What are the Health Benefits of Congestion Pricing?

Congestion Pricing, Air Pollution, and Urban Health (11 page pdf, Emilia Simeonova, Janet Currie, Peter Nilsson and Reed Walker, American Economics Association Meeting, Chicago, Jan. 2017)

Also discussed here: Driving Fee Rolls Back Asthma Attacks in Stockholm (Nala Rogers, Inside Science. Feb. 2, 2017)

Today we review research on the impact of the introduction of congestion pricing in Stockholm, in 2006, and the reduction of traffic that followed on the health of children in that city. Pollution levels in that city are lower than EPA’s standards. Results indicate that the pricing system caused a drop in traffic volumes by 25%, reductions in NO2 and particulate (PM10) pollution of 5 and 10% and a reduction in asthma cases by 12% in the first seven months which increased to 45% over the longer term (several years). While the benefits in other cities with fewer diesel vehicles (emitting PM) may not be as great, it is clear that there are benefits even when the air quality in a given city (such as Ottawa) is considered “good” and that there are negative health impacts that begin at lower thresholds than EPA standards project.



 

Key Quotes:

"We are already looking at an area that has much lower levels [of pollution] than the current [U.S. Environmental Protection Agency] standards, and we are reducing those levels by a little bit…Yet we see these vast changes in the health status of children."

“The tax varies between 0 and 2.6 USD per vehicle, depending on the time of the day. There are no charges at night, on weekends and public holidays, or during July. The toll is automatically collected using license plate scanning technology as cars cross the perimeter of the congestion zone.”

"If you're just looking at the short-term effects of lower levels of pollution, you will probably be missing a big piece of the picture."

 “current standards for air pollution may not adequately protect children…there is mounting evidence that health shocks in infancy and childhood have long-lasting impacts on affected children …the mechanisms through which children are affected by traffic-generated pollution may differ from those in adults. Lung development continues post-natally until the adolescent years and is susceptible to negative environmental shocks”

“Children under the age of six are the most likely to experience acute asthma. For example, U.S. children 0 to 4 are 1.9 times more likely to have an asthma attack than children 12 to 17 “

“Our estimates show that permanent reductions in air pollution from automobiles, even in locations which have average pollution levels well below the current EPA standards, can have significant positive effects on children’s respiratory health. “

“Congestion pricing may not work the same way in every part of the world. For example, diesel vehicles are more popular in Sweden than in the U.S.. Diesel produces more nitrogen dioxide and particulates than gasoline, so Sweden may have more to gain from small reductions in driving.”

Related articles

• What are the Health Impacts of Low Concentrations of PM2.5?
• Does Exposure to Traffic-Related Pollution Affect Dementia in Older Women?
• Does Air Pollution Affect Productivity?
• What is the Cost of Inaction on Climate Change?

Air Pollution from Cruise Ships in Port and at Sea

Hoping for a fresh sea breeze aboard a cruise ship? Better hold your nose! (Karin Jäger, DW Environment, Jan. 26, 2017)

Also discussed here: NABU Cruise Rankings 2016 : Cruise ships fall short in environmental protection (MARES, Sep. 1, 2016)

And here: This stinks! - Clean up cruise ships! NABU's campaign for a cleaner cruise industry (10 page pdf, NABU Background Cruise Ships, 2015))

And here: NABU measures air pollution in ports (NABU)

And here: Scrubbers – An economic and ecological assessment (45 page pdf, Eelco den Boer, Maarten 't Hoen, DELFT for Naturschutzbund Deutschland (NABU), Mar. 13, 2015)

And here: The 0.1% sulphur in fuel requirement as from 1 January 2015 in SECAs (30 page pdf, European Maritime Safety Agency, Dec. 13, 2010)

Today we review examples of pollution from cruise ships both in port and now with previously never measured pollution, at sea. One ship emits as much air pollution over the same distance travelled as 5 million cars. 38% of the NO2 and 19% of particulates in the major German cruise ship port, Hamburg, comes from maritime traffic. Only 80 ships out of 55,000 worldwide have scrubbers installed to reduce the back soot emitted. Most of the 14,000 ships sailing in European SECAs < Sulphur Emission Control Areas> every year switched to low sulphur fuels instead of installing scrubbers. The UN, through the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), has the mandate to regulate the maritime environment internationally through its International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (so-called MARPOL protocol).

