Impact of school location on children’s air pollution exposure
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12066513 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mary Wolfe (0000-0001-6043-1433, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author), Noreen Mcdonald (0000-0002-4854-7035, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), Saravanan Arunachalam (0000-0002-6836-6944, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), RICHARD BALDAUF (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), Alejandro Valencia (0000-0002-9004-9814, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) |
| Year | 2020 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 8 |
| Pages | 1118-1134 |
| Publication date | 2020-07-07 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Urban Affairs (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0735-2166 • E-ISSN: 1467-9906 |
| Publisher | Taylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/07352166.2020.1734013 |
| PMID | 34970020 |
| OpenAlex | W3041703139 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 32 |
The role of school location in children's air pollution exposure and ability to actively commute is a growing policy issue. Well-documented health impacts associated with near-roadway exposures have led school districts to consider school sites in cleaner air quality environments requiring school bus transportation. We analyze children's traffic-related air pollution exposure across an average Detroit school day to assess whether the benefits of reduced air pollution exposure at cleaner school sites are eroded by the need to transport students by bus or private vehicle. We simulated two school attendance scenarios using modeled hourly pollutant concentrations over the school day to understand how air pollution exposure may vary by school location and commute mode. We found that busing children from a high-traffic neighborhood to a school 19 km away in a low-traffic environment resulted in average daily exposures 2 to 3 times higher than children walking to a local school. Health benefits of siting schools away from high-volume roadways may be diminished by pollution exposure during bus commutes. School districts cannot simply select sites with low levels of air pollution, but must carefully analyze tradeoffs between location, transportation, and pollution exposure
Air pollution · Air quality index · Attendance · Economic growth · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Meteorology · Air Quality and Health Impacts · Environmental Science · Medicine · Noise Effects and Management · Urban Transport and Accessibility · Environmental Engineering · Pollution
Near-Roadway Air Quality
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Public health benefits of strategies to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions
Children’s mode choice for the school trip
School Locations and Traffic Emissions — Environmental (In)Justice Findings Using a New Screening Method
Creating Locally-Resolved Mobile-Source Emissions Inputs for Air Quality Modeling in Support of an Exposure Study in Detroit, Michigan, USA
Air Quality Modeling in Support of the Near-Road Exposures and Effects of Urban Air Pollutants Study (Nexus)
Planning for School Facilities
All Choices Created Equal? The Role of Choice Sets in the Selection of Schools
The “Path” Not Taken
| Citations per year | 0.4 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2021 - 2025 (5) |
| Highly cited | No |