Health Effects of Vehicle Emissions

All over the world concern is growing over the health effects of emissions from internal combustion engines in the transport fleet. Studies conducted using air pollution exposure information and various health indicators, such as hospital admissions, are invariably showing up real and dramatic effects. Some work carried out in Australia and New Zealand has confirmed that a similar level of health effects occur here, even though we are generally have good air quality relative to many other parts of the world. Is this real? What causes these effects? Who is most affected? Can we should we do something about it? The Health Research Council, Ministry of Transport and Ministry for the Environment have jointly funded a project to examine the range of social, health, economic and environmental effects from vehicle emissions in New Zealand, and also those from other sources. A large collaborative group, including central government, local government and several research institutes has commenced a 3-year programme that addresses all the components. The outcomes include a better definition of the problem, an analysis of the effects and costs, and recommendations for policy options to improve the situation. The paper presents an overview of the work and results to date. 1. THE AIR POLLUTION CONCERN Globally urban air pollution is recognised as an important environmental risk and a major focus of public health concern and regulatory activity in developed and developing countries. In particular concern is growing over the health effects of emissions from internal combustion engines in the transport fleet. Media releases such as “vehicle pollution major killer” have also sparked public health concerns within communities regarding exposure to ambient air pollution, especially in anticipation of increasing emissions and population growth (Figure 1).