Seasonal contribution of air pollution of urban transport in the city of Chillan, Chile

Transportation is widely recognized to be a significant and increasing source of air pollution. In the city of Chillan there are many public cars, buses and trucks that have been retired from circulation in the metropolitan region (capital city of Santiago) due to strict regulation from local environmental authorities. In order to study air pollution in Chillan, a typical semi-agricultural central valley city located in the southern Bio-Bio Region of Chile, an aerosol monitoring study was established to measure ambient aerosol composition. The contributions of private cars, public cars, buses and delivery trucks were examined at a sampling site located downtown. The aerosol monitor was operated from September 2001 to September 2002. The study employed an IMPROVE PM10 sampler with Anderson inlet at 3 meters above ground collecting PM10 on Teflon membrane filter, nylon and quartz filter.