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Outdoor Air:
Freeway Pollution
Air pollution from motor vehicles impacts the health of people living,
working, driving, or going to school along major roadways. Studies published in
a wide range of scientific journals document the health effects for people
living at various distances from roads. Researchers at Baylor College of
Medicine outlined this research in a
summary sheet and in a Houston Chronicle
Outlook article.
 The
majority of studies show that health effects begin along roadways that carry
20,000 or more vehicles per day, and are strongest for persons who live, work or
go to school within about 3 football fields from the edge of a freeway. For
commuters, health effects also relate with the average number of miles driven
per day and the amount of stop-and-go traffic. Measurements along freeways
generally show pollutant levels to be several magnitudes higher than
measurements taken at area monitors, and pollutant levels are generally even
higher inside vehicles (SCAQMD, 1989).
Why is freeway pollution bad?
More than 100 major studies have been published over the last decade
documenting the relationship between freeway pollution and health. These are
some of the findings:
- Children who lived within 200 meters of a high-traffic
roadway were nearly two times more likely to be hospitalized for asthma
than similar children who lived further away from traffic (Lin
et al.,
2002).
- Cough during the first year of life
correlated strongly with the level of vehicle-related air pollution measured
in front of the child's home
(Gehring et al., 2002).
- Children exposed to higher levels of traffic-related
pollution before the age of 3 were more than two times more likely to
develop asthma than similar children exposed to lower levels of traffic
pollution (Zmirou et al., 2004).
- Pregnant women who lived close to high-traffic roadways
during pregnancy were more likely to give birth prematurely or have a
low-weight baby, putting the child at risk for health problems in
life (Wilhelm and Ritz, 2003)
- Increasing residential exposure to particulate pollution
from roadway traffic was strongly associated with an increased risk of being
admitted to a hospital for heart problems (Janssen
et al.,
2002).
- Adults who lived within 200 meters of a busy roadway were
7 percent more likely to die from a stroke than those who lived
further from the roadway (Maheswaran
and Elliott,
2003).
Still other
studies have linked traffic-related pollution to respiratory infections,
lung cancer, allergies and some birth defects. Regular and long commutes
have been associated in some studies with obesity (Frank
et al., 2004), an increased risk of
cancer, back problems and social isolation (Frumkin,
2002). And freeway-associated noise is increasingly linked with sleep
deprivation, learning problems and increased blood pressure (Griefahn
and Spreng,
2004).
These findings are of
particular concern for children. A recent study in California found that a
substantial number of children attend schools close to major roads with high
traffic counts, and a disproportionate number of those students are economically
disadvantaged or nonwhite (Green et al.,
2004).
What can
we do?
If
possible, carpool; walk, bike or take the bus or rail to work or school;
live and work in the same area; and buy a
fuel efficient, clean-running vehicle. When
driving, don't tailgate, avoid idling and stop-and-go driving whenever
possible, and keep as far away from polluting cars, trucks and buses as you
can. Also, keep your vehicle well-maintained and
invest in the cleanest-running vehicle you can afford. You can also report
smoking vehicles on
TCEQ's website.
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