Exposure to particulate matter in traffic: A comparison of cyclists and car passengers

Infrastructure and spatial effects on the frequency of cyclist-motorist collisions in the Copenhagen Region

“…While some evidence points in the direction of cycling offering advantages because of the physical activity that reduces the health risks inherent to a sedentary life (e.g., 9,10,11), other evidence points in the direction of cycling bringing along negative effects because of the exposure to traffic pollution and crash risk (e.g., 12,13,14). When considering that the crash risk on a bicycle is definitely higher than the one on a motorized vehicle (e.g., 15,16,17) and factoring that it is the most significant disincentive to cycling (e.g., 18,19,20), investigating the factors contributing to the risk of being involved in a crash while riding a bicycle assumes a fundamental role for urban and transport planners aiming to increase the appeal of their cities and regions to potential cyclists.…”

Mobile monitoring for mapping spatial variation in urban air quality: Development and validation of a methodology based on an extensive dataset

“…Mobile measurements are used for a range of different purposes, e.g. to assess personal exposure by equipping the study object with a portable monitor (Berghmans et al, 2009;Boogaard et al, 2009;Dons et al, 2011;SpiraCohen et al, 2010), to assess the exposure in different modes of transport (Kaur et al, 2005;Int Panis et al, 2010;Kingham et al, 2013), to study spatial variation in air pollution (Weijers et al, 2004;Zwack et al, 2011c;MacNaughton et al, 2014), to investigate seasonal and regional variation (Bukowiecki et al, 2003), to study spatio-temporal correlation with noise (Weber, 2009), or to develop and validate air quality models (Zwack et al, 2011a;Merbitz et al, 2012). Other studies address the potential of using mobile measurements to construct air pollution maps at a high spatial resolution (e.g.…”

The mortality impact of bicycle paths and lanes related to physical activity, air pollution exposure and road safety

“…Table 2 is based on 74 minutes of cycling per week (0.176 h/day), the average of Dutch citizens above 20 years of age (Statistics Netherlands, 2015).  In accordance with De Hartog et al (2010) we assumed a ventilation rate of 5 l/min during sleep and 10 l/min during rest while a range between 21 and 50 l/min is assumed for cycling (Bernmark et al, 2006;Int Panis et al, 2010;van Wijnen et al, 1995;Zuurbier et al, 2009) with 1 l/min equalling 0.03 m 3 /h. We applied the highest value for the upper level of the effect range, and vice versa for the lowest.…”

“…In traffic, the exposure is not only dependent on the concentration but also on the ventilation rate of road users. Total daily doses of pollutants (the product of ventilation rate, duration of exposure, and concentration) have to be estimated to take the increased respiratory rate in cyclists into account (De Hartog et al, 2010;Int Panis et al, 2010). The change of the inhaled dose of pollutants for a scenario is the basis for estimating an 'equivalent' change in concentration to which the relative risks of the Hoek et al (2013) study would then apply.…”

“…The left box and middle box in the figure are concerned with the health impact related to increased time spent cycling (or walking). Cyclists run a greater risk of road crashes and they inhale more air pollution than drivers (Int Panis et al, 2010; but the health benefits of increased physical activity outweigh those risks (De Hartog et al, 2010;Rojas-Rueda et al, 2012). Also, there are health gains for the general population (middle of Figure 4).…”