CEC: Newsletters

Unhealthy Highways
By Lily Auliff

The 1,000-page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the planned expansion of the Katy Freeway (I10), produced by the Texas Department of Transportation, contains less than three pages on air pollution and does not address environmental health issues at all.

Winnie Hamilton, Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and board member of the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP), calls health effects from freeways “well-documented,” and was shocked to see them omitted from the EIS.

Highway health studies in the United States and Europe have focused on both commuters and those who live, work, and go to school near busy roads – often defined as those that accommodate around 20,000 or more vehicles per day. Currently, 207,000 automobiles travel along I10 daily, according to the EIS, and that number is only expected to increase with road expansion.

Research has shown that commuters are exposed to 15 to 60 percent of their daily dose of carcinogens during one-and-a-half hours of driving, notes Hamilton. In fact, according to her calculations based on several exposure studies, levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and benzene in the car are often two to 10 times greater than those in the outside air. Some research, including a 1991 study titled Commuter exposures to VOCs in Boston, Massachusetts in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, has shown that driving exposes commuters to more pollution than walking or biking the same route.

Mothers who lived near freeways during pregnancy were more likely to give birth to children with heart defects, according to a 2002 study in American Journal of Epidemiology titled Ambient air pollution and risk of birth defects in Southern California. British preschoolers who lived within 500 feet of a road with heavy traffic, defined as more than 24,000 cars per day, were significantly more likely to be admitted to a hospital for asthma, according to a 1994 study published in the Archives of Environmental Health titled Hospital admissions for asthma in preschool children: Relationship to major roads in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Children living within 750 feet of a 20,000-car-per-day freeway had an eight-fold increase in leukemia rates, according to Particulate air pollution from motor vehicles: a putative proallergic hazard?, a 1999 study in the Canadian Respiratory Journal.

Also, children who attended schools located near heavy traffic exhibited increased respiratory problems in a 2001 study in the Archives of Environmental Health called Traffic-related air pollution affects peak expiratory flow, exhaled nitric oxide, and inflammatory nasal markers. There are 10 schools within 500 meters of I10 between Highway 610 and Highway 6.

No known local highway health studies have been done, but Hamilton says her department at Baylor is planning research that would correlate hospital admissions to environmental “hot spots,” such as freeways, industry, and landfills.

There are a few things you can do to reduce your exposure to pollutants while driving, says Hamilton. First, a large part of the pollution inside the cab comes from your own vehicle, so keep your auto well-maintained. And don’t idle too long – if you’re not moving, the fumes from your car are likely to get inside. Don’t tailgate either, especially in stop-and-go traffic. The research on whether to recirculate air through the air conditioning or open the vents is inconclusive. Hamilton recommends letting your eyes and nose guide you.

For more details on the impacts of the proposed Katy Freeway expansion, visit the Rethink Katy Freeway website at www.livablehouston.org/katyfreeway. See Fighting the Freeway, for details about a potential lawsuit against the project.



Unhealthy Highways By Lily Auliff The 1,000-page Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the planned expansion of the Katy Freeway (I10), produced by the Texas Department of Transportation, contains less than three pages on air pollution and does not address environmental health issues at all. Winnie Hamilton, Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and board member of the Galveston-Houston Association for Smog Prevention (GHASP), calls health effects from freeways “well-documented,” and was shocked to see them omitted from the EIS. Highway health studies in the United States and Europe have focused on both commuters and those who live, work, and go to school near busy roads – often defined as those that accommodate around 20,000 or more vehicles per day. Currently, 207,000 automobiles travel along I10 daily, according to the EIS, and that number is only expected to increase with road expansion. Research has shown that commuters are exposed to 15 to 60 percent of their daily dose of carcinogens during one-and-a-half hours of driving, notes Hamilton. In fact, according to her calculations based on several exposure studies, levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, and benzene in the car are often two to 10 times greater than those in the outside air. Some research, including a 1991 study titled Commuter exposures to VOCs in Boston, Massachusetts in Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, has shown that driving exposes commuters to more pollution than walking or biking the same route. Mothers who lived near freeways during pregnancy were more likely to give birth to children with heart defects, according to a 2002 study in American Journal of Epidemiology titled Ambient air pollution and risk of birth defects in Southern California. British preschoolers who lived within 500 feet of a road with heavy traffic, defined as more than 24,000 cars per day, were significantly more likely to be admitted to a hospital for asthma, according to a 1994 study published in the Archives of Environmental Health titled Hospital admissions for asthma in preschool children: Relationship to major roads in Birmingham, United Kingdom. Children living within 750 feet of a 20,000-car-per-day freeway had an eight-fold increase in leukemia rates, according to Particulate air pollution from motor vehicles: a putative proallergic hazard?, a 1999 study in the Canadian Respiratory Journal. Also, children who attended schools located near heavy traffic exhibited increased respiratory problems in a 2001 study in the Archives of Environmental Health called Traffic-related air pollution affects peak expiratory flow, exhaled nitric oxide, and inflammatory nasal markers. There are 10 schools within 500 meters of I10 between Highway 610 and Highway 6. No known local highway health studies have been done, but Hamilton says her department at Baylor is planning research that would correlate hospital admissions to environmental “hot spots,” such as freeways, industry, and landfills. There are a few things you can do to reduce your exposure to pollutants while driving, says Hamilton. First, a large part of the pollution inside the cab comes from your own vehicle, so keep your auto well-maintained. And don’t idle too long – if you’re not moving, the fumes from your car are likely to get inside. Don’t tailgate either, especially in stop-and-go traffic. The research on whether to recirculate air through the air conditioning or open the vents is inconclusive. Hamilton recommends letting your eyes and nose guide you. For more details on the impacts of the proposed Katy Freeway expansion, visit the Rethink Katy Freeway website at www.livablehouston.org/katyfreeway. See Fighting the Freeway, for details about a potential lawsuit against the project.