Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution and Health in Europe

Aphekom

Also discussed here: Aphekom (Improving Knowledge and Communication for Decision Making on Air Pollution and Health in Europe)

And here:

Traffic Air Pollution and Health Impacts in Urban Italy (Pollution Free Cities, May 20, 2011)

Today’s review article is a summary of the work of the Aphekom project in Europe over the last 3 years. It points to findings which show that living near busy roads (defined as those with typically more than 10,000 vehicles per day) present a significant health risk in terms of reduced life expectancy and health costs.



Key Quotes:

“on average, over 50% of the population in the 10 European cities studied lives within 150 metres of roads travelled by 10,000 or more vehicles per day and could thus be exposed to substantial levels of toxic pollutants”

“on average for all 10 cities studied, 15-30 per cent of exacerbations of asthma in children, acute worsening of COPD and acute CHD problems are attributable to air pollution”

“estimated an economic burden of more than Euro 300 million every year attributable to chronic diseases caused by living near heavy traffic…Our work suggests the total benefits of reducing traffic exposure for urban populations may have been largely underestimated until now"

Related articles

• Years of Air Pollution May Be Tied to Uncontrolled Asthma (nlm.nih.gov)
• Road pollution fears for pupils (bbc.co.uk)
• Coca-Cola's Green Billboard Made of Plants That Absorb Air Pollution (adweek.com)
• Health Costs of Air Pollution from Traffic in U.S. Cities (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
• More Evidence Air Pollution May Be a Heart Risk (nlm.nih.gov)
• Urban Health Impacts of Climate Change and Air Pollution in Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
• Modelling Exposure to Health Risks from Air Pollution (pollutionfree.wordpress.com)
• Cardiovascular effects and air pollution....or is it just noise?? (oehscience.wordpress.com)