concentrations in Parks and Adjacent Built-up Areas

2001

Upmanis, H. | Eliasson, I. | Andersson-Sköld, Y.

The focus in the present study is the spatialvariation of anthropogenic volatile organic carbon compounds (VOC), mainly benzene and toluene, in parks and their built-up surroundings. Case studies were located in two large Scandinavian cities and measurements were made two meters aboveground level in maximum traffic periods. The results showedlarge variations in time and space but despite high pollutionlevels in the streets the air in parks and non-traffickedbuilt-up areas are substantially cleaner. The pollutantconcentration inside a large park decreased to a low level(i.e. 1/3 to 1/9 the concentration at the source) in a shortdistance (<40 m). An analysis showed that measured VOC wasassociated with fresh emissions, suggesting that the localtraffic intensity was the main governing parameter. It is,however, obvious that the spatial pattern of pollution is theresult of a combination of many different factors and variablesincluding traffic intensity, weather, local climate, land useand the character of park border.

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