Sprawl and Health

Canada 2004 - "Estimated Number of Excess Deaths in Canada Due to Air Pollution"

Judek, Stan; Jessiman, Barry; et al.
"Estimated Number of Excess Deaths in Canada Due to Air Pollution"
Health Canada & Environment Canada
August 30, 2004
On the Web
Relevance: medium

This study estimates the number of annual excess deaths due to current air pollutions levels in 8 major cities. They estimate that, in the Greater Vancouver Regional District, 230 deaths are due to short-term air pollution and 440 deaths are due to long-term air pollution, for a total of 680 (sic). They also estimate that this is 5% (range 3%-7%) of deaths from all causes.

For the eight cities across Canada, the study estimates that 1,800 (+/-700) deaths are due to short-term air pollution; 4,200 (+/-2,000), due to long-term; for a total of 5,900 (+/-2,100), or 8% (range 5%-11%) of all preventable deaths in those cities in Canada.

Note that short-term and long-term deaths may not be additive, but may rather overlap, making the total less than the sum of its parts.

Lund 2002 - "Pedstrian Environments and Sense of Community"

Lund, Hollie
"Pedestrian Environments and Sense of Community"
Journal of Planning Education and Research   
2002 Associate of Collegiate Schools of Planning
On the Web
Relevance: medium-high

Lund's study is intended to gauge the community effects of New Urbanism-style architecture and neighborhood design. The study is conducted in two Portland neighborhoods, an inner-city neighborhood with traditional design and a modern-style suburban neighborhood (post-WWII). Researchers distributed questionaires door-to-door in the two neighborhoods using questions similar to the Nasar study. They got 57 responses (22 percent) in the traditional neighborhood and 49 (18.8 percent) in the suburban neighborhood.

The study found more sense of community in the traditional neighborhood than in the modern suburb. The most powerful subjective explanatory variable was "perception of walking"--the better that people felt about walking in the neighborhood, the higher their sense of community. Interestingly, there is one big counterpoint to this: the study found a negative correlation between destination trips (walking to the store or for other errands) and sense of community. That is, the more likely people are to walk to destinations, the lower their sense of community. Strolling trips--walking for pleasure--are positively associated with community, but destination trips are negatively associated.

One failing of this research is that the respondents are self-selected and many not be statistically accurate representations of their communities. Also, the number of respondents is relatively low and it may be difficult to obtain statistically valid results when using controls or regressions. Finally, we cannot be sure whether people's behavior and attitudes are determined by their urban environment, or whether people self-select into neighborhoods that reflect their values and preferences.

Frank 2005 - "A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH) in King County, WA: Executive Summary"

Frank, Lawrence (Lawrence Frank & Company, Inc.)
"A Study of Land Use, Transportation, Air Quality, and Health (LUTAQH) in King County, WA: Executive Summary"
September 27, 2005, Submitted to King County officials.
Relevance: high
On the Web (big pdf)

NOTE: The following summary includes only the sections of this report that deal with air quality and vehicle emissions.

The study examined per capita VOC and NOx emissions from both automobile and transit trips. It uses a variety of measures to classify urban, suburban and other land uses. Urban land uses are responsible for much lower air pollution, on a per capita basis, than suburban land uses. Interestingly, the strongest correlate to lower per capita emissions is “street connectivity.”

• “Significantly lower estimates for NOx were generated by respondents living in areas with higher levels of retail floor area ratio, intersection density, and land use mix and residential density. Increased street connectivity where people live appeared to be the most closely associated with NOx. Mean emissions of NOx declined from 29 to 23 grams per person per day, a 26 percent reduction, between residents of the most to the least connected environments.”
• “Significantly lower levels of VOC’s were found for respondents in areas with higher levels of floor area ratio and intersection density and residential density. Improvements to street connectivity where people lived appeared to be the most effective tool to reduce VOC’s as well. Mean emissions of VOC’s declined from 14 to 12 grams per person per day, a 7 percent reduction, for residents of the most to least connected environments.”

Chang 2000 - "Hourly Personal Exposures to Fine Particles and Gaseous Pollutants--Results from Baltimore, Maryland"

Chang, Li-Te; Koutrakis, Petros; et al
"Hourly Personal Exposures to Fine Particles and Gaseous Pollutants--Results from Baltimore, Maryland"
Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association
July 2000; v.50, n.7; pp.1223-1235
On the Web
Relevance: medium

The authors measured personal VOC exposure in a variety of microenvironments that older adults generally encounter. PM 2.5 concentrations were highest in the food court, while walking and driving, and in a kitchen and TV room at home. Ozone levels were elevated while walking at noon and while driving. Carbon monoxide levels were elevated i the middle of the day and while driving.

