Socioeconomic Status and Route Characteristics in Relation to Children’s Exposure to Air Pollution from Road Traffic While Walking to School in Auckland, New Zealand

Pedestrian exposure to traffic-related air pollution depends on many factors; including the nature of the traffic on nearby roads and the route characteristics. In this study, we investigated the effects of differences in vehicle fleet and transport infrastructure on children’s exposure to traffic-r...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of environmental research and public health 2021-05, Vol.18 (9), p.4996
Main Authors: Rafiepourgatabi, Mehrdad, Woodward, Alistair, Salmond, Jennifer A., Dirks, Kim N.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Air pollution
Air pollution measurements
Automobiles
Children
Exposure
Lungs
Neighborhoods
Pedestrians
Pollutants
Pollution dispersion
Roads & highways
Route choice
Schools
Socioeconomic factors
Socioeconomic status
Socioeconomics
Traffic
Traffic flow
Traffic signals
Urban planning
Vehicle identification
Vehicles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Pedestrian exposure to traffic-related air pollution depends on many factors; including the nature of the traffic on nearby roads and the route characteristics. In this study, we investigated the effects of differences in vehicle fleet and transport infrastructure on children’s exposure to traffic-related air pollution during their morning walk to school in Auckland, New Zealand. Five pairs of routes to schools—each including a low and a high socioeconomic status (SES) school—were selected and traversed over 7–8 days for each pair while measuring particle number concentration (PNC) and GPS coordinates. At the same time, a sample of 200 license plates of cars from each school’s neighborhood was captured using videos, and the age of each car was extracted using an online database. Both the mean age of the cars and the percentage of old cars (>14 years) were found to be higher in the low SES areas. However, neither measure of vehicle age was associated with a significant difference in exposure to PNC for pedestrians. Route features including narrow footpaths and a higher density of traffic lights may be associated with higher levels of PNC exposure. These findings provide insight into the role of urban design in promoting healthy commutes to school.
ISSN:1660-4601
1661-7827
1660-4601
DOI:10.3390/ijerph18094996