   

Key Quotes:

 "Pamphlets lead you to believe that there are blue skies and white ships - a dream-like setting…The truth is that clouds of black soot are emitted from the funnels."

 “In 2014 worldwide 22 million passengers went on an ocean cruise…There are more than 35 new cruise ships with a total capacity of around 100,000 passengers that will be introduced to the European market until 2020. “

"Eighty percent of the fleet of ships operating in Europe either do not use any exhaust gas cleaning system or, to meet the minimum legal standards in Northern Europe, they simply use a scrubber to reduce the sulphur emissions.”

“One cruise ships emits as many air pollutants as five million cars on the same distance! This is because sea going vessels use heavy fuel oil for their engines, a fuel that on land would have to be disposed of as hazardous waste. Heavy fuel oil can contain up to 3,500 times more sulphur than diesel that is used for land traffic vehicles.”

“most ship emissions occur in immediate vicinity of the coast, from where they are carried far into the hinterland. On a global level, two thirds of all ship emissions are generated within 400 km from the coast”

“The port and its often celebrated cruise ship entries are a massive problem for the city of Hamburg. Thirty-eight percent of the nitrogen oxides and 19 percent of the particulate matter in the Hanseatic city are from maritime traffic,”

“The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) of the United Nations sets the international framework for the regulation of pollutant reductions in sea shipping traffic. Its International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (so-called MARPOL protocol) defines in Annex VI the permissible limit values regarding sulphur and nitrogen oxides, and bans the deliberate emission of substances harmful to the ozone laye”

“- Today round about 80 ships out of 55,000 worldwide have scrubbers installed; according to industry insiders up to 300 additional systems are on order….The overall majority of the 14,000 ships sailing in European SECAs every year switched to low sulphur fuels (MGO) instead of installing scrubbers”

“NABU did air quality testings in different port cities, in particular next to cruise and ferry terminals….While 1,000 particles per cubic centimeter are harmless, NABU’s scientist found up to 400,000 (ppm/cm2) next to the terminals. Air pollution levels like this even surpass concentrations next to main roads with dense traffic between 50 to 80 times.”

How is the Brain Damaged by Exposure to Traffic Related Air Pollution?

The Polluted Brain - Evidence Builds that Dirty Air Causes Alzheimer’s, Dementia (AAAS Science, Emily UnderwoodJan. 26, 2017) Also discussed here: Particulate Air Pollutants and White Matter Brain Aging (Abstract, Jiu-Chiuan Chen, Xinhui Wang, Mark A. Espeland, Helena Chui, Alzheimer’s and Dementia, Jul. 2014) And here: Traffic-related air pollution and brain development (21 page pdf, Nicholas Woodward, Caleb E. Finch and Todd E. Morgan , AIMS Environmental Science. May 6, 2015)

Today we review a series of research articles that reaffirm the health risks presented to people (and mice) who breathe in air polluted by vehicles and containing ultra-fine particles, in particular. Signs of memory loss and Alzheimer’s are evident in mice exposed to UFP. Levels of fine air particles within 50 m of major roadways are 10 times higher than at 150 m and those within 50 m stand a 12% higher risk of developing dementia. Tests involving prenatal mice showed that fetal damage can be done by fine particles without entering the placenta. The closer people live to major roadways, the smaller their celebral brain volume. What more do city planners and public health officials need to know about running highways and traffic through cities?

