Population Exposure to Vehicle Emissions

Image via WikipediaHoning the Methods: Assessing Population Exposures to Motor Vehicle Exhaust (28 page pdf, Chris Van Atten,Michael Brauer,Tami Funk, Nicolas L. Gilbert,Lisa Graham,Debra Kaden,Paul J. Miller,Leonora Rojas Bracho,Amanda Wheeler,and Ronald H. White, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Nov, 2004)

Today’s article under review is the result of a major international workshop convened in Montreal Canada in 2003 to consider recommendations for assessing exposure to vehicle emissions and the resulting health impacts, especially to young children and the elderly. It points out one application of a California law forbidding school sites within 500 ft of traffic. A caution is expressed about the widespread urges of urban planners towards intensification which may present new health hazards to the denser populations in the urban core.

Key Quotes:

“we provide an overview of the emerging policy requirements, along with a conceptual framework for motor vehicle exhaust exposure assessments that can help inform policy decisions”

“The new [California] law prohibits the approval of school sites within 500 feet of the edge of the closest traffic lane of a freeway or other busy traffic corridor unless the school district determines that air quality levels at the proposed site do not pose either a significant short-term or long-term risk to pupils“

“The policy of promoting the infilling of residential housing in urban central core areas, while beneficial for the economic revitalization of these areas and reducing urban sprawl and VMT, could also increase the population potentially exposed to high levels of motor vehicle emissions, especially from heavy-duty vehicles”

“Having monitors located in representative sites for population exposures to vehicle exhaust is clearly an important assessment need”

“Researchers should work with transportation planners to identify potential “hot spots” along existing major routes or at sites of proposed highway expansion projects as candidates for exposure assessments”

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