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Item 2 - N40 Phase 1 - Desk Item Exh.35 - Part 1
From: Sent: To: Subject: Maria Ristow <ristows@comcast.net> Friday, July 08, 2016 7:03 PM Council; Planning; Laure l Prevetti; Joel Paulson North 40 Phase One application comment s Mayor Spector, Vice Mayor Sayee, and Council Members Jensen, Rennie and Leonardis, I am sending you an article I have written for LGCA, in response to a flier opposing the North 40 Phase 1 application. While reasonable people may disagree over facts, this flier, distributed widely through Next Door, Facebook, email lists and in paper form , contains a large number of inaccuracies. LGCA strives to ask questions , search out facts and look for solutions. This flier appears to embrace none of that. Thank you for reading yet another email about the North 40 Phase One application. SOME INCONVENIENT TRUTHS A flier as published on FB, Next Door and distributed in emails. LGCA finds this document full of inaccuracies. Comments and corrections below in italics. FINDINGS FOR DENIAL: THE PROPOSAL DOES NOT FULFILL THESE REQUIREMENTS, WHICH THE TOWN HAS MANDA TED THROUGH ITS SPECIFIC PLAN The proposed development is required to "look and feel like Los Gatos." P 1.1 The drawings for the Phase 1 proposal show boxy, massive, industrial style 3 -5 story buildings that have nothing in common with the look and feel of Los Gatos Whaaaaat????? There is NOTHING 5 stories in the Phase 1 proposal (I looked again). The housing is permitted to only be 25 feet high in some parts of the Lark District and up to 35 feet in parts of Lark District and elsewhere, up to 2-3 stories. The affordable senior housing is located on the Market Hall and parking structure (in the Transition, not Lark District), and it is ONE BUILDING in total, at 4 stories. If people don't like the architectural style, that can be discussed in A&S, but the "3-5 stories" is a ludicrous and incorrect statement. The Specific Plan says "Lower intensity residential and limited retail/office uses are envisioned ... " for the Lark District (Lark/Los Gatos Blvd.) (pp.2-3) The developer has instead proposed highly intense development-including massive 6-, 7-, and 8-unit 3-story rowhome complexes and commercial/residential space up to 51 ft. high. (This is taller than the Albright buildings.) 1 While everything proposed in the Lark district is a max of 25 feet tall along Lark and Los Gatos Boulevard and 35 feet tall toward the center, only the affordable senior housing located on top of the Market Hall and parking structure (in the Transition District) is permitted to go to 45 feet, and I believe the elevator shaft goes to 51 feet. For all who forgot, the Albright Buildings are SOLID RECTANGLES with two at 50 feet tall and two at 65 feet tall (exclusive of mechanical equipment). So how does one feature on one 45-foot tall building make the housing "taller than the Albright buildings " which also may be taller than their nominally stated heights????? Seriously, I'm blown away by the 72% of this Town that voted for the Albright buildings and now can't remember what they supported. The North 40 Phase One application is not as tall, or intense, or traffic-generating as Albright. The proposed development must "embrace hillside views, trees, and open space." P. 1.1 The intensity and height and layout of the buildings block hillside views and provides minimal open space. The Phase One application meets the 30% required open space requirement. How is this possibly MINIMAL? Compared to what? No Planned Development of even HALF the density of the North 40 has one-fourth the open space. At least one of the public open areas proposed on Phase 1 is as large as the Plaza downtown, plus there are several more slightly smaller spaces. For reference, Santana Row has 1-2% open space! All solid buildings block hillside views. So do trees. Walk anywhere in town and look around. Unless you are on top of a mountain, something will block your view at some point. Clumping residential units together and stacking them provides MORE open space, and the present application has more open space than any other development in Los Gatos. I attended the Planning Commission Special Meeting maybe two years ago where commissioners and members of the public were allowed to walk through much of the North 40. Ask anyone who was there--through all the trees, one could NOT see the hillsides in the present state. We are certainly NOT going to deny trees for this, are we? Relocating some of the residential in the Lark District to the North would alleviate some of the loss of views as would reducing the height and create more open space. As to the distribution of housing among the districts, Phase 1 proposes 193 units in the Lark District, and 12 7 units in the Transition District, which leaves 44 to carry over to the Northern District. (270 units+ bonus units= 364). When taken together with the location of the retail/garage/senior housing structure towards the north end of the Transition District, the Phase I proposal is consistent with the Specific Plan, which calls for a lower intensity of use {height, mass, traffic etc). Within the Lark District there would be a primary emphasis on residential, in the Transition District new development (residential and commercial), moving to greater intensity 2 commercial development in the Northern District. The reduced number of housing left for the Northern District is consistent with the Specific Plan requirement that commercial uses be located where they will have the least impact on residential uses. Others may disagree, but at least understand how the Specific Plan calls out the various types of uses and where it allows or encourages them. Further, relocating some of the residential could then put more commercial in the Transition district. That brings more traffic. How does this reduce intensity??? Residential is the least intensive from a traffic point of view. How does height get reduced? Height restrictions are the tightest in the Lark District. And the housing Element has zoned the N40 for 13.5 acres at 20 dwelling units/acre, so this is the density the Town has set. Between the density the Town set and the max height limit of 35 feet (except for affordable or hotel), the cluster cottages (the only detached housing permitted in the Spec Plan) likely impossible to build, as the density would need to be increased further in other residences. The proposed development must "incorporate the site's unique agricultural characteristics." P. 1.1 All the walnut trees will be removed. The site will be planted with other trees, mostly deciduous, that will take years to grow. Please read the Phase 1 proposal for the trees. Drought tolerant plantings are required in most places, and the periphery and inner ares will have orchard trees. The application is proposing a variety of fruit trees, to reflect the agricultural roots of the valley. Fruit trees can be planted closer together than walnut trees and ground-covering natives like mustard and lavender can be planted beneath, but if the TC prefers walnuts, then that will be the tree. Walnuts need to be spaced further and undergrowth is not viable. But that is up to the Town and TC. If the fruit trees are planted, the fruit will be gleaned and sold at the Market Hall, plus be available to those in the senior affordable housing. This was covered at the CDA C hearing. If you want to check anything, please see the EIR, Specific Plan, Housing Element, Phase One application, and the Q&A from the Study Session. Don 't just believe what ANY one person publishes I (Including me. I can make mistakes.) I see no point in creating hysteria with half-truths and lies. I can accept that those armed with facts may still dislike the proposal, but it helps if we all start from the same point. The Specific Plan, as Council Member Marcia Jensen pointed out at least once, was created to be a bit non-specific to give the Town Council room for discretion. Aspects of the Proposal can be discussed and reviewed. But starting from a point where the public is getting outright misinformation is not fruitful to this process. There is no amenity that "incorporates the site's unique agricultural characteristics." The developer claims the marketplace, A STORE, will fulfill this requirement. The entire application is set into a functioning agricultural setting, and there are proposed 3 community gardens for residents and demonstration gardens for commercial users. The orchard trees are not just there as eye candy. The Specific Plan states the development should "address the Town's unmet needs." P 1.1 Move-down housing for the Town's seniors and millennia! housing is not provided. As mentioned by at least one Council member, who says seniors can 't move into any of the proposed housing? And of course the affordable housing is for seniors. Only 49 very low income senior apartments are provided. No other affordable housing will be built. This is more affordable housing at the lowest level of affordability than has been built in Los Gatos. And certainly a 1200-sf townhouse will be more affordable than the 4000-and up-sf homes going up else where in this town. By zoning 13 .5 acres of the North 40 at 20 units/per acre, the Town planned for affordable housing, and that is what we are required