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Evidence Base Home » Air Quality » Driving causes air pollution Air pollution from vehicular traffic is detrimental to respiratory and cardiovascular health

Articles in Driving causes air pollution. Air pollution from vehicular traffic is detrimental to respiratory and cardiovascular health. (See transportation section for more facts)

  • Motor vehicle emissions are responsible for a large share of air pollution, especially in CA. According to the California Air Resources Quality Board, about half the air pollution in California is caused by cars and trucks.

    CARB. 50 Things You Can Do. California Air Resources Quality Board. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/brochure/50things.htm" http://www.arb.ca.gov/html/brochure/50things.htm.

  • Californians average about 6% of their time on roadways, but 30 to 55% of diesel PM exposures occurs in vehicles.

    Fruin SA, Winer AM, Rodes CE. Black carbon concentrations in California vehicles and estimation of in-vehicle diesel exhaust particulate matter exposure. Atmos. Environ. 34:4123-4133, 2004.

  • By age 18, children exposed to higher levels of PM2.5, NOx, and elemental carbon (products of fossil fuel combustion, especially diesel) are five times more likely (7.9% vs. 1.6% to have underdeveloped lungs (80% of normal) compared to teenagers living in comities with lower pollutant levels.

    CARB. 2006. Health Effects of Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/diesel/dpm_draft_3-01-06.pdf" http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/diesel/dpm_draft_3-01-06.pdf.

  • Air pollution (PM 2.5, nitrogen oxide, "soot") is associated with physician-diagnosed asthma, wheezing, ear/nose/throat infections, and cold/flu in children in the Netherlands.

    Brauer M, Hoek G, Van Vliet P, Meliefste K, Fischer PH, Wijga A, Koopman LP, Neijens HF, Gerritsen J, Kerkhof M, Heinrich J, Beliander T, Brunekreef B. 2002. Air pollution from traffic and the development of respiratory infections and asthmatic and allergic symptoms in children. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine 166:1092-1098.

  • Motor vehicle air quality impacts result in 50-70 million days of restricted levels of activity; 20,000 - 46,000 cases of chronic respiratory illness; 40,000 premature deaths.

    EPA. 2001. Vehicle travel: Recent trends and environmental impacts. Chapter 4 of Our Built and Natural Environments: A Technical Review of the Interactions Between Land Use, Transportation, and Environmental Quality. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/built_chapter3.pdf" http://www.epa.gov/smartgrowth/pdf/built_chapter3.pdf

  • More than 60,000 deaths each year in the United States are attributed to air polluted with PM 2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 cubic mg).

    Frumkin H, Frank L, Jackson R. 2004. Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning and Building for Healthy Communities. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

  • Cars and trucks account for 77% of the carbon monoxide, 56% of the nitrogen oxide, 25% of directly emitted PM, and 47% of the volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the air.

    EPA. Fact Sheet: Final Revisions to the national ambient air quality standards for particle pollution (particulate matter). United States Environmental Protection Agency. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.epa.gov/particles/actions.html" http://www.epa.gov/particles/actions.html.

  • Diesel exhaust PM is a toxic air contaminant and contains over 40 known carcinogens. Long term occupational exposure to diesel exhaust has been associated with a 40% increase in the relative risk of lung cancer.

    CARB. 2006. Health Effects of Diesel Exhaust Particulate Matter. Available at HYPERLINK "http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/diesel/dpm_draft_3-01-06.pdf" http://www.arb.ca.gov/research/diesel/dpm_draft_3-01-06.pdf.

  • The contribution of car and truck emissions to air pollution is significant. Specifically, cars and trucks account for 77% of the carbon monoxide (CO), 56% of the nitrogen oxide (NOx), 25-28% of the particulate matter (PM), 47% of volatile organic compaounds (VOCs), 30% of the carbon dioxide (CO2), 7% of the sulfur oxides (SOx), and 31% of air toxics (such as benzene, formaldehyde, methanol, etc).

    Frumkin H, Frank L, Jackson R. 2004. Urban Sprawl and Public Health: Designing, Planning and Building for Healthy Communities. Island Press: Washington, D.C.

  • When the Olympic Games were held in Atlanta, GA, peak traffic flow decreased by 22%, decreasing ozone by 28%. Subsequently, hospital admissions for asthma decreased by 11% and HMO urgent care asthma visits decreased by 44%.

    Friedman MS, Powell KE, Hutwagner L, Grahma LM, Teague WG. 2001. Impact of changes in transporation and commuting behaviors during the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on air quality and childhood asthma. Journal of the American Medical Association 285(7)897-905.