Disability-Adjusted Life Years in the Assessment of Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution

Abstract

Traffic-related air pollutants have an impact on human health and have been recognized as one of the main stressors that cause mortality and morbidity in urban areas. Research confirms that citizens living in the vicinity of main roads are strongly exposed to high concentrations of numerous air pollutants. In the present study the measurements of traffic-related parameters such as density, velocity, and structure were performed for cross-sections of selected street canyons in Warsaw, the capital city of Poland. In addition, the results of the general traffic measurements were used to describe the number of cars crossing the border of the city. Vehicle emissions of PM10 were calculated for the whole city area and changes of the PM10 concentration were modeled to present the exposure to this pollutant that could be attributable to traffic. The principles of the environmental burden of disease (EBD) were used. The assessment of the impact of traffic-related air pollutants on human health was made. The results, presented in disability-adjusted life years (DALY), were based on the outcomes of the study conducted in 2008-2012 in Warsaw, one the most congested agglomerations in Europe, and included the health damage effect of the exposure to high concentrations of air pollutants. DALY calculations were performed in accordance to the methodologies used in renowned international scientific research on EBD.

Spatiotemporal Variations and Influencing Factors Analysis of PM2.5 Concentrations in Jilin Province, Northeast China

“…With rapid economic growth, industrialization and urbanization, China has experienced a severe air pollution problem which has been recognized as a major concern. The concentrations of particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5μm or smaller (PM 2.5 ) have attracted special attention due to the high levels, as well as its associations with adverse effects on human health (Adamkiewicz et al, 2014;Zwozdziak et al, 2016;Wang et al, 2017) and ecosystem (Chen et al, 2014;Zhai et al, 2014;. Therefore, many regulations, standards and monitoring measures have been prioritized to control PM 2.5 emission.…”

Burden of Mortality and Disease Attributable to Multiple Air Pollutants in Warsaw, Poland

“…Their estimate for health burden is 1700 DALYs, about one magnitude smaller than our estimate. However, if we compare [ 47 ]’s results with the health burden caused by PM 2.5–10 and NO X , then the difference in results is much smaller (5400 DALYs in this study versus 1700 DALYs in [ 47 ]). This might indicate that [ 47 ]’s results are smaller because they didn’t include fine particulate matter (PM 2.5 ) in their analysis.…”

“…The main reason for the lower burden in this study is the update of the concentration–response function for all-cause mortality for PM 2.5 , [ 23 , 30 ]. Adamkiewicz et al [ 47 ] used roadside measurements to estimate the contribution of local traffic to atmospheric PM 10 and NO X concentration in the study area, and the Life Cycle Impact Assessment tool ReCiPe ( ) to estimate the health burden due to these two pollutants. Their estimate for health burden is 1700 DALYs, about one magnitude smaller than our estimate.…”

Survey of Energy Harvesting Systems for Wireless Sensor Networks in Environmental Monitoring

“…Due to the increasing awareness of the health risks associated with air pollution [41], people and local governments are installing sensor networks to monitor the air quality. In these monitoring systems the measurement nodes are spread over vast areas.…”