Evaluation of the public health impacts of traffic congestion: a health risk assessment.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Traffic congestion is a significant issue in urban areas in the United States and around the world. Previous analyses have estimated the economic costs of congestion, related to fuel and time wasted, but few have quantified the public health impacts or determined how these impacts compare in magnitude to the economic costs. Moreover, the relative magnitudes of economic and public health impacts of congestion would be expected to vary significantly across urban areas, as a function of road infrastructure, population density, and atmospheric conditions influencing pollutant formation, but this variability has not been explored.

Methods

In this study, we evaluate the public health impacts of ambient exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) concentrations associat

SUBMITTER: Levy JI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2987789 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature