Partial and Total Annoyance Due to Road Traffic Noise Combined with Aircraft or Railway Noise: Structural Equation Analysis.

Structural equation modeling was used to analyze partial and total in situ annoyance in combined transportation noise situations. A psychophysical total annoyance model and a perceptual total annoyance model were proposed. Results show a high contribution of Noise exposure and Noise sensitivity to Noise annoyance, as well as a causal relationship between noise annoyance and lower Dwelling satisfaction. Moreover, the Visibility of noise source may increase noise annoyance, even when the visible noise source is different from the annoying source under study. With regards to total annoyance due to road traffic noise combined with railway or aircraft noise, even though in both situations road traffic noise may be considered background noise and the other noise source event noise, the contribution of road traffic noise to the models is greater than railway noise and smaller than aircraft noise. This finding may be explained by the difference in sound pressure levels between these two types of combined exposures or by the aircraft noise level, which may also indicate the city in which the respondents live. Finally, the results highlight the importance of sample size and variable distribution in the database, as different results can be observed depending on the sample or variables considered.

Quantification of the exposure and effects of road traffic noise in a dense Asian city: a comparison with western cities.

BACKGROUND: Particularly in Asia, dense, traffic-intense, and usually high-rise cities are increasingly the norm. Is existing knowledge on exposure to road traffic noise, and on people's response to such exposure, garnered primarily from western cities, equally applicable in these? METHODS: Hong Kong has high population and traffic density and a high-rise building form. Road traffic noise exposure was estimated, and residents' responses to traffic noise measured, for a sample of 10,077 dwellings. Noise level estimates were based on three-dimensional modelling. Best international survey practice measured self-reported annoyance and sleep-disturbance. Benchmark estimates of exposure, and of annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbance, are provided. We compare Hong Kong exposure with those of European cities, and the exposure-response relationship for annoyance in Hong Kong to those reported from elsewhere - based on the tolerance limits of previous syntheses. Exposure-response for self-reported sleep disturbance is also compared. RESULTS: The distribution of exposures of dwellings in high-rise, high-density, Hong Kong is different from those reported from Europe, but not at the higher noise levels. The exposure-annoyance relationship for road traffic noise was from the same population of exposure-response relationships, being well within the tolerance limits, of studies used to generate the synthesized Miedema and Oudshoorn curves. The exposure-response curve for self-reported sleep disturbance was parallel to that of Miedema and Vos but slightly lower. CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of the Hong Kong population exposed to high levels (>70 dB) is similar to that found in Europe. However, a much higher proportion, compared to European cities, is exposed to Lden levels of 60-64 dB, and a much lower proportion to lower levels (<55 dB). There is no evidence that the exposure-response relationships for annoyance and self-reported sleep disturbance in Hong Kong are different from relationships synthesized from earlier studies - despite the western bias and temperate-climate bias in the studies available in the syntheses. This is an important finding for urban planning and traffic noise management of the growing mega-cities in the world whose built forms can be expected to reflect that of Hong Kong more than of cities in the west.

Relationship between road traffic noisescape and urban form in Hong Kong.

This paper reports on a study which explored the possible relationship between road traffic noisescape and urban form in Hong Kong. A total of 212 residential complexes from 11 contrasting urban forms were sampled, and their noise levels assessed both at dwelling and neighbourhood scales by noise mapping. Its findings indicate that residential complexes with different urban forms have significantly different noisescape attributes. There is a strong correlation between the noise characteristics and morphological indicators at the dwelling scale. A less obstreperous noisescape is associated with urban forms with lower road and building densities, and with building arrangements which provide self-noise screening. These findings suggest that urban form is an influential determinant of the noisescape in the urban environment, and they point to the need to rethink the conventional approach to managing the urban acoustic environment.

Differential exposure of the urban population to vehicular air pollution in Hong Kong.

This study aims to characterize the spatial variations in, and examine the influence of socio-economic class on, the exposure of urban population of Hong Kong to air pollution from vehicular sources. Hong Kong provides a unique and interesting case for an in-depth study of environmental inequality because of its dense environment and housing provision mechanism through which about half of the population is accommodated in public housing estates provided by the government. To estimate the exposure of the urban population to vehicular air pollution, the IMMIS(net) air dispersion model developed for city-wide air quality assessment was used. The annual mean concentrations of CO, NO(x), SO(2) and PM(10) were estimated for various assessment points of 275 public and 295 private building groups. The results show more pronounced inequality among residents living in private than in public housing estates. Elderly people and those of lower socio-economic status were found to be exposed to relatively higher levels of vehicular air pollution compared with groups of higher socio-economic status. However, when all the residents in Hong Kong were pooled together for analysis, no distinct class-biased patterns were found. This could be ascribed to the housing provision mechanism, in which less well-off people are accommodated in public housing estates where the air quality is relatively better. This study highlights the importance of government intervention in housing provision, through which the deprived groups in Hong Kong are inadvertently more protected from air pollution exposure.

