The more policies our society creates to curb air pollution from cars, the more we benefit from a healthier environment. But recent research reveals even more overlooked advantages of cutting back on tailpipe pollution.
Many past studies have only looked at how pollution affects adults physically and mentally, but children are affected too — and a recent study shows they'll gain a lot from a reduction in pollution, Phys.org reported.
Researchers at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, UCLA, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and the Boston University School of Public Health recently published research showing the effects on children from policies focused on air pollution from vehicles.
These policies, which used a framework called the Transportation and Climate Initiative, included moves to limit carbon dioxide being produced by cars, as well as investments in electric vehicles and public transportation.
Specifically, TCI calls for fuel suppliers to buy carbon pollution allowances and governments to put that money toward public transportation. The team examined several possible scenarios in which these ideas might be applied across 12 Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states and the District of Columbia.
According to Phys.org, the team found that with the strictest limits on air pollution, there would be a total economic savings of $82 million annually due to improved outcomes for children. These included 58,000 fewer cases of infant mortality, birth complications, asthma, and other conditions, including respiratory illnesses.
"Health benefits assessments often overlook children's health outcomes," co-author Dr. Frederica Perera, professor of environmental health sciences at the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health at Columbia Mailman, told Phys.org. "Yet we know that early exposure to air pollutants has multiple detrimental effects on children's health and well-being; and these are preventable."
The team also noted how important it is to try to limit air pollution to slow the world's rapidly rising temperature since many forms of pollution trap heat in the atmosphere.
The EPA has already begun putting policies in place to promote EVs and limit internal combustion engines in the future.
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