Traffic-related air pollution - Interesting facts

Cars and other vehicles release different air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, ultrafine particles and volatile organic compounds. that can have negative effects on not only our environment but also on human health. High traffic means bigger air pollution, and latest study has revealed that traffic-related pollution near schools is having significant impact to the development of asthma in kids. In fact the study has showed that children in schools located in high-traffic environments had a 45 percent increased risk of developing asthma. Asthma, a chronic childhood disease is lately experiencing an increasing trend in developing countries, and one of the main reasons for this is air pollution. Scientists have also discovered that the risk associated with traffic-related pollution exposure at schools was almost as high as for residential exposure, and combined exposure accounting for time spent at home and at school had a slightly larger effect.

Another interesting study found that traffic-related air pollution can even be linked to a higher death rate among people who initially survived strokes.

Some recent estimates say that traffic pollution is the cause of tens of thousands of deaths every year across Europe. Also traffic fumes are held responsible for more than 25,0000 new cases of chronic bronchitis and more than 500,000 asthma attacks each year in Europe.

Traffic-related air pollution is worst on highways.

People living close to highways and large roads (the major sources of traffic-related air pollution) die earlier compared to those farther away.

Children who are exposed to high levels of traffic-related pollution early in life have six times the risk of developing persistent wheezing by age three than children exposed to low levels of traffic-related pollution.