to do. Los Gatos does NOT build housing and can not mandate exactly how the affordability levels will be distributed. I learned a lot about this sitting on the Housing Element Advisory Board. The retail as proposed duplicates that provided elsewhere and competes with rather than complements the downtown commercial space. P2.2 What does the Market Hall duplicate? Why can't there be a neighborhood restaurant? Do we expect to build all this housing and then force the residents into CARS for food and services? The proposed development doesn't "minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community services." P 1.1 Schools, street, and other services will be adversely affected Yet there is an unprecedented agreement with the developers and school district, above and beyond SB50 to address school impacts. The schools will get more than $6,000,000 with this agreement if the living units go into Phase 1 as requested by the school district. If you put more students in the Northern District, Los Gatos tax payers will likely pick up the cost of their education, and the other school districts will get the state funds. Sound like a Catch 22? It is! Mitigation measures are based on dated studies and do not sufficiently address adjacent pending and incomplete developments. The EIR (if you actually read it) covered all the recent and planned developments. The Specific Plan states the intent is "to provide a comprehensive framework in which development can occur in a planned, logical fashion rather than a piecemeal approach." P 1-1 Phase I includes only a portion of the 44 acres. The current application is just part of a piecemeal approach since no information is provided about Phase II. 4 The entire point of a Specific Plan is to lay the ground rules so any number of applications can come in and comply. The assumption of a Specific Plan is that there are multiple owners and phases, so one set of guidelines is set for the entire property. OTHER ISSUES The Specific Plan calls for residential development throughout the North 40, not just in this Phase. However, the developer includes all320 units in the first 20 of the 44 acres. All these homes would be within the Los Gatos School District. The Los Gatos school district covers about 2/3 of the North 40. The Specific Pl(ln includes maximums for housing, height, and commercial space. The developer has chosen to use all of these maximums even though at least some lower buildings would be appropriate. Most applications start at the max and ask for exceptions. This proposal complies. The proximity to Highway 1 7 is a potential health and safety issue for residential properties due to fumes and toxins from automobile pollution. The EIR addressed this and requires mitigations. A final comment: The flier starts with the assertion that as proposed, the development will destroy our Town's small-town character forever. Really??? We KNOW more housing and 60kft of commercial will DESTROY our small-town character? Seriously? There are people north of Blossom Hill Road BEGGING for something they can walk to, other than the burrito/coffee/burger trio that keep showing up at the strip malls. Possibly offering a Market Hall and another sit-down restaurant (as Viva is the only one in Town north of Blossom Hill) might actually allow more people a nice place to access by bike or foot. Talk to people on Oka or Highland Oaks. And those moving into the new residences in the North 40 will have something desirable nearby. How is planning a real neighborhood DESTROYING OUR Town's small-town character forever? Those who can't walk to downtown now, get in their cars and go to downtown Campbell, Santana Row, Valley Fair, Pruneyard, Westgate, Oakridge, or Saratoga now. How is getting more residents to leave their cars and stay in Los Gatos DESTROYING our town???? Thank you, Maria Ristow Los Gatos Community Alliance 5 From: Sent: To: Subject: To whom it may concern, Carleen <carleen_schomberg@comcast.net > Saturday, July 09, 2016 11:20 AM Plann ing North 40 and traffic congestion I am sure many others have already voiced their concerns regarding our serious traffic problems, but I needed to add my voice to the record . I drive down L.G . Blvd . almost every weekday afternoon to pick grandkids up from school. We already have a serious problem with congestion where, at times, I sit through two or three lights before I actually get across Samaritan Dr. It is also quite hazardous for people entering and exiting the businesses/homes on the same side of the street at RAMBLC pediatric. The addition of all that proposed traffic from homes and businesses is unimaginable. I don't know who did the traffic study, but it must have been done between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m . to be considered as feasible. Please consider our already untenable situation with traffic passing through to and from Santa Cruz, the bad situation we already have, and the safety of bicyclists, pedestrians and cars entering and exiting the road. All that property should be able to handle is a very scaled down, low-height, low-density residential development. Even that would add more cars to an already bad situation. Let's not also have an eyesore in the process. Thank you , Carleen Schomberg 1 From: Jennifer Riano [mai lt o:jennifer.riano (a.'gmai l.com] Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2016 1:55PM To: Joel Paulson Subject: North 40 I'm strongly encouraging you to DENY North 40 . I've enjoyed living in Los Gatos for the last 7 years and moved here for the TOWN feeling. Please vote to deny north 40. Thank you. Jennifer Riano 1 00 Escobar Ave. From: hsupermike@gmail.com [mailto:hsupermike@gmail.com] On Behalf Of Michael Hsu Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2016 5:26 PM To: Joel Paulson; Planning; Sally Zarnowitz Subject: Project North 40 concerns Dear LG planning commission, Thank you in advance for reading this letter. My wife and I fell in love with Los Gatos years ago when we visited years ago. The city had such a charming, welcoming character, so different from all the other places in the bay area. You have mountains , beautiful trails, a wonderful downtown, great residents, and a town that's organized and laid out perfectly. In fact, we loved it so much we knew we would buy a home and live in Los Gatos, and raise our children here . We got married 3 years ago , moved into Los Gatos 1 year ago, and now have a 6 month old son that was born at Good Sam. We loved everything about Los Gatos. But when I found out about North 40 a few months ago, I couldn't believe it, but I was more curious. When I realized the full scope o f North 40, that's when I started worrying. A lot. -I worry about traffic and congestion. You all know how bad the traffic is already. It's not just during the summer on weekends anymore. And it 's not just downtown. It's getting worse and worse year round, all throughout the town. North 40 is going to make traffic 2x as bad, if not more. -I worry about LG becoming an u ndesirable place to live. I've tried to convince numerous friends and relatives in the Bay Area to move to LG, but all of them worry about the traffic . I've also talked to a number of former residents that moved out as soon as their kids got old enough b/c they couldn't stand the traffic anymore . North 40 is only going to make this a much bigger issue. -I worry about my son and LG schools. LG schools are already stretched near the limit. So what i f North 40 gives the school district some money. Can our schools actually absorb all the projected new students over the next X years after North 40? Can the classrooms and teachers handle the increase? How much will the quality of education go down by? There's no way adding that many people can keep the bar as high as it is now, especially with the issues that already exist today. -I worry about LG losing it's charm. We moved in because we love everything about the town. But the part of LG between the 85 and Lark Ave --especially along Los Gatos Blvd --is the part that is LEAST like the rest of LG. It has no character. If anything, North 40 should be an opportunity to tum this part of town to be MUCH MORE like the rest ofLG. Unfortunately, from the vision and planning, that is not going to happen. And North 40 will feel even further from LG, and will attract people that may not care as much for the LG we know and love. I'm not against developing the North 40 area , and I think it could be done in a way that adds a lot to the town. Not the way it's planned now . Michael From: e drathma nn @co mcast.net [mai lt o :edrathma nn @co mcast.net] Sent: Saturday, July 09, 2016 9 :31 PM To: North40 Comment Cc: Joel Paulson Subject: North 40 July 12 meeting Planning Commission, As the owner of Main Street Burgers and Willow Street, I am writing in opposition to the proposed North 40 development. Many things define our community, but probably the most important is our charming downtown. The Downtown cannot be replicated by any new development, but it can be harmed by one. The North 40 development before you , will do serious damage to the economic vitality of the downtown . The Los Gatos downtown is a fragile entity and it requires a critical mass of people to be vibrant: people walking the streets and shopping . The North 40 Specific Plan allows