PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Lim, Shanon
AU  - Barratt, Benjamin
AU  - Holliday, Lois
AU  - Griffiths, Christopher
AU  - Mudway, Ian
TI  - Professional Drivers Exposure to Black Carbon in London, the Diesel Exposure Mitigation Study
AID  - 10.1183/13993003.congress-2019.OA486
DP  - 2019 Sep 28
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - OA486
VI  - 54
IP  - suppl 63
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/54/suppl_63/OA486.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/54/suppl_63/OA486.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2019 Sep 28; 54
AB  - Background: Despite the health risks of diesel engine exhaust, minimal research has been undertaken to quantify the exposures of professional drivers. To address this, we examined personal black carbon (BC) exposures of professional drivers in London under a range of occupational settings, vehicle types and driving conditions.Method: GPS-linked BC sensors were provided to 130 drivers (taxi drivers, couriers, heavy freight, waste removal and emergency services) for 96 hours, with measurements every minute. Drivers also completed a questionnaire, detailing their ventilation preferences, vehicle type and their number of working hours per day.Preliminary Results: Average driver exposure to BC was 3x higher at work (3.5 ± 2.9 µg/m3) compared to periods at home (1.1 ± 0.7 µg/m3). During work, drivers experienced high spikes in exposure, often exceeding 100 µg/m3. The highest exposed drivers were taxi drivers (6.0 ± 4.6 µg/m3), while the lowest were those in emergency services (2.0 ± 0.7 µg/m3). Window position influenced BC exposures, with concentrations being 2.5x higher for drivers with windows open versus closed. Across the same monitoring period ambient BC concentrations were 2.5 ± 1.8 µg/m3 at a London roadside and 0.8 ± 0.7 µg/m3 at the London background.Conclusion: We have performed the largest study of driver exposures to a proxy of diesel exposure (BC) in an urban environment. These data confirm the very high exposures experience by professional drivers in their working lives, but also indicate that simple measures, such as closing vehicle windows can significantly reduce exposures. Measurements made at fixed monitoring sites were not representative of driver exposure to BC.FootnotesCite this article as: European Respiratory Journal 2019; 54: Suppl. 63, OA486.This is an ERS International Congress abstract. No full-text version is available. Further material to accompany this abstract may be available at www.ers-education.org (ERS member access only).