Emission of Air Pollution in the Transport Sector: Case Study of the City of Campos dos Goytacazes, Brazil

The transportation sector is certainly one of the main agent’s principals and has contributed to the increase in global air pollution. In Brazil, the large-scale use of diesel for charge and passenger transport produces considerable air pollution in cities. The objectives of the study were to determine the concentrations of gas emissions (CO, NO and NO2), identify the chemical species that make up the particulates, from the exhaust of diesel vehicles and identify chemical species of particulates accumulated in air conditioning filters realized in the city of Campos dos Goytacazes located in the State of Rio de Janeiro. Thus, for the determination of the gas concentrations, electrochemical sensors were used and in the identification of chemical species, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was used. The results showed CO concentrations in the range of 173 to 880 ppmv, of NO in the range 52 to 240 ppmv and NO2 in the range 6 to 252 ppmv in the vehicles exhaust, and chemical species of the particulates in the exhaust identified: Ca, Si, Fe, S, Ti, P, Zn, Sc and Mn. Furthermore, Ca, Si, Fe, S, Ti, P, Zn, Mn, K, Cl, Al, Pb, V, Cu, Sr, Br and Er were in the air conditioning system. The concentration of gases and particulates is increased by the presence of a large highway that runs through the city, with one intense flow of trucks and buses, which certainly contributes to the reduction of the region’s air quality.