for 400,000 new square feet of retail (60 ,000 sf in this first proposal). That is not much below the 525 ,000 sf of retail at Santana Row. Our downtown has not more than 230 ,000 sf of ground floor retail. Combine the North 40 project with the damage already done to the Downtown from competition by the revitalized downtown Campbell and we have the potential for a serious drop in people visiting our downtown. What happens if 10 to 20% less people visit the Downtown? The North 40 will have beautiful walking streets , plenty of new restau rants with outdoor seating , national retail stores, and abundant parking conveniently off the Lark Ave exit of Highway 17 . As one of the current council members wrote during the North 40 study session: "It is difficult to see what spec ific restaurant and retail providers would not impact our downtown ." This North 40 proposal stands in d irect contradiction to the Town's North 40 Vision Statement. How is 400,000 sf of retail " seamlessly woven into the fabric of our community ... complementing ... other Los Gatos res idential and business neighborhoods." And supposedly the North 40 will " ... address the Town's ... commercial unmet needs." Does Los Gatos have 400 ,000 sf of "commercial unmet needs"? Does anyone really believe that? Do we want the downtown to become like Saratoga's? The North 40 will do to our downtown what Valley Fair and Santana Row has done to Downtown San Jose : destroy it. Our Downtown is under attack from traffic congestion , lack of parking , and competition. The Planning Commission and Council should be working to promote our Downtown , not voting fo r a second one . I strongly urge you to vote against this North 40 development proposal. Ed Rathmann Fr om: Sent: To: Subject: Dear Planning Commission, Liana Palmer <lianapalm@a ol.com > Sunday, July 10, 2016 10:04 AM Planning North 40 I am in favor of approving the plan that is before the commission for the North 40. Dense housing and multi level homes and flats are the way of today and the future. Los Gatos cannot remain in the 1950ies wi th regard to our community. Urban sprawl is the past. It is time to confront the housing problems we have in the bay area, and to do our share to participate in the solution . We need to comply with state and housing element requirements. Traffic will be a problem , but we can't solve everything at the same time . We will have to suffer a bit before we will all get behind the funding of tow n road improvements. Increasing local tax may be a necessity that Los Gatos has long avoided . We can no longer feel entitled to so much abundance in our town with no participation. Schools will be impacted for a time , but provisions are in place for the district to have space in the plan to continue to provide an excellent education to our children in the classroom . Although the allotted space will not have the expansive play and sports area that Fisher and Blossom Hill have, or the decreasing area that Van Meter, Daves , and Lexington have , limited space for education is a reality of the present and the future . Our children will continue to be educated in the classroom . Families and 3rd party child ren's organizations . will have to learn new ways of providing extracurricular experiences , such as visits to our abundant city, county, and state parks. Parents and the community will need to provide exposure for our kids to nature, sports activities, and open space . I appreciate the efforts by the Yukis, the developers, and especially the volunteer time and dedication of the Planning Commission for the years spent tackling, refining and respectfully considering the thoughts and input of the community. Now is the time for Los Gatos to break ground in the North 40, build , welcome new Los Gatons to town, and join the 21st century. Liana Palmer 16345 Los Gatos 1 From: Sent: To: Subject: Date : July 10 , 2016 To: Liana Palmer <lianapalm @aol.com> Sunday, Jul y 10, 2016 10:20 AM lianapalm@aol.com; Planning Re : North 40 Los Gatos Planning Commiss ion From : Liana Palmer 16345 Los Gatos Blvd , #30 Los Gatos, CA 95032 lianapalm@aol Dear Planning Commission, I am in favor of approving the plan that is before the commission for the North 40. Dense housing and multi level homes and flats are the way of today and the future . Los Gatos cannot remain in the 1950ies with regard to our community. Urban sprawl is the past. It is time to confront the housing problems we have in the bay area , and to do our share to participate in the solution. We need to comply with state and housing element requirements . Traffic will be a problem , but we can't solve everything at the same time . We will have to suffer a bit before we will all get behind the funding of town road improvements. Increasing local tax may be a necessity that Los Gatos has long avoided . We can no longer feel entitled to so much abundance in our town with no participation. Schools will be impacted for a time, but provisions are in place for the district to have space in the plan to continue to provide an excellent education to our children in the classroom . Although the allotted space will not have the expansive play and sports area that Fisher and Blossom Hill have , or the decreasing area that Van Meter, Daves, and Lexington have , lim ited space for education is a reality of the present and the future. Our children will continue to be educated in the classroom . Fam ilies and 3rd party children's organizations will have to learn new ways of providing extracurricular experiences, such as visits to our abundant city, county, and state parks . Parents and the community will need to provide exposure for our kids to nature, sports activities , and open space . I can say we still live in the 50ies, because my family moved here in the mid-40ies , I was born and raised here, and it hasn't changed all that much. Yes , I remember the orchards , but they were bull- dozed within a span of about 10 years making room for the boom time of the 60ies when highly paid and mid-range paid Lockheed and IBM engineers streamed into the Manor, Surry Farms , Daves Ave , Kennedy Road, etc, things haven't changed that much in terms of housing growth . We reached about 30 ,000 people , then suddenly everyone wanted to keep "charm" of the "town" which meant anti- 1 growth , anti-diversity, anti-low to moderate income . We have had a good 40 years of "containment" attitude in Los Gatos. It's time to give it up . I appreciate the efforts by the Yukis, the developers, and especially the volunteer time and dedication of the Planning Commission for the years spent tackling , refining and respectfully considering the thoughts and input of the community. Now is the time for Los Gatos to break ground in the North 40, build , welcome new Los Gatons to town , and join the 21st century. Liana Palmer 2 From: dcwestcott@aol.com [mailto:dcwestcott@aol.com] Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2016 11:47 AM To: Joel Paulson; Planning; Sally Zarnowitz Subject: North 40, Too Dense Dear Planning Commission I am disturbed by the density of the North 40 proposal. It seem way too dense for the character of Los Gatos. As a long time resident, I've come to know and love the small town atmosphere, and this "city in a city" is not good for the town. Just the density of cars in the Los Gatos/Lear area should be a warning sign. Its already congested and would become a traffic nightmare. And there is no way around that! Please turn down this proposal. It is not good fit for Los Gatos! David C. Westcott From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: mmpmitzi@comcast.net Sunday, July 10, 2016 11:47 AM Planning Marico Sayoc; BSpector; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis; Marcia Jensen North 40 Dear Planning Commission and Town Council , Please don't allow the proposed massive development in the North 40 . The town streets and schools can not handle such mass. A one story, more spread out development would be better for the town and all of us who live here. We have gridlock on our streets now. I avoid the downtown and the shops on Los Gatos Blvd. because it takes me so long to get through the traffic and because of the lack of parking . Please don't add more!! This is our only chance to save our quaint little town!!! Thank you , Mary Patterson 1 From: Sent: To: Subject: To the planning commission, Susan Cahn <susancahn@earthlink.net> Sunday, July 10, 2016 12:29 PM Planning ***********Upset neighbor-Very against the proposal for the new construction and building on 401-409 Alberto Way*********** It is pretty unbelievable the size and especially the height of the proposed structures of 401-409 Alberto way. In particular the building that is ne xt to my our complex-435 Alberto Way.