   

Key Quotes:

“Typically smaller than 0.2 µm in diameter, these “ultrafine” particles fall within a broader class of air pollutants commonly referred to as PM2.5 because of their size, 2.5 µm or less. When it comes to toxicity, size matters: The smaller the particles that cells are exposed to.. the higher their levels of oxidative stress, marked by the production of chemically reactive molecules such as peroxides, which can damage DNA and other cellular structures”

“living in places with PM2.5 exposures higher than the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) standard of 12 µg/m³ nearly doubled dementia risk in older women. If the finding holds up in the general population, air pollution could account for roughly 21% of dementia cases worldwide”

 “Neuroimaging and neuropathological studies have found that brain aging processes predominantly affect white matter (WM) in late life. Older people living in areas with high exposures to ambient particulate matter (PM) are more likely to have cognitive declines.”

“among 6.6 million people in the province of Ontario, those living within 50 meters of a major road—where levels of fine pollutants are often 10 times higher than just 150 meters away—were 12% more likely to develop dementia than people living more than 200 meters away. “

 “In mice that breathed the dirty air, they have found, the brain’s microglia release a flood of inflammatory molecules, including tumor necrosis factor a, which is elevated in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease and has been linked to memory loss. The pollution-exposed mice also showed other signs of brain damage,”

 “adverse health effects of air pollution exposure increase with closeness to major road… UFP <ultra-fine particles> was reduced by approximately 80% at a distance of 150 meters from the roadway..Neither PM2.5 nor PM10 decreased substantially within 150 meters …and are decreased by less than 20% at a distance of 400 m vs. 50 m from a roadway. The rate of dilution of UFP was correlated with increased cardiopulmonary mortality, inversely with distance from roadways”

“The placenta may be more vulnerable to nanoparticle entry later in gestation, when the placental wall has thinned and is more vascularized, but also early in gestation before the placenta is fully formed …The period after the placenta is formed, but before maternal-fetal circulatory systems are fully developed, could be less vulnerable to pollution exposure, due to minimal blood flow to the fetus. Nanoparticles may even cause fetal damage without penetrating the placenta, e.g. in vitro, nanoparticles can cause DNA damage even when they do not cross a cell barrier .. We note that these are not exclusionary hypotheses, and both may potentially be occurring. “

 “Traffic related air pollution is correlated with numerous detrimental health outcomes: increased cardiovascular mortality from adulthood exposures, and low birth weight and cognitive disorders from gestational exposure. These epidemiological observations are largely verified in animal models. “

 “the closer people had lived to a major roadway—and thus the more PM2.5 they had likely been exposed to—the smaller their cerebral brain volume. The association held up even after adjusting for factors such as education, smoking, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.”

Related articles

• Never mind the lungs. Air pollution can scramble your brain
• Fine Particulate Air Pollution in China Linked to Respiratory, Cardiovascular Deaths
• Air Pollution Increases Risk of Dementia Among Older Women, New Study Finds
• Links between Particulate Pollution, Diabetes and Heart Attack Risk
• How Does Air Pollution Cause Hypertension and Heart Attacks?
• The Link between Air Pollution and Hypertension
• How Does Outdoor Air Pollution Affect the Health of your Brain?
• Impacts of Long Term Exposure to Particulate Matter on Heart Rate Variability

How Does the Environment Affect Perceived Wait Times at Transit Stops?

Transit Stop Environments and Waiting Time Perception Impacts of Trees, Traffic Exposure, and Polluted Air (Abstract, Marina Lagune-ReutlerRelated information, Andrew GuthrieRelated information, Yingling FanRelated information, and David Levinson, Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Jan. 9, 2017)

Also discussed here: Transit Riders’ Perception of Waiting Time and Stops, Surrounding Environments (17 page MS Word, Marina Lagune-Reutler, Andrew Guthrie, Yingling Fan, David Levinson, Draft submitted to Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, July 2015)

Today we review research based on over 800 responses from users of public transit in Minneapolis, MN. The key factor studied was the wait times –both real and perceived- and how this varied with the type of environment found at bus and transit stops. Results indicate that polluted air and the presence of heavy traffic near the stops tended to increase the length of perceived wait time when this was over 5 minutes while the presence of trees and light traffic shortened the perceived wait time. Conclusions and recommendations to encourage more transit use include locating transit lines away from traffic and heavily polluted areas and planting trees and foliage near the stops. Canadians and those in cold climates would be heartened by the finding that more or less snow has little effect on transit users who, if anything were more likely to happy they
  were not driving a private car.




