BTEX pollution caused by motorcycles in the megacity of HoChiMinh

Monitoring of benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTEX) was conducted along with traffic counts at 17 roadside sites in urban areas of HoChiMinh. Toluene was the most abundant substance, followed byp,m-xylenes, benzene,o-xylene and ethylbenzene. The maximum observed hour-average benzene concentration was 254μg/m3 . Motorcycles contributed to 91% of the traffic fleet. High correlations among BTEX species, between BTEX concentrations and the volume of on-road motorcycles, and between inter-species ratios in air and in gasoline indicate the motorcycle-exhaust origin of BTEX species. Daily concentrations of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, p,m-xylenes ando-xylene were 56, 121, 21, 64 and 23μg/m3 , respectively. p,m-xylenes possess the highest ozone formation potential among the BTEX family

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S100107421260045X
http://repository.vnu.edu.vn/handle/VNU_123/32862