A meta-analysis of the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health and the factors affecting exposure

Lockhart, David; Vaganay, Marie; Macintyre, Sally; Joseph, Paul

doi:10.2495/air150161

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…Among the existing problems, it is known that pollution is a major source of health problems [ 3 , 12 ]. Moreover, there seems to be a worrying correlation between air pollution and the dissemination of respiratory infections [ 11 , 26 , 40 , 59 ]. More specifically, it appears that more pollution entails a higher risk of a respiratory illness, so minimizing exposure to air pollution (e.g., by reducing the time invested in parking) may help to reduce the spread of these diseases.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traffic and Pollution Modelling for Air Quality Awareness: An Experience in the City of Zaragoza

2022

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Air pollution due to the presence of small particles and gases in the atmosphere is a major cause of health problems. In urban areas, where most of the population is concentrated, traffic is a major source of air pollutants (such as nitrogen oxides or $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x and carbon monoxide or CO). Therefore, for smart cities, carrying out an adequate traffic monitoring is a key issue, since it can help citizens to make better decisions and public administrations to define appropriate policies. Thus, citizens could use these data to make appropriate mobility decisions. In the same way, a city council can exploit the collected data for traffic management and for the establishment of suitable traffic policies throughout the city, such as restricting the traffic flow in certain areas. For this purpose, a suitable modelling approach that provides the estimated/predicted values of pollutants at each location is needed. In this paper, an approach followed to model traffic flow and air pollution dispersion in the city of Zaragoza (Spain) is described. Our goal is to estimate the air quality in different areas of the city, to raise awareness and help citizens to make better decisions; for this purpose, traffic data play an important role. In more detail, the proposal presented includes a traffic modelling approach to estimate and predict the amount of traffic at each road segment and hour, by combining historical measurements of real traffic of vehicles and the use of the SUMO traffic simulator on real city roadmaps, along with the application of a trajectory generation strategy that complements the functionalities of SUMO (for example, SUMO’s calibrators). Furthermore, a pollution modelling approach is also provided, to estimate the impact of traffic flows in terms of pollutants in the atmosphere: an R package called Vehicular Emissions INventories (VEIN) is used to estimate the amount of $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x generated by the traffic flows by taking into account the vehicular fleet composition (i.e., the types of vehicles, their size and the type of fuel they use) of the studied area. Finally, considering this estimation of $$\hbox {NO}_x$$ NO x , a service capable of offering maps with the prediction of the dispersion of these atmospheric pollutants in the air has been established, which uses the Graz Lagrangian Model (GRAL) and takes into account the meteorological conditions and morphology of the city. The results obtained in the experimental evaluation of the proposal indicate a good accuracy in the modelling of traffic flows, whereas the comparison of the prediction of air pollutants with real measurements shows a general underestimation, due to some limitations of the input data considered. In any case, the results indicate that this first approach can be used for forecasting the air pollution within the city.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Traffic and Pollution Modelling for Air Quality Awareness: An Experience in the City of Zaragoza

2022

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Killing from Both Ends: A Re-Definition of Road Traffic Mortality

Vasu

Hansa

2023

ARAI J. Mobi. Tech.

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The metric of Road Traffic Mortality (RTM) is important: it is indicative of road safety, and is used to inform policy. Hitherto RTM is considered to be caused through collision or impact, or the “front” end of the vehicle. Mortality and morbidity arising from the “back” end of the vehicle, i.e., through tailpipe emissions, tends not to be included in the definition, or in the metric of RTM. Additionally, despite its widespread usage globally, RTM seems to lack a universal or standard definition. RTM is currently used interchangeably with about ten other acronyms. This lack of standard definition along with the exclusion of TRAP may underestimate the true mortality and morbidity arising from vehicular traffic. Further, the exclusion of mortality due to TRAP from RTM may relieve public policy from addressing this public health and climate change issue. A standardized definition of RTM is proposed in this paper. We are recommending the inclusion of exposure-related mortality and morbidity into RTM. To that end, the bifurcation of the definition of RTM into RTMi (Impact-related RTM) and RTMe (exposure-related RTM, such as through air or noise pollution) is proposed. This inclusion of RTMe into the metric of RTM might provide a legislative domicile for exposure-related mortality, advise policy change, and serve the dual purpose of strengthening climate policy efforts while bolstering public health.

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A meta-analysis of the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health and the factors affecting exposure

Cited by 2 publications

References 61 publications

Traffic and Pollution Modelling for Air Quality Awareness: An Experience in the City of Zaragoza

Traffic and Pollution Modelling for Air Quality Awareness: An Experience in the City of Zaragoza

Killing from Both Ends: A Re-Definition of Road Traffic Mortality

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