Exploring the Health Impact of Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Methods and Data Sources

This study comprehensively reviews and investigates approaches, methods, data, tools, and models for assessing health impacts of transportation emissions, focusing on the quantitative health impact assessment (QHIA) and burden of disease (BoD). It discusses the practicalities of conducting such research, including the exact methods, calculations, data requirements, and data sources, in the context of the health impacts of traffic-related air pollution (TRAP). Specifically, this study emphasizes compiling a comprehensive inventory of methods, functions, and sources, comparing their strengths, limitations, and data requirements, and offering an elaborate step-by-step procedure for integrating health outcomes into the modeling process of the full chain pathway from exposure assessment to health impact assessment. Additionally, it explores existing health outcome data and sources that can be overlaid to provide a more comprehensive perspective on the relationship between TRAP and health. This work serves as an exploratory effort, setting the stage for future research and modeling endeavors. The aims are to strengthen the linkage between air pollution epidemiology and the health impact of TRAP, leading to more robust QHIA or BoD studies for assessing the full chain of TRAP’s impacts on health. Currently, there is a lack of standards and best practices for assessing health impacts of TRAP and selecting input data from diverse data sources. Additionally, there is a lack of comprehensive syntheses on available datasets for these assessments. This study provides insights for future studies to choose the most suitable methods and data sources for conducting exposure to health impact assessments. Furthermore, it explores the potential integration of the extensive health data from CDC PLACE to improve model accuracy of health impact assessments conducted at the local scale.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Center for Advanced Researchh in Transportation Emissionss, Energy and Health

  Texas A&M Transportation Instiitute
  College Station, Texas  United States  77843
• Project Managers:

  Ocon, Monica

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135
• Principal Investigators:

  Ettelman, Benjamin

  Jaikumar, Rohit

  Xu, Minjie

• Start Date: 20220901
• Expected Completion Date: 20230831
• Actual Completion Date: 20230831
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
• Source Data: 06-62-TTI

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air pollution; Diseases and medical conditions; Environmental impacts; Health; Methodology; Traffic congestion
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01913380
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Center for Advancing Research in Transportation Emissions, Energy, and Health
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Mar 29 2024 3:05PM