-Las Casitas-The building is so tall that the units that are adjacent to the building will have no privacy-where people will be able to look into their backyard s and bedrooms. We all bought our units expecting to the have the privacy and this is completely unfair. My understanding i s that the proposed entrance to the parking is also ne xt to our units at Las Ca sitas which i s going to provide a constant source of noise and vibrations even after the project is finished which is unfair with the car traffic. It is al so dangerous for pedestrians trying to cross and cars trying to drive . Please consider moving the parking entrance away from our units. I also heard what sounded like construction noise co ming from the project adjacent to our units before 8AM both days of the weekend , and my understanding is this is unacceptable for Los Gatos ordinances and rule s. This is completely unbelievable to me that a project of this magnitude could be acceptable on our street. Please imagine if you had to live next to this proposed structure. We had a trial run of what it would be like with all of the traffic and trucks with the repayment of the st reets this last week; it was awfu l and will be horrible for all of Lo s Gatos be ca use of the location, the traffic, big trucks, and especially bad for the people on our street or that have to get into down town Los Gatos or go on the HW 17. Thanks fo r your consideration . Please consideration adjusting the scale of the project. The heights of the buildings and the location of the parking garage. Of course, my ideal wish would be that you would please reconsider approving any of the const ruction on this project Thanks for your time! Susan Cahn 408 395 5366 From: Susan Cahn [mailto:susancahn@earthlink.net] 5ent: Wednesday, June 08, 2016 1:13 PM To: 'planning@losgatosca.gov' Subject: ***********Upset neighbor -Very against the proposal for the new construction and building on 401-409 Alberto Way *********** To the Planning Commission: I am very upset and 100% against the building and construction proposed for 401-409 Alberto Way. I don 't believe I will be able to attend the meeting today so I wanted to email you my following grievances that I have towards this construction project. I cannot leave my dog alone because of her health issues, and I don't have sitter for her. 1 My parents and my family have been residents of Los Gatos since I was 5, and I have been a homeowner and resident at 435 Alberto Way, #12 since 1992. I went to Van Meter, Fisher JR High, and Los Gatos High School. I am very upset because there will be constant and a tremendous increase in traffic which will require a lot of extra time to get to and from my house and to the freeway and anywhere in Los Gatos or anywhere in general. The traffic is already very bad and has increased over the years in Los Gatos. Sometimes, especially in the day or from~ 5PM through ~ 7PM, it takes 1 0 + minutes to travel to downtown LG or to my Vet, etc. in Los Gatos from my home when it should only take about 3 minutes. The construction will create traffic jams to get on to the freeway or to try to return to or leave our houses which will require more time waiting at the lights, etc. and which will affect all residents in Los Gatos. This will be very dangerous for the emergency vehicles such as ambulances and the fire department who help and serve residents with health concerns, especially the elderly residents that live in the Senior Condo complex on Alberto Way. I am also extremely upset about the fact that there will be constant banging and noise that the construction will create. I work all day through the late evening and into the early morning every day until at least 430AM or SAM at my house, and I need to be able sleep in the morning until about llAM with constant banging from the construction, it will be extremely hard to sleep and will be very disturbing to me, my dog, and all of neighbors and their dogs, cats, and families (with lots of kids). I also need to be able to make important work calls from home since I work out of my home so the constant banging from the construction will make it hard to have any important work calls. The constant banging will be detriment to the my health and peace of mind; it will contribute to an inability to sleep, constant noise which will create a lot of anxiety for me and my neighbors, their families and their dogs and cats. Sometimes I have migraines /headaches and /or repeated extreme neck pain sometimes for 3 days with some breathing issues (related to chemicals and smoke), and I am very concerned that about the added noise and stress from the construction projects will make my headaches and neck pain more prevalent and worse in intensity without the ability to rest when I need to or the banging may trigger additional episodes. It will be very dangerous to try to cross the street on foot to walk my dog or to walk in general -trying to avoid the construction trucks (and extra traffic) that do not typically come to our street. We have a lot of children (many very young children) who are residents on Alberto Way and especially at 435 Alberto Way, and there are 1 OOs of elderly and retired individuals who live on Alberto Way in the Senior Citizen condos that will be in danger walking on the sidewalk, the street, and crossing the streets or driving, and also many elderly residents on Alberto way individuals have to walk because they can no longer drive, and there are a lot of residents that walk (with or without their dogs), etc. We all will have a significant amount of potential danger that we would not have because of construction, the extra traffic and additional people travelling to our street. I am also concerned about workmen coming to our quiet residential neighborhood for safety reasons; being a single lady, I don 't want folks driving into our neighborhood who are not residents which definitely includes construction workers who are typically men. There is already a lot of crime on the street (a lot of car break-ins, and some property thefts) and the construction will bring in unwanted individuals, which could and will most likely lead to an increase in crime. I believe this construction project will bring down our property values with the construction, traffic , noise pollution, etc. People will not be able to sell or rent out their units since no one will want to buy or rent near this huge proposed construction project. There is already limited street parking on Alberto Way so the extra vehicles on the street will make it very difficult for residents and their guests to enjoy the quality of life and conveniences that they have been enjoying related to enjoying a quiet and peaceful life, parking near their homes for convenience, being able to travel on a timely basis in their cars, walking without worrying about getting run over by construction trucks and the extra traffic associated with this project, etc. 2 Additional, you can't use mixed commercial I residential or commercial zoning properties for comparables for real estate or mortgage matters or transactions (part of the appraisals, etc.) with residential condos or townhouses /PUDs (our existing housing units on Alberto); therefore, a future newly finished condos at 401 - 409 (which I believe are included in this project) won't help anyone's residential property values as some people erroneously think it will. There will also be nails and other sharp objects that could puncture our tires which could provide a safety hazard, unfair costs, and extra unexpected time inconveniences, which could lead to an emergency situation if we can 't get to a medical or veterinary office or hospital, especially if residents only have 1 car per family or household or if they are the only one home. (I only have 1 car.) I have a dog who has a lot of health problems and older parents, and I need to be able to get to the Vet or possibly to help my parents (who also live in Los Gatos) ASAP at times. I absolutely don't think it is fair to have such a horrible disturbance. The residents that live on Alberto Way should have the right and opportunity to rest and have a quiet peaceful home life and work life like the rest of the people do in Los Gatos. Please call me if you have any questions. You have permission to read this email at the planning meeting tonight, but please don 't read my name, my unit number or phone number out loud at the meeting. You can say which complex I live at in general -435. Thanks for your time, understanding, and consideration. Please don't let Shane Arters , LP Acquisitions and /or any other parties related to the proposed construction project 401 -409 Alberto way, proceed fmward. Thanks, Susan Cahn 408 395 5366 3 On Jul10, 2016, at 3:17PM, Martha Wills <mtswills@qm ail.com > wrote: Dear Town Counci l members, I strongly urge you to DENY the current application for the North 40 development on these grounds: 1) All of the Phase 1 housing is located in the Los Gatos Union School District. This plan will maximize profits for the developer but will likely contribute to overcrowding at Los Gatos elementary schools and Fisher Middle School. 2) A project of the size and scope proposed by the developer cannot but adversely affect traffic flow on Los Gatos Boulevard and the surrounding areas. The town is trying to deal with massive beach traffic on 17; add ing this much commercial and residential development near 17 and Lark is a recipe for compounded traffic woes for residents. 