Motor Vehicle Air Pollution
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wHotPEPt92.4 Distr:Limited Original:English Motor Vehicle Air Pollution Public Health Impact and Control Measures Editedby David Mage and Olivier Zali Division of EnvironmentalHealth EcotoxicologyService World HealthOrganization Departmentof PublicHealth Geneva,Switzedand Republicand Cantonof Geneva Geneva,Switzerland @ World HealthOrganization and ECOTOX ,lgg2 This documentis not issuedto the generalpublic, and all rights are reservedby the World HealthOrganization (WHO) andthe Serviceof Ecotoxicology (ECOTOX)of the Departmentof PublicHealth, Geneva. The documentmay be reviewed,abstracted, quoted, reproduced or translated,in part or in whole, with the prior written permissionof WHO or ECOTOX. Partsof this documentmay be storedin a retrievalsystem or transmittedin any form or by any means- electronic,mechanical or other- with the prior written permissionof WHO or ECOTOX. The views expressedin the documentby namedauthors are solelythe responsibilityof thoseauthors. The geographicaldesignations employed and the presentationof materialin this documentdo not imply the expressionof any opinionwhatsoever on the part of WHO concerningthe legal statusof any country,territory, city or areaof its authorities,or concerningthe delimitationof its frontiersor boundaries. Credits:cover photograph of Genevaby E.J. Aldag @.J. Press),Geneva; cover photographof Mexico City by ASL, Lausanne;stamp design, copyright Sweden PostStamps. MOTOR VEHICLE AIR POLLUTION PTJBLICHEALTII IMPACT AND CONTROLMEASURES Contents Page Foreword- Wilfried Kreiseland Guy-OlivierSegond v Executivesummary vii 1.Introduction.... 1 2. Review of the health effectsof motor vehicle traffic . 13 - Part I. Epidemiologicalstudies of the healtheffects of air pollutiondue to motorvehicles - IsabelleRomieu 13 - Part II. Effectson humansof environmentalnoise particutarly from road traffic - RagnarRylander 63 3. Humanexposure to motor vehicleair pollutants- PeterG. Flachsbart 85 4. Reviewof motor vehicleemission control mqNures andtheir effectiveness- Michael P. Walsh 115 5. Casestudies of motor vehiclepollution in cities aroundthe world - MichaelP. Walshand David T. Mage l3g 6. Casestudy of motor vehiclepollution and its controlin Geneva- FranqoisCupelin and Olivier Zali . 173 7. Summaryand conclusions . 219 8. Appendices Fundingfor this reporthas been provided by the World HealthOrganization, the Departmentof Public Health of the Republic and Cantonof Geneva,and the Governmentof Norwav. The editorswould like to thankthe following peoplefor their help in the review andpreparation of this document: D. Calkins G. Ozolins N. Florio J. Rabinowitz A. Katz A. Rougemont T. Kjellstrdm A. Stroumza J.-Cl. Landry J. Somers The Division of EnvironmentalHealth (EHE) of the World HealthOrganization (WHO) consistsof units for Preventionof EnvironmentalPollution @EP) and CommunityWater Supply and Sanitation(CWS) and it is closely allied with the Programmeon ChemicalSafety @CS). PEP is responsibleinter alia for the WHOruNEP GlobalEnvironment Monitoring System (GEMS) Air Pollution MonitoringNetwork (GEMS/Air),Water QualityMonitoring Network (GEMSAMater)and RadiationMonitoring Network (GERMON). The Programme for EnvironmentalHealth in Rural and Urban Developmentand Housing GUD), alsolocated in PEP, is responsiblefor the HealthyCities Programme. The EcotoxicologyService @COTOX) belongs to the Departmentof Public Healft of the Republicand Canton of Geneva.It is the expertlaboratory for all environmentalconcerns in the area. Fifty peopleare working at ECOTOX. The fields of activity includeair (indoor,outdoor, industrial emissions controls, occupationalexposure), water (biological,bacteriological and physical-chemical controlsof lakes,rivers andswimming pools), soils andtoxic substancesanalysis, ecotoxicologicaltesting and environmental noise. ECOTOX is alsoinvolved in forensic analysis,in emergencyinterventions in casesof environmentalhazard and in evaluationof environmentalimpact assessments. FOREWORD In almostall the large citiesof the world, air andnoise pollution from motor vehiclesare, or are fast becoming,major problems for the physicaland mental healthof the people. The industrializedcountries, where 86Vo of the world's vehiclesare to be found, havea long standingand extensiveexperience of the problem. In the developingcountries, rapid industrialgrowth andpopulation increasecoupled with rising standardsof living are likely to leadto patternsof motorizationthat resemblethose of the industrializedcountries. Sincethe 1960s, the world's motor vehiclefleet hasbeen growing faster than its population. The problemsare acutein certaincities in boththe developingand the industrialized world andunless controls are appliedor strengthenedimmediately, the damageto publichealth will