Airborne particulates and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air in Donghe, northern China.

Five sets of size-fractionated particles were collected in a northern China village in various seasons in order to measure respirable airborne particulates (PM10) and particulate phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in ambient air. The time-weighted annual mean concentration and standard deviation of PM10 were 358 +/- 107 microg/m3, higher than both the national standard (100 microg/m3) and the levels observed in several contaminated northern Chinese cities. In addition to high levels of PAHs (391 +/- 487 ng/m3), the fraction of higher molecular weight PAHs was higher than most reported in the literature, and the time-weighted annual mean benzo(a)pyrene equivalent concentration was 44.2 +/- 51.4 ng/m3, more than four times the national standard of 10 ng/m3 and 44 times the WHO guideline of 1 ng/m3. Apparently, residents in Donghe suffer from exposure to high levels of both PM10 and particulate phase PAHs. The particle size distribution was centered in the range of Dp < or = 3.3 microm in winter and shifted to the ranges of Dp < or = 2.1 microm and 5.8 microm < Dp < 10 microm in spring and summer respectively. Approximately 90.0% of PAHs were associated with airborne particulates with Dp < or = 2.1 microm.

Phosphorus retention and release by sediments in the eutrophic Mai Po Marshes, Hong Kong.

This study examined the phosphorus retention and release characteristics of sediments in the eutrophic Mai Po Marshes in Hong Kong. Results of chemical fractionation show that the sum of inorganic P pools exceeded 50% of the total sediment P content, with the redox-sensitive iron-bound P (Fe(OOH) approximately P) being the dominant P fraction. Given the considerable average Fe(OOH) approximately P concentration of 912 microg g(-1), Mai Po sediments demonstrated a great potential to release bioavailable P under low sediment redox potentials. This was further supported by the high mean anaerobic P flux of 31.8 mg m(-2)d(-1) recorded in Mai Po sediment cores, indicating the role of bottom sediments as a net P source. Although sediments in Mai Po had appreciable Langmuir adsorption maxima (1642-3582 mg kg(-1)), the high zero equilibrium P concentrations (0.02-0.51 mg L(-1)) obtained suggest that sediment sorption processes would contribute to sustaining the eutrophic conditions in overlying water column even with a further reduction in external P load. Concerted efforts should be made to reduce internal loading of P, especially under reducing conditions, to complement the implementation of zero discharge policy for Deep Bay for effective eutrophication abatement and long-term water quality improvement in the Mai Po Marshes.

Environmental quality of urban parks and open spaces in Hong Kong.

It is widely purported that urban parks and open spaces can improve the urban environment by cleansing the air and reducing the noise. However, such environmental functions can be constrained by the size and the location of urban parks in very dense cities. This study examines the air and acoustic environment and heavy metal contamination in Hong Kong urban parks and open spaces. Using a hybrid field measurement and computer simulation approach, the study has found that while the air quality in urban parks is better than that of the roadside, it is not significantly different from that of the ambient conditions. Noise levels in the urban parks are not significantly lower than those at the typical home environment in Hong Kong. Heavy metals in urban park dust are slightly lower than that found at the roadside and are broadly comparable to those found at typical homes and nursery schools. These findings lend support to the postulation that the capability of urban parks and open spaces in dense cities to improve the urban environment is rather limited and call for a re-examination of the role of urban parks in enhancing urban livability. The findings also have implications on how urban parks in dense cities should be designed and managed.

Heavy metal contents and magnetic properties of playground dust in Hong Kong.

This study examined the levels of seven heavy metals (namely zinc, copper, cadmium, chromium, lead, manganese and iron) and their associations with magnetic properties in playground dust of Hong Kong. Results showed that the playground dust contained high concentrations of Zn (mean = 1883 microg g(-1)), Cu (mean = 143 microg g(-1)) and Cr (mean = 263 microg g(-1)). Qualitative examination of dust samples under microscope indicated local traffic as one of the important pollutant sources. Magnetic measurements indicated that these anthropogenic pollutants mainly consisted of coarse-grained multidomain (MD) ferrimagnetic minerals. Superparamagnetic (SP), stable single domain (SSD) ferrimagnetic grains and non-ferrimagnetic minerals were present in relatively small amounts. Significant correlations between heavy metals and various magnetic parameters indicated a strong affinity of heavy metals to magnetic minerals hence pointed out the potential of magnetic properties for simple and rapid proxy indications of heavy metal pollution in playground dust.