3) The proposed development is required to .. look and feel like Los Gatos, .. but drawings indicate large, boxy buildings that have little in common with the traditional look and feel of Los Gatos. I urge you to listen carefully to voices of caution regarding this parcel of land. As I see it, only the developer is in a rush to put high-density houses and retail on that property. The rest of us will be forced to deal with the negative consequences as long as we live in Los Gatos. Yours sincerely, Martha Wills 229 Vista del Monte From: Janise Burford [mailto:jan is eburford @gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 10 , 2016 6:05 PM To: Joel Paulson; Planning; Sally Zarnowitz; BSpector; Marico Sayoc; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis; Marcia Jensen Subject: Proposed North 40 Development To: The Planning Commssion The Los Gatos TOWN Council Re: Proposed North 40 Development As a small business owner and a resident of Los Gatos 95033, I spend many hours frequenting the TOWN of Los Gatos for shopping , dining and the small TOWN atmosphere. I have been a resident for 9 years. I was born and raised in the Inland Empire of Southern California and moved to Los Gatos to escape the urban sprawl and overcrowding of So Cal. It breaks my heart to see the development proposal on the North 40!!!! I was born in 19 51 and during my childhood Redlands, CA was similar to Los Gatos. Over the years I watched the deterioration of my once beautiful homeland as shopping malls and hordes of people moved in. All in the name of progress. That "progress" has left So Cal a wasteland. When I saw the LOOMING orange development tape on the North 40 I was reminded of the demise of So Cal. I had time to reflect because I was once again dead stopped -that area of Hwy 17 is extremely impacted already and traffic is nightmare . I can't imagine what will happen when more people move into the development. Let's not forget those same people will get hot in the summer and add to the NIGHTMARE traffic jams we currently see now doing the 17 crawl to the coast. Making a roundabout at the south end of town is a bandaid for what is to come if that development proceeds. The entire TOWN will become gridlocked. Remember the 4th of July 2015? The following development will violate the following from P .l.l: *"look and feel like Los Gatos"-NOT SO CAL * "embrace hillside views, trees and open space"-not wall to wall concrete as seen in So Cal * "incorporate the site's unique agricultural characteristics"- How can the walnut trees remain if that monstrosity goes in? * " minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, SCHOOLS , and other community services"-Schools are already overcrowded, streets are frequently jammed, Please do not allow this development to ruin the charming town of Los Gatos. Kindest Regards, Janise Burford Amore Pet Sitting Services LLC 408.7 41.5408 uwe can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals." lmmanual Kam "Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains una wake." An atole Fran ce www .amore p etsittingservic es .com From; beccabergeron@gmail.com [ mailto: beccabergeron @gmail.com] Sent: Sunday, July 10, 2016 10:56 PM To: Sally Zarnowitz ; BSpector; Marico Sayoc; Rob Rennie; Steven Leonardis; Marcia Jensen Subject: Experience with Grosvenor Dear Planner and Town Council Members : My name is Becky Bergeron; I am granddaughter to Pete Brutsche, a long time property owner on Bennett Way in Los Gatos. I am writing today to let all of you know how much I appreciated the care with which my Grandpa Pete was treated during the process of selling his home. As you can imagine, it was a momentous decision to sell! Throughout the entire transition our family was treated with respect and dignity. We are all especially grateful that Grandpa Pete was able to spend the rest of his days in his own home, passing away peacefully last February at the wonderful age of 1 00. Sincerely, Becky Bergeron 408 /580-4646 From: Sent: To: Cc: Jeff Loughridge < lokrij@comcast.net> Sunday, July 10, 2016 11:47 PM Laurel Prevetti; Joel Paulson ; Marni Moseley; Robert Schultz; Planning BSpector; Marice Sayoc; Steven Leonardis; Rob Rennie; Marcia Jensen Subject: DESK ITEM FOR N40 MEETING : Response to the "A OTY WITHIN A TOWN!" flyer 7-10-2016 To: Planning Commission and Town Council From: Jeff Loughridge Re: Response to the "A CITY WITHIN A TOWN!" flyer I think that it is irresponsible to distribute a flyer wh ich presents opinions without supporting facts . Before I make any decision , I'd need to have facts so that I might be able to use my intellect and come to my own conclusions . The flyer that was presented here was filled with m isleading information to try and get support for a particular conclusion. After read ing this you may come to the same conclus ion you had before, but you will have done so with a few more of the fact in the process. Hopefully this information will help to create a more informed group of residents who can help to sort out this complicated problem . I have found that most facts are difficult to research and assemble, especially on a complicated project like the N40. Let's face it , the N40 deals with many complex issues that are dear to our hearts, as Los Gatos residents . But facts should be used to make any argument. Not tactics that convince people to follow blindly using only information that supports your argument while ignoring the real facts . Especially purposely leaving out facts that would support a different conclusion . The Community Alliance has struggled, and continues to struggle , to present hard-to-research facts of many issues around town so that residents can make up their own m inds . Now if the reason that you don't want the N40 is just that you don 't want it, I can appreciate that. That, by itself is an argument. But to publish misleading information to try to sway people to a particular way of thinking is just plain wrong. Unethical. I've included some facts on this issue below in red to hopefully shed a bit of light on some of the erroneous conclusions and misinformation that this flyer presents. Jeff Loughridge -------START OF FLYER------- PINDiNGS roR DENIAL: ' . THE PROPOSAL DOES NOT FULFILL THESE REQUIREMENTS, WHICH THE TOWN HAS MANDATED THROUGH ITS SPECIFIC PLAN 1. The proposed development is required to "look and feel like Los Gatos." P 1.1 RESPONSE: Los Gatos doesn't have any particular look or feel. It is made up of many looks and many feels from the downtown to the west side of town to the north and to the east. All different, as are the various office buildi ngs spread across town. Some of these as well as some homes are downright ugly. That is still how Los Gatos looks and feels. a. The drawings for the Phase 1 proposal show boxy, massive , industrial style 3 -5 story buildings that have nothing in common with the look and feel of Los Gatos RESPONSE: There is NOTHING 5 stories in the Phase 1 proposal. The housing is permitted to only be 25 1 feet high in some parts of the Lark District and up to 35 feet in parts of Lark District and elsewhere, up to 2-3 stories. The affordable senior housing is located on the Market Hall and parking structure (in the Transition, not Lark District), and it is ONE BUILDING in total, at 4 stories 2 . The Specific Plan says "Lower intensity residential and limited retail/office uses are envisioned ... " for the Lark District (Lark/Los Gatos Blvd.) (pp .2-3) The developer has instead proposed highly intense development- including massive 6-, 7-, and 8-unit 3-story rowhome complexes and commercial/residential space up to 51 ft . high. (This is taller than the Albright buildings.) RESPONSE: Calling 20 units per acres intense is misleading. 20 units per acre is the MINIMUM state requirement for affordable housing. Plus, the percentage of the overall si te coverage over 45' = .0055 % As an example, Santana Row is 75 units per acre. 3. The proposed development must "embrace hillside views, trees, and open space." P. 1.1 a. The intensity and height and layout of the buildings block hillside views and provides minimal open space . RESPONSE: Definitely if you stand on the other side of a building you will be deprived of a hillside view. This is true of ANY building in town. As far as open space is concerned, the N40 pr oposal includes the following open spaces ... Community Park: 22,000 +sf Passive and active open space Amenities include: Multiple outdoor dining areas w/ large communal table, cafe tables and chairs, outdoor grills, lounge seating, bocce court, firepits & fireplace, community gardens, orchards with benches and hammocks Grand Paseo: 8,000 sf Passive open space Amenities include: 1,000 sf mixed fescue law·n area, water fountain courtyard with seating, fire table courtyard, orchard and wide seat steps Courtyard Plaza: 9,500 sf Passive/lightly active open space Amenities include: flexible public gathering spaces, lounge seating, d i ning areas, movie wall, cafe tables/chairs, seat walls 2 Pocket Parks: 2,800 and 3,200 sf Active/Passive apen space Amenities include: mixed fescue lawn areas, benches, dog water stations, dog bag stations Demonstration Gardens: 5,000 sf Active open space Amenities include: Kitchen gardens, gardening and harvesting demonstration areas These calculations do not include the orchard setbacks along Lark/Los Gatos Boulevard or A Street, or the pedestrian paseos throughout the project. b . Relocating some of the residential in the Lark District to the North would alleviate some of the Joss of views as would reducing the height and create more open space. RESPONSE: As to the distribution of housing among the districts, Phase 1 proposes 193 units in the Lark District, and 127 units in the Transition District, which leaves 44 to carry over to the Northern District. (270 units+ bonus units= 364). When taken together with the location of the retail/garage/senior housing structure towards the north end of the Transition District, the Phase I proposal is consistent with the Specific Plan, which calls for a lower intensity of use (height, mass, traffic etc). Within the Lark District there would be a primary emphasis on residential, in the Transition District new development (residential and commercial), moving to greater intensity commercial development in the Northern District. The reduced number of housi ng left for the Northern District is consistent with the Specific Plan requirement that commercial uses be located where they will have the least impact on residential uses . Others may disagree, but at least understand how the Specific Plan calls out the various types of uses and where it allows or encourages them. 4. The proposed development must "incorporate the site's unique agricultural characteristics ." P. 1.1 a. All the walnut trees will be removed . The site will be planted with other trees, mostly deciduous, that will take years to grow. 2 RESPONSE: Walnut trees are a huge mess to maintain and even the Yukis don't suggest keeping them. The original crops was different anyway. Approx. 