A Method for the Site-Dependent Life Cycle Impact Assessment of Toxic Air Pollutants from Traffic Emissions

A method for the site-dependent Life Cycle Impact Assessment of toxic air pollutants from traffic emissions is presented which classifies emission sites in terms of their radial population density distribution and the annual mean wind speed within a circle of radius 100 kilometers. Taking the emission of particulate matter from vehicles in Germany as an example, estimates for the area-integrated product of population density and incremental pollutant concentration are derived for each class of emission sites. Results show a spread of about a factor 5 between the highest and lowest values caused largely by variations of the population density.