A recent research paper from the University of Queensland and the University of Melbourne – Traffic-Related Air Pollution and Childhood Asthma – Are the Risks Appropriately Mitigated in Australia? focusses on the inner west. It looks at data from local air monitoring stations and analyses the correlation between traffic pollution and childhood asthma. The paper also looks at the Health Impact Assessment (HIA) carried out as part of the West Gate Tunnel Environmental Effects Statement.
Findings include:
- The methodology used for the HIA grossly underestimated the impacts of traffic related pollution on children’s health.
- The nitrogen dioxide concentrations in the area are associated with a 13% risk increase in developing asthma over childhood, a 12% risk increase of active asthma and a 9% risk increase in lifetime asthma.
- 41% of childcare centres and 36% of schools in the area are less than 150m to a high-density truck route.
Current policy and planning outcomes concerning children’s exposure to traffic pollution do not align with key federal and state environmental objectives.
It’s tough reading, but it’s papers like this that really bring home why we do what we do.