New study reveals major health benefit children could gain from electric vehicles: 'Impact would be profound'

Switching to electric vehicles could prevent new cases of childhood asthma, according to a recent study published in the journal Environmental Research.

The researchers highlighted their findings in The Conversation, explaining that replacing around half of gas-guzzling vehicles with EVs could be enough to minimize childhood asthma caused by traffic pollution. But the percentage of EVs needed to make a difference varied from state to state. For instance, some states would need to replace just 7% of gas car sales with EVs, while others would need to replace 42%.

"States with a higher population density and a larger proportion of older, gas-powered vehicles on the road would likely see the greatest health gains from switching to electric vehicles," the researchers said.

Citing 2019 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the researchers noted that over 5 million U.S. children suffered from asthma. Meanwhile, several studies have tied exposure to common pollutants associated with traffic pollution, such as nitrogen oxide and particulate matter, to an increased risk of developing the lung disease. One study found that up to a third of all new asthma cases could be tied to auto-related pollution.

But lowering asthma risks isn't the only potential benefit of getting more EVs on the road. Traffic-related air pollution has also been linked to an increased risk of dementia, and noise pollution from cars has been tied to increased stress and learning difficulties for schoolchildren.

"Air quality directly affects everyone's health, so a nationwide transition to zero-emission vehicles would yield massive health benefits," the American Lung Association said in a blog post unassociated with the new study.

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"Our findings indicate there's already a measurable public health benefit being seen in the U.S. from the increase of electric vehicles on the road," the asthma study's researchers said. "This impact would be profound in states with a zero-emission vehicle program, because 63 per cent of all new electric vehicles were sold in states with these mandates between 2013 and 2019."

They added that ensuring the electricity used to charge EV batteries comes from clean sources is also important.

"If the electricity comes from coal or other fossil-fuel-based sources, then we're just moving the pollution from the urban centres to communities living near power plants," the researchers said.

If you were going to purchase an EV, which of these factors would be most important to you?

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