Home > Articles > All Issues > 2024 > Volume 15 Number 1 (2024) >
doi: 10.18178/ijesd.2024.15.1.1465
Investigation of Indoor Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Exposure and Health Risk Assessment at a Cross-Border Checkpoint, Chiang Rai Province in Tourism Seasonality
2. Department of Environmental Science and Technology, Faculty of Science, Lampang Rajabhat University, Lampang, Thailand
3. Chemical Industrial Process and Environment Program, Faculty of Science, Energy and Environment, King Mongkut’s University of Technology North Bangkok (Rayong Campus), Rayong 21120, Thailand
Email: Bank301126@gmail.com (P.C.); dbeat_13@hotmail.com (T.P.); sopida.too@gmail.com (S.S.); kpoungbut@gmail.com (K.P.); s.sopittaporn@gmail.com (S.S.); susira.b@sciee.kmutnb.ac.th (S.B.)
*Corresponding author
Abstract—The inhalation of indoor nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is generated by traffic density and is associated with a risk to human health. The objective of this study was to assess indoor NO2 levels at the Chiang Khong District border crossing at the 4th Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge (Chiang Khong-Huay Xai) in Chiang Rai Province in order to evaluate indoor air quality in tourist season within the limits of a health risk assessment. Indoor NO2 samplings were collected by using a passive sampling method. The results for indoor NO2 concentrations in all sampling sites in the Chiang Khong District border ranged between 18.7±5.8 to 37.8±28.9 μg/m3. The highest indoor NO2 concentration was measured in April 2023 (25.1±10.8 to 88.3±30.6 μg/m3) because the total number of tourists and vehicles passing at a cross-border crossing was the highest, which is peak season and Songkran festival in Thailand. Moreover, a significant correlation between indoor NO2 concentrations was found between the total number of vehicles and tourists (p<0.01). Indoor NO2 concentrations have been influenced by trucks and cars. The levels of indoor NO2 emitted by diesel-powered vehicles were obvious. Long-term Hazard Quotient (HQ) values in relation to non-carcinogenic hazards to human health caused by indoor NO2 exposure revealed that children had higher HQ levels than adults.
Keywords—nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Hazard Quotient (HQ), non-carcinogenic risk assessment, air pollution
Cite: Piyapan Chuamuangpan, Thitipong Ployleaung, Sopida Supotina, Kunyarat Poungbut, Sopittaporn Sillapapiromsuk, and Susira Bootdee, "Investigation of Indoor Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) Exposure and Health Risk Assessment at a Cross-Border Checkpoint, Chiang Rai Province in Tourism Seasonality," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 36-43, 2024.
Copyright © 2024 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).