500 proposed new orchard trees + Approx . 1200-1300 additional trees are proposed in Phase 1 Total: 1700-1800 new trees in Phase 1 Note on the existing walnut trees: The existing walnut trees are nearing the end of their lifespan and are on the decline. New orchards of various fruiting trees will be planted to honor the agricultural history of the site Please read the Phase 1 proposal for the trees. Drought tolerant plantings are required in most places, and the periphery and inner ares will have orchard trees. The application is proposing a variety of fruit trees, to reflect the agr i cultural roots of the valley. Fruit trees can be planted closer together than walnut trees and ground-covering natives like mustard and lavender can be planted beneath, but if the TC prefers walnuts, then that will be the tree. Walnuts need to be spaced further and undergrowth is not viable. But that is up to the Town and TC. If the fruit trees are planted, the fruit will be gleaned and sold at the Market Hall, plus be available to those in the senior affordable housing. This was covered at the CDAC hearing. b. There is no amenity that "incorporates the site's unique agricultural characteristics." The developer claims the marketplace, A STORE , will fulfill this requirement. RESPONSE: The entire application is set into a functioning agricultural setting, and there are proposed community gardens for residents and demonstration gardens for commercial users. The orchard trees are not just there as eye candy. 5. The Specific Plan states the development should "address the Town's unmet needs ." P 1.1 a. Move-down housing for the Town's seniors and millennia! housing is not provided . RESPONSE: These were both eliminated by the Town Council ruling of a maximum of 35 feet. b. Only 49 very low income senior apartments are provided . No other affordable housing will be built. RESPONSE: That's 20% of the housing, same as our BMP regulations. What is proposed is affordable housing at the lowest level of affordability than has been built in los Gatos. And certainly a 1200-sf townhouse will be more affordable than the 4000-and up-sf homes going up elsewhere in this town. By zoning 13.5 acres of the North 40 at 20 units/per acre, the Town planned for affordable housing, and that is what we are required to do by the state, whether we like it or not. los Gatos does NOT build housing and is not allowed to mandate exactly how the affordability levels will be distributed. I learned a lot about this sitting on the Housing Element Advisory Board. c. The retail as proposed duplicates that provided elsewhere and competes with rather than complements the downtown commercial space. P2.2 RESPONSE: So having another restaurant competes with those downtown? Where are the residents in the North supposed to dine? Campbell? Retail here competes more with Campbell and San Jose more than it does our downtown. What does the Market Hall duplicate? Why can't there be a neighborhood restaurant? Do we expect to build all this housing and then force the residents into CARS for food and services? 6. The proposed development doesn't "minimize or mitigate impacts on town infrastructure, schools, and other community services ." P 1.1 RESPONSE: Yet there is an unprecedented agreement with the developers and school district, above and beyond SB50 to address school impacts. The schools will get more than $6,000,000 with this agreement if the living units go into Phase 1 as requested by the school d i strict. If you put more students in the Northern District, los Gatos tax payers will likely pick up the cost of their education, and the other school distri cts will get the state funds. a. Schools, street, and other services will be adversely affected 3 b . Mitigation measures are based on dated studies and do not sufficiently address adjacent pending and incomplete developments. RESPONSE: No study can take into account the future, but this study took into account far more than what is be i ng proposed. The EIR (if you actually read it) covered all the recent and planned developments. 7 . The Specific Plan states the intent is "to provide a comprehensive framework in which development can occur in a planned, logical fashion rather than a piecemeal approach ." P 1-1. RESPONSE: The entire point of a Specific Plan is to lay the ground rules so any number of applications can come in and comply. The assumption of a Specific Plan is that there are multiple owners and phases, so one set of guidelines is set for the entire property. a. Phase I includes only a portion of the 44 acres . The current application is just part of a piecemeal approach since no information is provided about Phase II. RESPONSE: Without an approved Specific Plan , piecemeal development will continue as i t has on that section of Los Gatos Blvd. OTHER ISSUES 1. The Specific Plan calls for residential development throughout the North 40, not just in this Phase. However, the developer includes all 320 units in the first 20 of the 44 acres. All these homes would be within the Los Gatos School District. RESPONSE: The Los Gatos school district covers about 2/3 of the North 40. 2. The Specific Plan includes maximums for housing, height, and commercial space. The developer has chosen to use all of these maximums even though at least some lower buildings would be appropriate. RESPONSE: Most applications start at the max and ask for exceptions. This p r oposal complies. When the maximums were brought down to 35 feet by Council, yes the developers chose to go to that height for most of the development. Except those housing units and building fronting Lark or Los Gatos Blvd . Those were kept at 25 feet. 3 . The proximity to Highway 17 is a potential health and safety issue for residential properties due to fumes and toxins from automobile pollution. RESPONSE: The EIR addressed this and REQUIRES mitigations. 4 Planning Commission Meeting 7-12-16 Dear Planning Commissioners, RECEIVED JUL 11 2016 TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING DIVISION I support the 270 housing units, 50 Senior affordable housing units and 66,000 square feet of commercial development. What I am opposed to is locating the housing units in what Figure 15 of the N40 EIR delineates as an area that is considered a higher health risk area along the 17 Freeway. Please review the research I have included regarding the Health Hazards of living near a highway. According to the Sierra Club report, below is a list of health hazards if you live close to a freeway. • Children Living Near Busy Roads More likely to Develop Leukemia, Cancer • Road Traffic Contributes to the Origin of Childhood Leukemia • Soot Particulate Matter Linked to Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality • Truck Traffic Linked to Childhood Asthma Hospitalizations • Pregnant Women Who Live Near High Traffic Areas More Likely to Have Premature and Low Birth Weight Babies • Traffic Increased Cancer • People Who Live Near Freeways Exposed to 25 Times More Soot Particulate Pollution • Lung Function Reduced Among Children Living Near Truck Traffic • Traffic-Related Air Pollution Associated with Respiratory Symptoms in Two-Year Old Children • Asthma Symptoms Caused by Truck Exhaust • Proximity of a Child's Residence to Major Roads Linked to Hospital Admissions for Asthma • Exposure to Cancer-Causing Benzene Higher for Children Living Near High Traffic Areas • Air Pollution from Busy Roads Linked to Shorter Life Spans for Nearby Residents • Exposure to Nitrogen Dioxide (N02) from Vehicles Exacerbates Asthma Attacks • Five Times More Deaths Due to Air Pollution than Traffic Accidents • Motor Vehicle Air Toxins Cause High Pollution Levels Inside Homes I understand that other communities are doing this, but that does not make it right. Putting Housing Units along the 17 Freeway within the designated area is IRRESPONSIBLE! Children don't have a choice, but you do. Recommend to the Town Council that the Developer move the Housing Units