Ambient concentrations of PM 2.5 seem to be fairly well with personal exposure (r>.6 for all but one case). Ambient concentrations of ozone were also highly correlated with personal exposure for outdoor and in-vehicle microenvironments, less so for indoor environments, and barely at all for homes. There seems to be little correlation between ambient BTEX levels and personal exposures in homes and cars (except for benzene in homes), which suggests to me that personal exposure in those places comes mostly from personal activities (cooking, cleaning, and driving).

Chan 1991 - "Commuter Exposure to VOCs in Boston, Massachusetts"

Chan, Chang-Chuan; Spengler, John D; et al.
"Commuter Exposure to VOCs in Boston, Massachusetts"
Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association
December 1991; v.41, n.12; pp.1594-1600
On the Web
Relevance: high

The authors measured VOC exposure for four commuting methods (car, subway, walking, biking) plus concentrations in homes, offices, and on the sidewalk in Boston. They found that concentrations were generally highest in cars and lowest in homes/offices. "For most VOCs, the concentrations in homes and offices were about three to five times lower than the VOC concentrations during commuting." Around 10-20% of daily VOC exposure for car and subway commuters occurred during the commute.

Driving on urban roads was correlated with higher VOC concentrations (1.5 times higher) than driving on interstates.  Using the heater also increased VOC levels. On the other hand, the age of the car or country of origin (US vs. imported) did not seem to make a difference.

Riediker 2003 - "Exposure to Particulate Matter, Volatile Organic Compounds, and Other Air Pollutants Inside Patrol Cars"

Riediker, Michael; Williams, Ronald; et al.
"Exposure to Particulate Matter, Volatile Organic Compounds, and Other Air Pollutants Inside Patrol Cars"
Environmental Science and Technology
2003; v.37 n.10; pp.2084-2093
On the Web
Relevance: high

The authors measured PM and VOCs in patrol cars, roadsides, and a remote (ambient) site in North Carolina. They found that BTEX levels were significantly higher in the cars; elemental carbon levels were higher in the cars; but NO2 and PM2.5 levels were a little higher in at the ambient site; and ozone levels were nearly twice as high at the ambient site.

Larson 2004 - "Source Apportionment of Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal PM2.5 in Seattle, Washington, Using Positive Matrix Factorization"

Larson, Timothy Gould, Timothy; et al.
"Source Apportionment of Indoor, Outdoor, and Personal PM2.5 in Seattle, Washington, Using Positive Matrix Factorization"
Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association
September 2004, v.54, n.9; pp.1175-1187
On the Web
Relevance: medium

The authors measured indoor, outdoor, and personal concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the city of Seattle and estimated the sources of this PM. They concluded that vegetative burning (wood, incense, candles) contributed the most PM mass to outdoor (35%), indoor (49%), and personal (62%) exposure. In general, it seems that PM concentrations are higher outdoors than indoors.

Payne-Sturges 2004 - "Personal Exposure Meets Risk Assessment: A Comparison of Measured and Modeled Exposure and Risks in an Urban Community"

Payne-Sturges, Devon C; Burke, Thomas A.; et al.
"Personal Exposure Meets Risk Assessment: A Comparison of Measured and Modeled Exposure and Risks in an Urban Community"
Environmental Health Perspectives
April 2004; v.112, n.5; pp.589-598
On the Web
Relevance: low

The authors measured personal exposure, indoor concentrations, and outdoor concentrations of VOCs in South Baltimore, an area near chemical industries and an interstate highway. They found that personal exposure was generally higher than indoor concentrations, which were higher than outdoor concentrations. The authors report these concentrations and the associated cancer risks. Their main goal was to compare their measured estimates to estimates from the ASPEN model.

Levy 2000 - "Particle Concentrations in Urban Microenvironments"

Levy, Jonathan I; Houseman, E. Andres; et al.
"Particle Concentrations in Urban Microenvironments"
Environmental Health Perspectives
November 2000; v.108, n.11; pp.1051-1057.
On the Web
Relevance: medium

The authors measured particulate matter indoors and outdoors in seven microenvironments (subway, bus, restaurant, hospital, gymnasium, museum, store) in Boston. Particle counts for PM 0.3-0.5 were generally higher inside the subway and bus than outdoors, but lower inside the store, hospital, and museum. Particle counts overall were higher inside the subway and bus than outside.