 Key Quotes:

“research on pedestrian design finds that high-quality and natural environments reduce stress and encourage walking and bicycling. It seems reasonable that similar effects would apply for transit users on the basis of the environments around transit stops”

“For waits longer than 5 min, perceptible pollution and exposure to traffic led to significant overestimates of waiting time. Riders waiting at stops with dense, mature tree cover, however, significantly underestimated their waiting times”

 “regular riders have relatively lower burdens for waiting than occasional transit users. Passengers’ negative emotions such as anxiety, boredom or stress tend to increase time perception of time while distractions appear to reduce their wait time estimates”

“women perceive longer waiting time at stops or stations located in an unsafe environment:at a simple curbside bus stop, a 10 minute wait seems to take nearly half an hour.”

 “The effect of dense, mature tree cover is strong enough to compensate for the effects of both air pollution and traffic awareness”

“The results strongly support the research hypothesis that the surrounding environment of transit stops and stations affects transit user’s wait time perception. They show in particular that air pollution, traffic awareness, and presence of mature trees are significantly correlated with wait time perception.”

 “The effect of the snow cover is unexpectedly positive and shows that the weather does not affect negatively transit users’ time perception. Transit users may be happy about the fact they aren’t driving, and alternatively, transit users on such days may have a high tolerance for cold weather, due to self selection.”

 “the results suggest that the more trees are present, the shorter the wait time is perceived by riders while the more polluted and exposed to the traffic the more transit users tend to overestimate wait time. These findings advocate for high quality urban environment surrounding stops and stations.”

 “Creating exclusive transit lanes or streets reserved for transit, bicycles and pedestrians (where feasible) are likely to reduce waiting time perceptions the most, due to low traffic volumes in terms of vehicle frequency compared with automotive traffic.”

 “the alignment of transit routes and the location of stops avoiding highly polluted areas where possible without affecting travel demand can also contribute to shorter wait time especially when headways are greater than five minutes”

 “Planting trees around stops offers local authorities an opportunity to significantly improve users' wait time perception,”

Related articles

• Why is Vancouver the Greenest City in the world and How is it Planning to Be Better?

How Do Air Pollution Alerts Affect Public Health Use?

Effects of an air pollution personal alert system on health service usage in a high-risk general population: a quasi-experimental study using linked data (7 page pdf, R A Lyons, S E Rodgers, S Thomas, R Bailey, H Brunt, D Thayer, J Bidmead, B A Evans, P Harold, M Hooper, H Snooks, J Epidemiol Community Health, May 23, 2016)

Today we review an analysis of the reaction of an “intervention” group of patients with air pollution- related illnesses (cardio-respiratory and COPD) to alerts produced by the UK’s airAware alert system over a two year period, as measured by visits to hospital emergency departments, compared to a control group which were not similarly afflicted. Results indicate a doubling of emergency admissions and four times the number of respiratory conditions for the intervention group compared to the control group. The authors conclude that some health interventions or alerts beyond a certain distribution level are harmful in terms of health service utilisation.

 .  

Key Quotes:

“The airAware system was a novel development because it integrated near real-time data rather than forecasting. Its design facilitated early identification of local air pollution problems and issued timely warnings of air pollution episodes reflecting levels of particulate matter (measured as particulate matter 10 μm or less in diameter”

“The number of messages per day was limited to three; on any single day no more than three alerts could be issued. Only one alert was issued for the day unless a higher pollution trigger level was met during the daily alerting period.”

