Abstract
Transport is a major source of air pollution, noise, injuries and physical activity in the urban environment. The quantification of the health risks and benefits arising from these factors would provide useful information for the planning of cost-effective mitigation actions. In this study we quantified the burden of disease caused by local transport in the city of Warsaw, Poland. The disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) were estimated for transport related air pollution (particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur dioxide (SO2), benzo[a]pyrene (BaP), cadmium, lead and nickel), noise, injuries and physical activity. Exposure to these factors was based on local and international data, and the exposure-response functions (ERFs) were based on published reviews and recommendations. The uncertainties were quantified and propagated with the Monte Carlo method. Local transport generated air pollution, noise and injuries were estimated to cause approximately 58,000 DALYs in the study area. From this burden 44% was due to air pollution and 46% due to noise. Transport related physical activity was estimated to cause a health benefit of 17,000 DALYs. Main quantified uncertainties were related to disability weight for the annoyance (due to noise) and to the ERFs for fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution and walking. The results indicate that the health burden of transport could be mitigated by reducing motorized transport, which causes air pollution and noise, and by encouraging walking and cycling in the study area.
Highlights
Transport is a major source of air pollution, noise, injuries, physical activity and other factors which have a direct impact on population health
67% of all the disabilityadjusted life-years (DALYs) due to air pollution were attributable to natural mortality caused by PM2.5
While in Kjellström et al DALYs due to road transport were estimated for the whole country, including urban and non-urban areas, this study focused on one urban area where air pollution and noise-associated health effects are estimated to be higher than the same effects at the national level
Summary
Transport is a major source of air pollution, noise, injuries, physical activity and other factors which have a direct impact on population health. In the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) 2010 fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution, physical inactivity and lead (Pb) were the ninth, 10th and 25th most important risk factors, respectively (Lim et al, 2012). Road injuries were the 10th most important cause of death in the same study (Vos et al, 2012). In the further analyses of the GBD 2010 data, the Global Safety facility group concluded that motorized road transport deaths exceed those from the diseases such as HIV, tuberculosis or malaria, in the global level (Bhalla et al, 2014).
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
