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Review
. 2023 Mar 6;21(1):21-34.
doi: 10.1007/s40201-023-00855-0. eCollection 2023 Jun.

Comparative review of ambient air PM2.5 source apportioning studies in Tehran

Hossein Khajehpour  1 , Farzaneh Taksibi  2 , Mohammad Sadegh Hassanvand  3   4
Affiliations
Review

Comparative review of ambient air PM2.5 source apportioning studies in Tehran

Hossein Khajehpour et al. J Environ Health Sci Eng. .

Abstract

Rapid urbanization and consuming lifestyles have intensified air pollution in urban areas. Air pollution in megacities has imposed severe environmental damages to human health. Proper management of the issue necessitates identification of the share of emission sources. Therefore, numerous research works have studied the apportionment of the total emissions and observed concentrations among different emissions sources. In this research, a comprehensive review is conducted to compare the source apportioning results for ambient air PM2.5 in the megacity of Tehran, the capital of Iran. One hundred seventy-seven pieces of scientific literatures, published between 2005 and 2021, were reviewed. The reviewed research are categorized according to the source apportioning methods: emission inventory (EI), source apportionment (SA), and sensitivity analysis of the concentration to the emission sources (SNA). The possible reasons for inconsistency among the results are discussed according to the scope of the studies and the implemented methods. Although 85% of the reviewed original estimates identify that mobile sources contribute to more thant 60% of Tehran air pollution, the distribution of vehicle types and modes are clearly inconsistent among the EI studies. Our review suggests that consistent results in the SA studies in different locations in central Tehran may indicate the reliability of this method for the identification of the type and share of the emission sources. In contrast, differences among the geographical and sectoral coverage of the EI studies and the disparities among the emission factors and activity data have caused significant deviations among the reviewed EI studies. Also, it is shown that the results of the SNA studies are highly dependent on the categorization type, model capabilities and EI presumptions and data input to the pollutant dispersion modelings. As a result, integrated source apportioning in which the three methods complement each other's results is necessary for consistent air pollution management in megacities.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40201-023-00855-0.

Keywords: Air pollution; Emission inventory; PM2.5; Sensitivity analysis; Source apportioning; Source apportionment; Tehran.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flow diagram for the scoping review process
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Sampling locations of individual SA studies in different districts of Tehran and the implemented SA methods
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of the SA results from [, , –64] (Among the shown results in Fig. 3, the starred items did not report values for share of natural/dust sources in PM concentrations and the double-starred items did not report the share of the secondary aerosols, individually)
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Comparison of the EI results presented in [20] by the sensitivity analysis of the concentration from mobile source emissions developed in [65]
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Comparison of the EI results presented in [11] by the sensitivity analysis of the concentration from sectoral emission developed in [66]
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Comparison of the accuracy and data requirements/cost of the source apportioning approaches
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Comparison of the shares of the mobile sources in total primary PM2.5 emissions or the observed concentrations
Fig. 8
Fig. 8
Statistical distribution of the share of mobile sources in the EI and SA literature
Fig. 9
Fig. 9
Shares of different mobile source categories in total primary PM2.5 emissions or concentrations from mobile sources
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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