“The intervention group experienced a doubling of emergency admissions for all relevant conditions and a fourfold admissions increase for respiratory conditions”

 “Our findings raise questions about the trade off between harms and benefits of air pollution alerting services. .. There is a growing evidence base demonstrating some public health interventions are harmful. Wider roll-out of such systems does not appear to be warranted given the current evidence base.“

Related articles

• China's smog has gotten so bad, it's almost impossible to see skyscrapers from the air
• Should you wear a pollution mask?
• Sadiq Khan issues high air pollution alert to millions of Londoners

How do Air Pollution and Noise from Road Traffic affect High Blood Pressure in Western Europe?

English: Main complications of persistent high blood pressure. Sources are found in main article: Wikipedia:Hypertension#Complications. To discuss image, please see Template_talk:Häggström diagrams. To edit, please use the svg version, convert to png and update both versions online. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and traffic noise and incident hypertension in seven cohorts of the European study of cohorts for air pollution effects (ESCAPE) (Abstract, Kateryna B Fuks, Gudrun Weinmayr, Xavier Basagaña, Olena Gruzieva, Regina Hampel, Bente Oftedal, Mette Sørensen, Kathrin Wolf, Geir Aamodt, Gunn Marit Aasvang, Inmaculada Aguilera, Thomas Becker, Rob Beelen, Bert Brunekreef, Barbara Caracciolo, Josef Cyrys, Roberto Elosua, Kirsten Thorup Eriksen, Maria Foraster, Laura Fratiglioni, Agneta Hilding, Danny Houthuijs, Michal Korek, Nino Künzli, Jaume Marrugat, Mark Nieuwenhuijsen, Claes-Göran Östenson, Johanna Penell, Göran Pershagen, Ole Raaschou-Nielsen, Wim Swart Jr, Annette Peters, Barbara Hoffmann, European Heart Journal, Oct. 24, 2016) 

Also discussed here:  World’s largest study shows effects of long-term exposure to air pollution and traffic noise on blood pressure (ScienceDaily, Oct. 25, 2016)

Key Quotes: 

“Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to a greater incidence of high blood pressure, according to the largest study to investigate the effects of both air pollution and traffic noise by following over 41,000 people in five different countries for five to nine years.” 

 “among adults, up to one extra person per 100 people of the same age group living in the most polluted areas of cities would develop high blood pressure (hypertension) compared to those living in the less polluted areas…similar to the effect of being overweight with a body mass index (BMI) between 25-30 compared to people with normal weight” 

“for every five micrograms [2] per cubic metre (5 µg/m3) of PM2.5, the risk of hypertension increased by a fifth (22%) in people living in the most polluted areas compared to those in the least polluted areas” 

“people living in noisy streets, where there were average night time noise levels of 50 decibels, had a six percent increased risk of developing hypertension compared to those living on quieter streets where average noise levels were 40 decibels during the night.” 

“there were higher average levels of pollution in the central and southern European study areas -- Germany and Spain -- than in the Scandinavian areas -- Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Exposure to traffic noise and traffic load was highest in the study areas of Sweden and Spain.”    

Related articles

• Running home from work in high air pollution could be deadly, study suggests
• Air pollution and neighborhood stress appear to harm aging brain
• Paris Makes All Public Transport Free To Battle The Worst Air Pollution In 10 Years
• A Congestion Charge for Downtown Toronto: An Analysis

Does Air Pollution Affect the Stock Market?

The Effect of Air Pollution on Investor Behavior: Evidence from the S&P 500 (Abstract, Anthony Heyes, Matthew Neidell, Soodeh Saberian, National Bureau of Economic Research, Oct. 26, 2016)

Also discussed here: Why investors may want to keep tabs on air pollution (CBS News, Oct. 26, 2016) 

And here: Air pollution and stock returns: Evidence from a natural experiment (Abstract, Gabriele M. Lepori, Journal of Empirical Finance, Jan. 2016) 

And here: Does the weather have impacts on returns and trading activities in order-driven stock markets? Evidence from China (Jing Lu, Robin K. Chou^, Journal of Empirical Finance, Jan. 2012) 

And here: Air pollution and stock returns in the US (Abstract, Tamir Levy, Joseph Yagil^, Journal of Economic Psychology, Jun. 2011) 

 Today we review several reports that look at the links, if any, between investment returns and short term changes in local air quality, as examined in the stock exchanges of the USA, Italy and China. There is some evidence that higher levels of fine particulate matter may reduce one day returns by almost 12%. Also, when the trading floor is near or within an area of higher air pollution, trading activity is affected.