farther away from the Freeway and put an office building in that area with fixed windows and filtered HVAC. Thank you, Anne Robinson 201 Charter Oaks Circle Los Gatos, CA 95032 Legend -·-Project Boundary D Cancer Risk Over I 0 per Million ~ 1iiiii0 iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiii4iiiii00iiiiifeeiiiilt Fine Particulate Matter § Concentrations over 0.3 Micrograms per Cubic Meter • Pointof Greatest Effect Source: Illingworth and R.odkin, Inc. 2013, Google Earth 201 I Figure 15 Health Risks ••• -------- North Forty Specific Plan EIR ; don't think that they sh buld build a school that lies al _~ng a freeway." -BARR Y WAL LERST EIN, EXECU TIVE OFFICER, SOUTH COAST AIR QUALITY MANAGEMENT DISTRICT Air po llution is a majo r risk to ou r health and safe- ty and is the contributing cause of nearly 1 00,000 premature deaths each ye ar,, more than twi ce the nu mber of dea ths from car crashes.2 In 2002, almost half of all Americans-or 137 mill io n people -lived in counties with unhealthy air laden with one or more criteria ai r pollutants, according to the American Lung Associat io n.1 A major source of this air po llu t ion is the exhaus t from the tailpipes of trucks and cars . A va ri et y of dangerous pollu t ants are released daily from the extens ive networks of busy highways that border countless ne ighborhoods and bus ines ses. These pol lutan ts ca use numerous adverse health effect s including cancer, asth ma, and heart attacks. In addi- tion, asthma, which is exace rbated by pol lu ti on from trucks and ca rs, is the leading seriou s ch ronic illness among children and the number one reason chil - dren miss school.~ The main cance r-causi ng pollut ants from trucks and cars are diesel particulate matter and Volatile Organic Comp oun ds (VOCs) such as benzene, 1,3- butadien e, for mald ehyde, and polycycl ic aromat ic hydroc arbon s (PAHs). In recent years the relationshi p between vehicle pollut ion and increased cance r risk ha s received conside rab le scientific attention . A Den ve r study shows that children who live with in 250 ya rd s of a road with 20,000 or more vehicl es per day are eight tim es more like ly to get leukemia and six times more likely to get other cancers . The authors of th e study attribut e most of this risk to th e VOCs in motor ve hicle exhausts As t he graphic shows, roa dways crea te a corridor of pol - lution for the drivers and residents nearby. Highway Air Pollution and Public Policy Bush Administration Transportation Policy: Fewer Transportation Choices and More Pollution Just as pub lic transport ation ridership is rea ching record numbers,' th e Bush adm inist ra tio n is propo s- ing to dimi nish investment in diverse transport ati on ch oice s in Ameri ca within the Sen at e Bill 1071 that has yet to be appr ove d by the legis lature The adm inist rat ion is recommending greate r inc enti ves for highw ays than for cleaner pub li c trans portat ion projects. Under the ir plan commun iti es would pay 50 percent of the cost for new pub li c transp ortation proj ects. Completing only 20 percent of the new propo se d road projects wou ld put publ ic trans- po rtati on alterna tives further out of t he ir reach. In addition , the adm inistr at ion prop oses spending less t ha n one dollar on train transit projects for every four dollars spent on highways. Th e admin ist ration's t ranspor tation plan fail s t o adequately fund the Congestion Mi t igation and Air Qua lity Improvement (CMAQ) prog ram that spur s transpo rtatio n proj ect s tha t improve a region's air qu ality. Demand for t he CMAQ is ex pe cted to sky - rocket, as the number of regions with unhea lthy air he Bush administration, with state and local governments, should promote smart growth, reduce sprawl, and increase transportation choices. By revitalizing existing communities and designing new developments that have bus, bike, or train service to reduce the reliance on cars, travel will be easier for people. Build in g better communitie s cut s traffic and reduces the distance th at commuters have to travel. Increasing Transportation Choices Decreases Pollution We can do better. Providing transportation choic - es such as trains, buses, sidewalks, biking paths, and ridesharing are key aspects of healthy communitie s where residents can have the option not to drive. Taking these steps would reduce traffic, minimize air pollution, and protect our health, our families, and our future. A 2001 study published in the Journ al of American Medical Associates showed that providing more transportation choices and other traffic contro l measures during the Atlanta Olympic Games in 1996 reduced traffic 22 percent, air pollution by 28 perce nt, and asthma attacks by up to 44 pe rcent in children.,• Better Community Des ign Cuts Traffic Efficient development brings houses, workp laces, and shopping areas closer together and reduces the distance of da il y commuter travel. Mixed-use design allows integration of residential and commercia l zones, making it possible to live near your place of wo rk.u This efficient design can be accomplished through infill, transit-or iented development, zoning, and brownfields redevelopment. Transit-oriented development places new development within easy walking distance of a major transit center. Centering activities on a transit station and providing pedestri- an-friendly walkways makes transit a conve nient mode of transportation . It revitalizes neighborhoods and reduces traffic by up to 20 percent according to the Land Use Transport ation Air Quality Connection (LUTRAQ) study from Portland, Oregon.16 Businesses, public space, and transportati on co- exist on this downto wn ~.iii1:.1~.........::=~..;;::;.. __ ........._..r___:___.:;!;._~:...:._-~--..;;...;..~~===-~ Denver street. Changes in Federal Transportation Policy Can Cut Pollution and Provide More Transportation Choices • Fede ral and state transportat ion agencies should balance transportation investments between high- ways and alternative forms of t ra nsportation in clud- ing public transit, bike paths, and si dewalk s. • They should also support a "fix it first " mentality, which uses resources to maintain existing roads before building new ones. This spe nds fewer tax dollars for new car-only transportation projects . • In addition, the EPA and DOT should conduct health risk studies in its environmental review of new road projects with more than 150,000 vehicles per day and provide th at information to the public as part of transportation decision-making processes. We Can Take Action in Our Communities for Clean Transportation • We can carpool, bus, or take the train to work whenever possible to reduce traffic and pollution ; encourage local governments to use clean-burning buses and hybrid cars for public transportation sys- tems and government vehicles. ·Ask our loc al governments and workplaces to offer more public transportation incentives. • Incentives might include "Commuter Choice Checks" that give workers a tax deduct io n for the money they spend using public transit to commute to work, tax credits for walking or biking, or a parking cash-out. ur tudies suggest that children ive near busy roads are more likely to get leukemia and other forms of cancer. It would be prudent to study such cancer risks near all busy roads where elevated VOC levels are likely." -DR. HOWARD WACHTEL, UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO The following pee r-re viewed and pub lis hed stud- ies concluded that there is a link between traffic- related air po ll ution and health risks . The health risks in clude in creased likelihood of asthma , cance r, pre- mature and low-b ir th weigh t babies, and a genera l- ly higher risk of death . Wher e possible, we put the researcher's contact informa tio n.17 1. Ch il dren living Nea r Busy Roads More likely t o Develo p leukem ia, Ca ncer A 2000 Denver study showed that children living within 250 yards of st reets or highways with 20,000 ve hicl es pe r day are six times more lik ely to develop all types of cancer and eight times more li kely to get leuk emia. The study looked at asso ci - at ions between traffic densi ty, power lines, and all chi ldhood ca ncers with measuremen t s obtained in 1979 and 1990. It found a weak as sociation fr om po wer lines, but a strong association w ith highwa ys. It sugges ted that Volatile Organic Compound pollution from t ra ffic may be t he can - cer promoter causing the prob lem. Pearson, Wachte l; Robert L. Pearson, and Kristie Eb'1e . (2000). Distance-weigh ted traffic density in proxim ity to a home is a risk factor for leukemia and other ch ildhood cancers. Journal of Air and Waste Management Association 50:175-180. Contact: Professor Howard Wachtel, Department of Electr ic al Engineering, University of Colora do. phone: (3 03) 492 -77 13, e-mail: wachtel@colorado.edu. 2. Road Traffic Contributes to t he Ori gin of Chi ldhood leukem ia A 2004 Italian st udy found t hat Chi ldhood Leukemia is part ially caused by roadside emissions in the Province ofVarese. The auth ors conducted a population-based , case-controlled study in the Province ofVarese, northern Italy, which was cove red by a population-based cancer regi stry. Their stud y found that the risk of chil dho od le ukem ia was almost four times higher for heavi ly expose d chil- dr en compared to childre n whose homes were no t exposed to road traffic emi ssio ns of benzene. Child ren ei t her inhale Benzene as a gas or pa rt ic u- lat e matter whic h ha s absorbed benzene. Their model included traffi c density divided into two group s-o ne great er and one less than 10,000 ve hi- cles per day, dist an ce, and weather co nd itio ns to estima te benzene conce ntrat ion . The researcher 's data suggests that motor vehicle traffic em issions ar e invo lved in t he ori gin of childhood leukemia. 