becomevery serious. The World HealttrOrganization (WHO) andthe UnitedNations Environment Programme(UNEP) have a long standingproject within the GlobalEnvironment MonitoringSystem (GEMS) to monitorthe air qualityof urbanareas of the world in this periodof rapid changeduring which nationsstrive to achievea sustainable economywithout degradation of the environment. The Republicand Cantonof Genevain Switzerland,has developed a comprehensiveand sophisticatedair pollutioncontrol programme designed to meet SwissFederal air qualitystandards regarding pollutants derived from motor vehicleemissions. In recognitionof ttre importanceof the problemof motor vehicleair pollution worldwide,WHO andthe EcotoxicologyService of the Departmentof Public Healthof Genevahave jointly producedthis reporton the globaltrends of motor vehicleair pollution, is effectson public healthand the availablecontrol measures. Our report is intendedto provideessential information and encouragement to all countriesin their effortsto dealwith the problemscreated by the intense motorizationprocess. Casestudies (including an in-depthreport of the air pollutionmanagement plan of Geneva)are provided of the situationin various cities in developingand industrializedcountries and the motor vehicleemission controlstrategies that havebeen used or proposed. Throughthe sharingof experience,countries may be ableto avoidmistakes made in the past and introduceeffective measures in the nearfuture to reduceor limit damagettrat has already been incurred. Many countrieswill needto begin planningor applyingmore strictly, a progressivemotor vehicleemission control strategythat is feasibleand affordableand that will alleviatettre immediateair pollutionproblems. This report is beingpublished to coincidewith the United NationsConference on Environmentand Development, Rio de Janeiro,June 1992, in supportof our commongoals of eliminatingthe impactsof environmentalhazards on the health of the peopleand attaining a stateof sustainabledevelopment for the future. We 'Think believethat if we all Globallyand Act Locally" our planetcan regain its healthand our environmentcan be saved. Dr Wilfried Kreisel, Director, Guy-Olivier Minister, Division of EnvironmentalHeal&, Departmentof PublicHealth, World HealthOrganization, Geneva,Switzerland Geneva.Switzerland vl EXECUTTVE SI]MMARY This report addressesthe problemsof air pollutioncreated by the growth of motor vehicletraffic in the developedand developing countries of the world. The problemis viewedwittrin the contextof sustainabledevelopment in which the protectionof healthand of the environmentare priority concerns.The conclusionsand recommendations of this reportare intendedto provideguidance to countriesas they go throughvarious stages of development,in the formulation and implementationof soundpolicies to preventserious air pollutionproblems ftom occurringor worsening. The reportbegins with a comprehensivereview of the healthproblems caused by motor vehiclepollution with referenceto the pollutantsozone, carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogendioxide, sulfur dioxideand suspendedparticulate matter. The secondpart of this chaptersovers the healtheffects of motor vehiclenoise. This is followedby a descriptionof how peopleare exposedto motor vehicleair pollutantsand an estimateof the numbersof peoplewho are exposedto them in traffic, alongsidebusy roadsand in residentialareas of high traffrc density. Motor vehiclecontrols are reviewedin termsof the effortsmade to reduceemissions (g/km) andto reducevehicle usage (km/yr). Motor vehiclesare the major sourceof the following air pollutantsaffecting tle healthof populations:carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogendioxide (NOt, photochemicallyreactive hydrocarbons which reactwith NOr to form ozone(Or) and suspendedparticulate matter (SPM) which containslead @b). At least90% of the carbonmonoxide in urbanenvironments comes from mobile sources.The high levelsfound in traffrc congestedareas (20 to 30 mg/m3)can leadto levelsof 3% carboxyhemoglobin(COHB) which produceadverse cardiovascularand neurobehavioral effects and seriously aggravate ttre conditionof individuaiswith ischemicheart disease. Nitrogendioxide, the brownish-redgas responsible for the classicsmog haze of pollutedcities can cause respiratory problems in sensitiveindividuals, for example asthmaticsand young children. An extensivemeta-analysis of availablestudies vll showsan approximate20% inqeasein risk of respiratoryillness for childrenwho havean increaseof 30 y.glm3exposure over a periodof weeks(e.g. children living in homesusing natural gas for cookingas comparedto childrenliving in homesusing electricity). Wherehigh annuallevels of NO, of the order of 100pglm3 are producedby motor vehicles,as in Los Angiles, this is a major causeof concern. Ozoneis producedfrom