Key Quotes:

“We hypothesize that pollution decreases the risk attitudes of investors via short-term changes in brain and/or physical health,”

“Unlike other common air pollutants -- which either remain outside or break down very rapidly once indoors -- going inside reduces one’s exposure to [fine particulate matter] only minimally…a one standard deviation increases in ambient PM2.5 reduces same-day returns by 11.9%”

“We find {USA] that air pollution is negatively related to stock returns, even when controlling for other variables. The relationship becomes weaker as the distance of the stock exchange from the polluted area increases.”

“we document the existence of an air pollution effect only when trading is conducted on the floor, which provides evidence in support of the view that the air pollution effect is at least partly mediated by the behavior of the trading floor community.”

“Our results [China] indicate that asset returns are unaffected by changes in mood introduced by factors including the weather and the onset and recovery from SAD… we show that in an order-driven market, environmental impacts on sentiment are likely to affect trading activities, but not returns.”

The Tire and Brake Share of Traffic-Related Air Pollution

Studded tyre Español: Neumático de invierno con clavos, modelo Nokian Hakkapeliitta 4 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Air pollution: Tyre and brake fatigue compound an exhausting problem (OECD, Shayne MacLachlan, OECD Environment Directorate, Sep.8, 2016) 

Key Quotes: 

“Tyre rubbish is the 13^th largest source of air pollution in Los Angeles, California, a city famous for its smog. A recent study showed links between PM_2.5 particles and the daily death rate in 6 Californian counties. When the PM_2.5 count was high, so was the death rate” 

 “research now contends possible links to lung cancer from recycling some of the 1 billion dead tyres used in, for example, the surfaces of playgrounds. Some are calling it the new asbestos” 

“there are over 1 billion cars on the road globally and on top of that just as many motorbikes and scooters. Add to that the pneumatic tyres used on trucks and public transport such as metro train systems and buses and we have a considerable source of road rubber. A road with 25,000 vehicles using it each day can produce up to nine kilograms of tyre dust per kilometre.”

 “Oslo announced a plan to ban all cars from its city centre in 2019; and Norway is in the process of preparing a bill that would issue a nation-wide ban of the sale of petrol-powered cars. In places such as Tuscany, cars are banned in city centres except for residents.”

How is Air Pollution Linked to Type 2 Diabetes?

Association Between Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution and Biomarkers Related to Insulin Resistance, Subclinical Inflammation and Adipokines (Abstract, Kathrin Wolf, Anita Popp, Alexandra Schneider, Susanne Breitner, Regina Hampel, Wolfgang Rathmann, Christian Herder, Michael Roden, Wolfgang Koenig, Christa Meisinger, Annette Peters, KORA-Study Group, Diabetes, Aug. 8, 2016)

Also discussed here: Air pollution a risk factor for diabetes, say researchers (ScienceDaily, Sep.8, 2016) And here: Diabetes Research - Risk Factor Air Pollution (Press Release, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Sep. 8, 2016)

And here: Air pollution exposure found to be risk factor for type 2 diabetes (Green Car Congress, Sep. 8, 2016)

Today we review research from Germany which examined the level of air pollution at the places of residence of 3,000 participants and how this relates to blood marker levels such as impaled glucose metabolism and the risk of Type 2 diabetes. Results indicate that a 7.9μg/m³ increment in particulate matter <10μm was associated with insulin resistance and that NO2, in particular, had a highly significant effects with pre-diabetic individuals as opposed to those who were either diabetic or not.

   

Key Quotes:

“the German Heart Centre analyzed the data of nearly 3,000 participants of the KORA study who live in the city of Augsburg and two adjacent rural counties”

“Exposure to air pollution at the place of residence increases the risk of developing insulin resistance as a pre-diabetic state of type 2 diabetes.”

