Study Finds 25% of Cars Cause 90% of Pollution

Increasing emissions regulations may not be enough to slow down pollution from cars.

A study by researchers at the University of Toronto found that 25 percent of the vehicles on the road produced 95 percent of black carbon or soot, 93 percent of carbon monoxide and 76 percent of volatile organic compounds. The study compared data from 100,000 vehicles as they drove past and suggests that a small number of older vehicles produce the majority of the vehicle pollution.

The researched conducted the study by using a “lab in a truck” to measure vehicle emissions on the streets of Toronto. By using a mobile lab that resembled a Canada Post mail truck, the researchers were able to obtain live data using real-time instruments that take measurements in seconds.

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One of the studies found that “people living or spending time near major roadways could be exposed to elevated levels of a dangerous chemical brew of ultrafine particles, volatile organic compounds, black carbon and other pollutants.”

Past research on air pollution from vehicles show poor air quality between 100 to 250 meters of major roadways, but the researchers at the University of Toronto found that concentrations of pollutants from traffic are still double at a distance of 280 meters.

“The most surprising thing we found was how broad the range of emissions was,” said Greg Evans, University of Toronto chemical engineer. “As we looked at the exhaust coming out of individual vehicles, we saw so many variations. How you drive, hard acceleration, age of the vehicle, how the car is maintained – these are things we can influence that can all have an effect on pollution.”

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