Wong 2004 - "Assessing the Health Benefits of Air Pollution Reduction for Children"

Wong, Eva Y; Gohlke, Julia; et al.
"Assessing the Health Benefits of Air Pollution Reduction for Children"
Environmental Health Perspectives
February 2004; v.112, n.2; pp.226-232
On the Web
Relevance: low

The authors estimated the health and economic benefits to children of reductions in criteria air pollutants (except lead) due to the Clean Air Act from 1990 to 2010. They estimated a savings of $1-2 billion from fewer hospitalizations, emergency room visits, school absences, and low birth weight. The also estimated a savings of $0.6-$100 billion from decreased mortality.

PSCAA 2003 - "Final Report: Puget Sound Air Toxics Evaluation"

Keill, Leslie; Maykut, Naydene
"Final Report: Puget Sound Air Toxics Evaluation"
Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and Washington State Department of Ecology
October 2003
On the Web
Relevance: high

In this preliminary study, PSCAA measured and modeled exposure to outdoor air toxics in 6 locations around western King County, including Beacon Hill, Lake Sammamish, and Seatac. They estimated cancer risk using several methods, including one that takes into account commuting. They also seem to suggest that it may not matter much what macroenvironment you live in (i.e., Beacon Hill vs. Lake Sammammish): "Concentrations, and corresponding risks, were relatively consistent among areas measured and modeled throughout the Puget Sound region. Although some differences were apparent, overall it is clear that the sites and the region as a whole have similar emission sources of concern (e.g., diesel particulate matter, mobile-source-related VOCs, and probably woodsmoke)." Smaller geographical scale factors (busy road, factory, cleaning products) are not accounted for.

Davies 2005 - "Economic Costs of Diseases and Disabilities Attributable to Environmental Contaminants in Washington State"

Davies, Kate; Hauge, Dietrich.
"Economic Costs of Diseases and Disabilities Attributable to Environmental Contaminants in Washington State"
Collaborative for Health and Environment-Washington Research and Information Working Group
July 2005
On the Web
Relevance: low

The authors estimated the health costs attributable to environmental contaminants in Washington (for selected diseases) by applying national and other state studies to Washington's population. They use national estimates of the Environmentally Attributable Fraction Range (EAFR) of diseases due to contaminants, disease and population rates for Washington, and disease cost estimates. They conclude that the total cost is $1.8 billion (2004$) for children and $2.7 billion for adults and children.

Unfortunately, this study does not really estimate the costs for Washington, but rather Washington's likely share of national costs because the study uses national attribution rates rather than WA specific ones.  For example, it may be that a higher or lower fraction of asthma in WA is due to environmental contaminants.

Sexton 2004 - "Comparison of Personal, Indoor, and Outdoor Exposures to Hazardous Air Pollutants in Three Urban Communities"

Sexton, Ken; Adgate, John L; et al.
"Comparison of Personal, Indoor, and Outdoor Exposures to Hazardous Air Pollutants in Three Urban Communities"
Environmental Science and Technology
2004; v.38, n.2; pp.423-430
On the Web
Relevance: high

The authors measure personal, indoor, and outdoor exposures to 15 VOCs in three different neighborhoods of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. They found that outdoor community air monitors greatly underestimate personal exposures and that even indoor monitors underestimate personal exposure. For example, for benzene, the personal/outdoor (P/O) ratio of estimated relative concentrations is 6.8, while the personal/indoor concentration (P/I) is 1.6.

Marshall 2005 - "Inhalation of Motor Vehicles Emissions: Effects of Urban Population and Land Area"

Marshall, Julian D; McKone, Thomas E; et al
"Inhalation of Motor Vehicles Emissions: Effects of Urban Population and Land Area"
Atmospheric Environment
January 2005; v.39, n.2; pp.283-295
On the Web
Relevance: low

The authors developed a preliminary, theoretical model of how air quality is affected by different development patters: sprawl, infill, and constant-density growth. Their conclusions depend on the elasticity of emissions: how big a change in emissions is cause by a change in density. If emissions decrease greatly from increased density, then infill is best.  If emissions decrease by only a little, then constant density growth is best.