 "The results revealed that people who already have an impaired glucose metabolism, so-called pre-diabetic individuals, are particularly vulnerable to the effects of air pollution…In these individuals, the association between increases in their blood marker levels and increases in air pollutant concentrations is particularly significant! Thus, over the long term -- especially for people with impaired glucose metabolism -- air pollution is a risk factor for type 2 diabetes."

“Among all participants, a 7.9μg/m³ increment in particulate matter <10μm was associated with higher HOMA-IR and insulin” “Nitrogen dioxide was associated with HOMA-IR, glucose, insulin, and leptin. Effect estimates for pre-diabetic individuals were much larger and highly statistically significant, while non-diabetic and diabetic individuals showed rather weak associations”

"Lowering the threshold for acceptable air pollution levels would be a prudent step…We are all exposed to air pollution. An individual reduction by moving away from highly polluted areas is rarely an option."

Related articles

• Study: Exposure To Common Air Pollution At Home Increases Insulin Resistance Risk
• Warning! Air Pollution Could Lead to Diabetes
• Diabetes: Risk Factor Air Pollution
• How is Air Pollution Linked to Diabetes and Insulin Sensitivity?
• Links between Particulate Pollution, Diabetes and Heart Attack Risk

Which Countries Have the the Most and Least Sustainable Cities?

A Global Perspective on the Sustainable Performance of Urbanization (16 page pdf, Liyin Shen, Chenyang Shuai, Liudan Jiao, Yongtao Tan and Xiangnan Song, Sustainability, Aug. 11, 2016)

Today we review a comparison of 111 countries, according to how well they perform in urban sustainability, made up of indices of environmental, economic and social sustainability. The best overall performers are developed countries in Western Europe, the worst in Africa and Asia. It is notable that although Sweden is not the top performer in any one of the three indices, it is the best overall, signaling how well that country balances the three aspects.

   

Key Quotes:  

" Urbanization has been identified as one of the most important strategies for development in the 21st century… According to the World Bank, ..the ratio of urban populations at a global level has already exceeded 50% in 2007 and this will continue to rise in the coming decades”

 “Sustainable urbanization can be defined as “urbanization practice that complies with sustainable development principles that combines environmental, social, and economic sustainability”

“the selected countries are ranked according to their overall performance in implementing sustainable urbanization, with the top five performers being Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and Demark, and the five worst countries being Mozambique, Nigeria, Togo, Yemen, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”

“in the environmental dimension, the top five performers are Norway, Sweden, Romania, Denmark, and Germany, and the worst five are Nigeria, Tajikistan, Saudi Arabia, India, and Syria.” “when the economic dimension is considered, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, and Norway are the best five, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Mozambique, Yemen Namibia, and Tajikistan are the five poorest.”

“from the perspective of social sustainability, Singapore, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and Japan are the best five, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Angola, Togo, and Mozambique are the worst five”

“the best performers in terms of overall sustainable urbanization during the surveyed period are Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, and Denmark. The best performers are mainly developed countries in Europe. Other good performers include Brazil, Romania, and Thailand. Poor performers are mainly distributed in Africa and Asia.”

 “there is a negative correlation between urbanization rate and sustainable performance when urbanization is at the initial stage, and a positive correlation when urbanization is at the acceleration stage.”

Related articles

• Where does the Particulate Matter in Cities Come From?
• What is the Impact of Air Pollution on the World- Present and Future?
• How Quickly are Cities Growing and What are the Environmental Consequences?
• Pollution Free Cities: World-wide Causes of Death from Climate Change to the Mid 21st century

Does Air Pollution Affect Productivity?

