Air Quality in Phnom Penh
Mapping of Airborne Particulates: Phnom Penh, Cambodia
The city of Phnom Penh is experiencing growth and, with this growth, an increased level of air pollution. The most obvious form of air pollution is airborne particles that are attributed to increased vehicle traffic in the city - vehicular exhaust and re-entrained dust. For this study, airborne particulates were counted and sorted using a six-channel (0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1.0, 2.0, and 5.0 µm) laser particle counter. Initial sample counts were taken at 88 sites within the city of Phnom Penh, Cambodia from January 15 to17, 2007. These dates are representative of dry season conditions in Phnom Penh. A subset of 33 sites was re-sampled on June 19, 2007, a date representative of the wet season in Phnom Penh. Objectives of this study are to provide a baseline count for airborne particulates in the city of Phnom Penh, and to explore the characteristics of the particulate counts utilizing summary statistics and maps. The median Phnom Penh city-wide fine and coarse particle counts are 1.07 *108 /m3 and 1.36*106 /m3, respectively. Fine and coarse particle counts were 22 and 37 percent lower, respectively, during the wet season as compared to the dry season. While the fine particle count can be attributed to vehicle exhaust, the coarse particle count is attributed to re-entrained road dust and dirt roads. The overall coarse particle count is influenced by a number of hot spots across the city. Selective paving of these hot spots will greatly reduce the level of airborne coarse particulate.