Sanitary and Hygienic Characteristics of the Ambient Air of Major Roads in an Industrial City

Abstract

Summary. Introduction: In the modern urbanized environment, there is a tendency of increasing environmental stress related to the growth of technical equipment, intensification of the use of urban areas and the development of the complex transport network, which is a source of noise and air pollution. Understanding of this problem served as an incentive to conduct a sanitary inspection of the main transport routes of Omsk, which is an industrial metropolis with an irrational distribution of traffic flows, a large number of cars, and a practical absence of roadside landscaping. Our objective was to assess the main transport routes in the city of Omsk by studying the intensity of traffic flows, measuring traffic noise level and carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations on the roadway and in adjacent residential areas. Materials and methods: All measurements were taken during off-peak hours. Vehicle traffic counting was used to establish the proportion of freight and public transport cars in the total number of passing vehicles. The study objects included traffic density (the number of vehicles per hour), the average velocity of the traffic flow, the type of roadway coverage, the presence of a dividing line, and the type of highway noise barriers used. Results: Our findings showed that road traffic noise levels and CO concentrations measured at the highways and at the border of adjacent residential areas exceeded their maximum permissible values. Measures to reduce adverse health effects of traffic noise pollution and on-road vehicle emissions of carbon monoxide are proposed.