Air pollution measurements in traffic tunnels.

Air pollution measurements during April 1991 are reported from the Craeybeckx highway tunnel in Antwerp, Belgium. The tunnel was used daily by an average of 45,000 vehicles, of which 60% were gasoline fueled passenger cars, 20% diesel cars, and 20% trucks. Of the gasoline cars, only 3% had three-way catalysts. Tunnel air concentrations of nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nonmethane hydrocarbons, volatile organic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and lead are presented. The traffic emissions in the tunnel are calculated by the carbon balance method, which uses the increase of the total carbon concentration in the tunnel air as the reference quantity. Division of the concentration of any pollutant by the total carbon concentration gives emission factors per kilogram of carbon. These emission factors can be converted directly to emissions relative to fuel consumption or per kilometer. The fraction of diesel used in the tunnel was derived from sulphur to carbon ratios in tunnel air. A calculation procedure with breakdown of emission factors according to vehicle categories was used to estimate countrywide emissions. The estimated emissions were compared to results from the Flanders Emissions Inventory [Emissie Inventaris Vlaamse Regio (EIVR)] and calculated emissions according to the emission factors proposed by the European Commissions CORINAIR Working Group. For NOx there is excellent agreement. For carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons, the tunnel data produced higher emissions than the CORINAIR model would predict but lower than the official EIVR statistics. The estimated lead emissions from traffic are found to be 22 to 29% of the lead in gasoline.