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Chapter Seven - Traffic Emission Impacts on Child Health and Well-being
Citation:
Boothe, V. AND R. Baldauf. Chapter Seven - Traffic Emission Impacts on Child Health and Well-being. Chapter Seven - Traffic Emission Impacts on Child Health and Well Being. Elsevier Science, New York, NY, , 119-142, (2019). https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-814694-1.00007-5
Impact/Purpose:
Air pollution is a significant cause of adverse health effects in children, especially when children live, play or go to school near large sources like highways and other transportation facilities. This book chapter provides a summary of the adverse effects air pollution, notably traffic emissions, can have on children's health and some mitigation practices that can be implemented to reduce these risks. The chapter is intended to provide a review pertinent for a wide ranging audience including policymakers, public health professionals and urban planners
Description:
The global disease burden resulting from exposure to traffic emissions is a growing worldwide public health threat. Children—from infancy to the age of 14— are especially susceptible to the health effects of traffic emissions due to their rapidly developing immune, neurologic, and lung systems and high ventilation rates. Physiologically vulnerable children in disadvantaged neighborhoods are potentially disproportionately exposed to traffic emissions due to close residential proximity to highways and other high-volume roadways. Traffic-related primary pollutants known to impact health include highly respirable fine and ultrafine particles, diesel exhaust particles and gases, particle-bound metals and carcinogens including volatile organic compounds like benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Consistent and compelling scientific evidence suggests prenatal and childhood exposures to primary traffic emissions can cause onset and exacerbation of asthma, delayed lung function development, and childhood leukemia. Emerging suggestive evidence links traffic emission exposures to autism spectrum disorder, delayed cognitive development, and childhood obesity. Health risks can accumulate over the life course and lead to development of adult chronic disease, disability, and premature death. Currently, the specific traffic emission constituents responsible for observed adverse effects are unknown. In light of this uncertainty, multi-sector, systems-based community design approaches towards less car-dependent, greener urban cities with affordable, quality housing and well-designed, mass transportation and active transport options will likely result in the most successful, sustainable, and cost-effective strategies for improving child wellbeing. Effective evidence-based single sector strategies for reducing child total exposures include indoor air treatment, noise and vegetation roadside barriers, and strategies for reducing urban diesel emissions. Where resources are strictly constrained, validated data-driven planning models can bring together key stakeholders including community members, government agencies, and public- and private-sector organizations and guide prioritization and implementation of evidence-based, mutually reinforcing single sector interventions that can most effectively promote child health and well-being.
