Biomaterial Database

Impact of traffic-related air pollution on health. 2015

J Jakubiak-Lasocka, and J Lasocki, and R Siekmeier, and Z Chłopek

Faculty of Environmental Engineering, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland.

Road transport contributes significantly to air quality problems through vehicle emissions, which have various detrimental impacts on public health and the environment. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of traffic-related air pollution on health of Warsaw citizens, following the basics of the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) method, and evaluate its social cost. PM10 was chosen as an indicator of traffic-related air pollution. Exposure-response functions between air pollution and health impacts were employed. The value of statistical life (VSL) approach was used for the estimation of the cost of mortality attributable to traffic-related air pollution. Costs of hospitalizations and restricted activity days were assessed basing on the cost of illness (COI) method. According to the calculations, about 827 Warsaw citizens die in a year as a result of traffic-related air pollution. Also, about 566 and 250 hospital admissions due to cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, respectively, and more than 128,453 restricted activity days can be attributed to the traffic emissions. From the social perspective, these losses generate the cost of 1,604 million PLN (1 EUR-approx. 4.2 PLN). This cost is very high and, therefore, more attention should be paid for the integrated environmental health policy.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000397	Air Pollution	The presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in the air (AIR POLLUTANTS) that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental effects. The substances may include GASES; PARTICULATE MATTER; or volatile ORGANIC CHEMICALS.	Air Quality,Air Pollutions,Pollution, Air
D001335	Vehicle Emissions	Gases, fumes, vapors, and ODORANTS escaping from the cylinders of a gasoline or diesel internal-combustion engine. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed & Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)	Automobile Exhaust,Diesel Exhaust,Engine Exhaust,Vehicle Emission,Vehicular Emission,Traffic-Related Pollutants,Transportation Emissions,Vehicular Emissions,Emission, Vehicle,Emission, Vehicular,Emissions, Transportation,Emissions, Vehicle,Emissions, Vehicular,Exhaust, Automobile,Exhaust, Diesel,Exhaust, Engine,Pollutants, Traffic-Related,Traffic Related Pollutants
D017281	Cost of Illness	The personal cost of disease which may be economic, social, or psychological. The cost of illness may be reflected in absenteeism, productivity, response to treatment, peace of mind, or QUALITY OF LIFE. It differs from HEALTH CARE COSTS, the societal cost of providing services related to the delivery of health care.	Burden Of Disease,Burden of Illness,Disease Burden,Disease Costs,Cost of Disease,Cost of Sickness,Costs of Disease,Disease Cost,Economic Burden of Disease,Sickness Cost,Burden Of Diseases,Burden, Disease,Cost, Disease,Disease Burdens,Illness Burden,Illness Burdens,Illness Cost,Illness Costs,Sickness Costs
D052638	Particulate Matter	Particles of any solid substance, generally under 30 microns in size, often noted as PM30. There is special concern with PM1 which can get down to PULMONARY ALVEOLI and induce MACROPHAGE ACTIVATION and PHAGOCYTOSIS leading to FOREIGN BODY REACTION and LUNG DISEASES.	Ultrafine Fiber,Ultrafine Fibers,Ultrafine Particle,Ultrafine Particles,Ultrafine Particulate Matter,Air Pollutants, Particulate,Airborne Particulate Matter,Ambient Particulate Matter,Fiber, Ultrafine,Particle, Ultrafine,Particles, Ultrafine,Particulate Air Pollutants,Particulate Matter, Airborne,Particulate Matter, Ambient,Particulate Matter, Ultrafine