Estimation of emission strengths of primary air pollutants in the city of Izmir, Turkey

This paper presents the air pollutant emission inventory of primary pollutants for Izmir, which is a highly industrialized area situated in the western part of Turkey. A proper emission inventory is very important for planning pollution control programs, particularly in coastal sites like Izmir, where environmental quality is of growing concern owing to their typical meteorological conditions. The sources were broadly classified as point, line and area sources in a systematic way. The data on activity levels of industries, fuel consumption in vehicles and domestic activities along with the respective emission factors were used for estimating the emissions for the year 2000. The results showed that industry is the most polluting sector for sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the study area contributing about 88% of total emissions. On the other hand, domestic heating is the most polluting sector contributing about 56% of total PM emissions while traffic has the highest portion for NOX emissions. Especially, emissions from industries located outside the metropolitan city center are much higher in amount. Industries located around the Izmir metropolitan center contribute to the industrial SO2 emissions by 93%, PM emissions by 59% and NOX emissions by 80% of the total.