Transport plays a fundamental role in the lives of societies and individuals today: the progress of an industry, organization or a country is directly linked with the development of mobility and the choices people make about it. In societies that rely heavily and increasingly on private motorized transport, vehicles are expected to become safer, more luxurious and powerful, and to be driven more frequently. These expectations, however, often do not take account of the resulting consequences: increased fuel consumption, greater emissions of air pollutants and greater exposure of people to hazardous pollution that causes serious health problems.
These risks are a disproportional threat to the most vulnerable groups in the population, such as children and the elderly, and they raise important questions about social inequalities.
An increasing body of evidence points to the magnitude of these adverse effects on health and to the need to identify solutions that both reduce risks to health and meet the requirement for mobility. This creates a major challenge to governments, public health organizations and environmental authorities, to urban and transport planners, and to all citizens. Properly understanding the risks is a prerequisite to addressing them and to eliminating or reducing them.
Transport-related air pollution must be reduced before its effects on health can be prevented, and this requires:
- combining the development of cleaner transport technologies with the implementation of effective policies to manage the demand for transport; and
- selecting modes of transport that are safer for health and the environment.The effects on health of transport-related air pollution are among the leading concerns about transport. Research in recent decades consistently indicates the adverse effects of outdoor air pollution on human health, and the evidence points to air pollution stemming from transport as an important contributor to these effects.
There are four main hazardous pollutants that result from the pollution caused by the use of transport, these include: carbon monoxide, benzene, ozone and nitrogen dioxide.
One of the most well-known impacts of air pollution is an increase in asthma attacks. The incidence of asthma appears to have more than doubled in the last 15 years. The nitrogen dioxide from the cars not only aggravates asthma symptoms but also causes a tightening of the chest that reduces lung function. In addition, the carbon monoxide aggravates angina, slows reflexes, impairs thinking and causes drowsiness by reducing the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. Moreover, benzene causes leukemia and ozone causes coughing, choking and chest pains.
A recent study in the United Kingdom concluded that between 12,000 and 24,000 people might die prematurely every year as a result of short-term exposure to air pollution. In addition, the health of up to one in five people in the UK is particularly at risk from air pollution. These include young children, pregnant women, the elderly, and people suffering from heart and lung diseases.
In the coming decades, road transport is likely to remain a significant contributor to air pollution in cities. Many urban trips cover distances of less than 6 km. Since the effectiveness of catalytic converters in the initial minutes of engine operation is small, the average emission per distance driven is very high in urban areas. Also, poorly maintained vehicles that lack exhaust after treatment systems will continue to be responsible for a major part of pollutant emissions.
Although stricter emission standard policies will try decrease vehicle emissions, several factors such as the growth of transport, an increased number of diesel cars on the market, the large number of short trips and increased traffic congestion will continue to make the task of decreasing these emissions a difficult one.
To conclude, although the future of the environment looks fatal, the end is not here yet. The environment and nature at large has over the years given so much to us and it is now our turn to give back. As individuals it is our responsibility to look after the environment and take care of our health. We can all help change the environment by taking small but steady steps in the right direction by using greener cars that pollute as less as possible and by commuting to places by using public rather than private transport. These small changes that we make today will no doubt be beneficial for the thousands of lives tomorrow.
Sources:
http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/road_air_pollution_health.pdf
http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/74715/E86650.pdf
0 comments