The Effect of Pollution on Worker Productivity: Evidence from Call-Center Workers in China (Abstract, Tom Chang, Joshua Graff Zivin, Tal Gross, Matthew Neidell, NBER Working Paper No. 22328, Jun. 2016)

Also discussed here: The effect of pollution on worker productivity: Evidence from call-centre workers in China (Tom Chang, Tal Gross, Joshua Graff Zivin, Matthew Neidell, VOX- CEPR’s Policy Portal, Jul. 15, 016)

And here:Pollution is bad for your health, but is it also making you less productive? (Tal Gross, Tom Chang, Joshua Graff Zivin, Matthew Neidell, World Economic Forum, Jul. 25, 2016)

Today we review research that looks at how the productivity of call workers in China was affected by higher levels of pollution. Results indicate that a 10% increase in the Air Pollution Index (API) was associated with a 0.3% drop in calls handled each day. Translated to China’s office workers as a whole, a 10% improvement in air pollution equates to $2.2 Billion/year in productivity. Or, to put it in a big city North American context (Los Angeles), were the 90 days that pollution levels exceeded EPA standards eliminated, the productivity for that city alone would be $378 greater. As the authors comment in terms of broader implications, pollution restrictions, aimed at an improved environment, are sometimes seen as a negative, unfair “tax” by businesses. This paper shows that it could help rather than hinder their bottom line.

   

Key Quotes:

“this is the first study to demonstrate that the negative impacts of pollution on productivity extend beyond physically demanding tasks to indoor, white-collar work.”

 “the number of calls workers handled each day went down as the air pollution index (API), which is driven by particulate matter pollution in this setting, increased (see Figure 1). On average, a 10% increase in API was associated with a 0.3% drop in the number of calls handled each day. Given the range of pollution in our setting, this result suggests that workers are 6% more productive on low-pollution days than high-pollution days.”

“even a modest 10-unit reduction in national API levels would increase the monetised value of office worker productivity in China by $2.2 billion per year.”

“when the API exceeds the US Environmental Protection Agency standard of 100… In 2014, Los Angeles experienced 90 such days.. our results imply that the service-sector productivity in Los Angeles would have been $374 million larger had pollution levels met regulatory standards on those days." 


“we tested whether pollution led to workers staying home or showing up to work late. That did not appear to be the case – on heavily polluted days, we saw fewer calls but similar hours worked.”

“It also helps to recast political discussions of environmental regulation as simply a tax on the business community – instead, reducing pollution may improve the financial bottom line.”

Related articles

• What is the Social Cost of Carbon Pollution?
• What are the Health Impacts of Low Concentrations of PM2.5?
• How Does Stress Add to Health Impacts of Air Pollution?

How Does Exposure to Air Pollution Vary by Race, Age and Location?

English: Smog and air pollution in Pasadena Highway, downtown Los Angeles فارسی: آلودگی شدید هوا در بزرگراه پاسادنا، مرکز شهر لس آنجلس (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Factors influencing time-location patterns and their impact on estimates of exposure: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis and Air Pollution (MESA Air) (8 page pdf, Elizabeth W. Spalt, Cynthia L. Curl, Ryan W. Allen, Martin Cohen, Kayleen Williams, Jana A. Hirsch, Sara D. Adar and Joel D. Kaufman, Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, Apr. 29, 2015)

Key Quotes: 

“MESA Air aims to quantify the relation between individual-level estimates of long-term outdoor air pollution exposure and the progression of subclinical atherosclerosis and the incidence of cardiovascular disease (CVD)” 

“MESA Air is an ancillary study to the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA7), a long-term study of the progression of CVD in adults.” 

“Chinese participants spend more time indoors and less time outdoors compared with Whites, Blacks, and Hispanics participants…The amounts of time spent indoors by Black and Hispanic participants were similar, whereas White and Chinese participants spent ~ 2 h less and 3 h more time indoors, respectively, than Hispanic participants “ 

“standard factors can overestimate air pollution predictions and that the overestimation may increase with age. This analysis highlights important limitations of the existing literature regarding the time-location habits of US adults.”

“this analysis adds key time-location data to the literature by providing more recent information on an older and more ethnically/racially diverse population and describing potential demographic, socioeconomic, health, and built environment predictors of total time indoors and time indoors at home. “

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