Jump to main content
US EPA
United States Environmental Protection Agency
Search
Search
Main menu
Environmental Topics
Laws & Regulations
About EPA
Health & Environmental Research Online (HERO)
Contact Us
Print
Feedback
Export to File
Search:
This record has one attached file:
Add More Files
Attach File(s):
Display Name for File*:
Save
Citation
Tags
HERO ID
7457525
Reference Type
Book/Book Chapter
Title
Chapter three - Traffic, air pollution, and health
Author(s)
Khreis, H
Year
2020
Publisher
Elsevier
Book Title
Advances in Transportation and Health
Page Numbers
59-104
DOI
10.1016/B978-0-12-819136-1.00003-6
URL
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780128191361000036
Exit
Relationship(s)
is a chapter of
7473119
Advances in transportation and health: Tools, technologies, policies, and developments
Abstract
Traffic-related air pollution (TRAP) is ubiquitous in today’s cities and a major public health concern resulting in premature mortality and a wide spectrum of global diseases. The importance and relevance of TRAP continue to increase with increasing urbanization and rapid population growth which go hand in hand with increasing demand for travel, and in many regions, increasing motorized vehicles’ travel and roadway expansion. Furthermore, the list of adverse health outcomes associated with TRAP continues to rapidly grow and now includes cognitive decline, neurodegenerative diseases, and numerous metabolic conditions such as diabetes and obesity, all of which can cripple health-care services and severely affect quality of life, productivity and ability of societies to leapfrog into the “knowledge economy.” In this chapter, I will broadly overview TRAP in the context of public health by providing basic definitions, methods to assess TRAP and human exposure, a summary of well-established and emerging health effects and air-quality guidelines that establish limits for key air pollutants that pose health risks. I will then briefly discuss the use of burden of disease and health impact assessments to quantify the health burden attributable to TRAP in cities, the quantified and potential air quality and health impacts of selected emerging technologies and outline best practices and their overlap with other agenda such as increasing physical activity and mitigating climate change. I will touch on environmental justice issues surrounding TRAP exposures and health and finally summarize research gaps making recommendations for future studies.
Keywords
Traffic-related air pollution; public health; mortality; morbidity; exposure; guidelines; technology; best practices; environmental justice
Editor(s)
Khreis, Haneen
Home
Learn about HERO
Using HERO
Search HERO
Projects in HERO
Risk Assessment
Transparency & Integrity