'C hildhood Leukemia and Road Traffic: A population-ba sed Case- Control study.'Crosign ani P ;Tinarelli A;Borgin i A;CodazziT;Rovelli A; Porro E; Contiero P; Bi anc hi N; Tagliabue G; Fissi R; Rossitto F; Berrino F. Inte rnational Journ al of Cancer, 2004, V108, N4 (FEB 1 0), p 596-599 2004-02-10 3. Increasing Pub lic Transportation an d Cu t t ing Traffi c Reduces Ast hma At tacks Th is 2001 Journal of t he Ame rican Med ica l Ass oci at ion study found that increa si ng public transportation along with other traffic contro l meas- ures during the 1996 Atlanta Olympics reduced acute asthma attacks by up to 44 percent in ch ildre n, reduced ozone concentrations by 28 percent, and morning peak traffic by 22.5 percent. These data pro- vide support for efforts to red uce air pollution and improve health via reduct ions in motor vehicle traffic. Friedman . Mic hae l; Kenneth Powell MD; Lori Hutwagner; Leroy Graham; Gerald Teague. Impact of Changes in Tra nsportation and Commuting Behavior s During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta on Air Quality and Childhood Asthma. Journal of the American Medical Association, 2001; 285:897-905. Conta ct: Michael S. Friedman, National Center for Environmenta l Health, Center for Disease Control and Preven tion , email : mffl@cdc.gov. 4. Soot Particulate Matter Linked to Lung Cancer, Cardiopulmonary Mortality A recent study appearing in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that day-to- day exposu re to soot or fine part iculate matter, a majo r com ponent of tailpipe pollution increased the risk of various adverse health effects. More specifica l- ly the study shows that each 10 microgram/meter3 elevation in fine particu la te air pollution leads to an 8 percent increased risk of lung cancer deat hs, a 6 percent increased risk of cardiopulmon ary mortali- ty (heart attacks) and 4 pe rcent increased risk of death from general causes. Pope, Clive Arden Ill; Richard P. Burnen. et al. Lung Cancer, Cardiop ulmona ry Mortality, and Long-term Exposure to Fine Particu la te Air Pollution. Journal of the American Medical Association, March 6 2002 -Vol. 287, No. 92. Contact: Clive Arden Pope, Brigham Young University, phone: (801 ) 422-2157, e-mail: cap3@email.byu.edu. 5. Truck Traffic Linked to Ch ildhood Asthma Hospitalizations A study in Erie County, New York (excluding the city of Buffa lo) found that child ren living in ne igh- bo rhoo ds with heavy truck traffic wit hin 220 ya rd s of their homes had increased risks of asthma hospita l- ization. The study examined hospital admission for asthma amongst children ages 0-14, and reside nt ial proximity to roads with heavy traffic. Lin, Shao; Jean Pierre Munsie; Syni-An Hwang; Edward Fitzgerald; and Michael R. Cayo; (2002). Childhood Asthma Hospitalization and Res idential Exposure to Sta!e Route Traffic. Environmental Research. Section A. Vo l. 88, pp. 73-81. 6. Pregnant Women Who Live Near High Traffic Areas More Likely to Have Premature and Low Birth Weight Babies Researchers observed an approximately 10-20 perce nt in crease in the risk of premature birth and low birth weight for infants born to women living near high traffic areas in Los Angeles County. In particular, the resea rchers found that for each one part-per-million increase in annual average carbon monoxide concentrations where the women lived, there was a 19 per cent and 11 percent increase in risk for low-birth weight and premature birt hs, respectively. Wilhelm, Mi chelle and Beate Ritz. (2002). Res identia l Proximity to Traffic and Adverse Birth Outcomes in Los Angeles County, California, 1994-1996. Environmental Health Perspecrives. doi: 1 0.1289/ehp.5688. Contact: Beate Ritz, Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, UCLA, phone : (310) 206-7458, e-m ail: britz@ucla.edu. 7. Traffic Increased Cancer-Causing Pollution Levels at Tollbooth A 2003 stu dy published in the Journal of Air & Over the la st SO years we have torn down communitie s to build highway s. We need to rebuild our future with clean transportation and better community de si gn. he following stories highlight nsf)ortation-related air pollution issu es from around the country. As metropolitan areas continue to sprawl and traffic congestion worsens, communities are facing important long- term decisions about transportation. The Sierra Club believes that widening and building new highways is not only poor transportation policy but also threatens public health. We realize that there are transportation chal- lenges around the country, but we be lieve that rea - sonable, alternative solutions exist that expa nd transportation choices, reduce congestion, and help to clean our air. We have included stories from California, Illinois, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Texas, Utah, Washington, D.C. and Wiscons in . California Challenge. Existing air pollution laws in Southern California set the maximum emission lim it s for toxic pollution from individua l facilities, but cum u- lative emissions of toxic pollutants are not regulated. Highways are an imp ortant con tributor to the cumu- lative emissions of toxic air pollutants in a given area but are currently not regul ated as individual facilities . Solution. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is develop ing a plan that wou ld enta il new pub lic notification requirements for schools and home builders and make th e region- al air pol lu tion control agency more prom inent in land use decisions . One proposal for the plan would requi re develope rs of new schoo ls, hospitals, da y care centers, and home builders to provide notice to their patrons of tox ic emissions within 1,000 feet. The presence of any freeway, or potentially busy boulevard, within 1,000 feet could trigger the no tice. "I don't think that they should build a school that lies along a freeway." said Barry Wallerstein, Execut ive Officer of t he So uth Coas t Air Quality Management Dist rict.18 Con tact: Sam Atwood, South Coast Air Quality Management District, phone: 909 -396-3687, email : satwood@aqmd.gov. or Tim Frank (51 0) 710-4563, email: tim.frank@sierraclub.org. Illinois Challenge. The Illinois Department of Trans- portation is planning to expand the Eisenhower Expressway th rough Oak Park. The Illi nois Tollway Authorit y has proposed building tol lwa ys; Route 53 into Lake County north of Chicago and 1-35 5 in Will County south of Chicago. These highways and toll- ways will create hundreds of thousands of added truck and car t rip s near neighborhoods, sc hools, and parks. Families with small children could be put at risk, but are unaware of the health consequences of larger roadways near their homes. www.sierraclub.org/sprawl is a comprehensive website with information on cutting traffic and air pollution Statistics on pedestrian safety, congestion, federal transporta t ion spending, and household transportation expenditures can be found for each state and some smaller region s at: httpJ/transact.iracorp.com/statesldefault.asp Maps of loca l cancer-causing pollution can be found at: httpJ/www.epa.gov/ttn/atwlnata/ To find local traffic or VMT (Vehicle Miles Traveled), check your local Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) or find regional statistics on congestion, t ravel delay, fuel consumption and congestion cost at http.//mobility.tamu .edu/ums/mobility_data/ Information on public transit spending, sm og, and investment in transportation choices for our 50 largest cities can be found at: www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/reportOllcharts.asp. Information on hazardous air pollution in your area can be found at the Environmen tal Defense website: h ttp.//www.scorecard.org/env-releases/hap/ The "State of the Air" re port, released by the American Lu ng Association can be found at: http.//lungac- tion.org/reports/stateoftheair2003.html Bi g Road Blu es 7/6/16, 12 :4 4 P M Health (CAFEH). The goal of the study, expected to wrap up a year from now, is to understand how vehicular pollution affects the health of people living close to a highway. Over four years, the RV has racked up more than 15,000 miles circling the Boston-area communities of Chinatown, Dorchester, Somerville and Malden. Behind the driver's seat , where I'm sitting , a mobile laboratory measures airborne pollutants: gases, such as nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide , and tiny solids called ultrafine particulate matter. Of the three, the ultrafine particulates are arguably the biggest threat to public health. "When it comes to air pollution, the main thing that really affects people is particulates-not gases," says Doug Brugge, the study's principal investigator and a professor of public health and community medicine at Tufts. "Most of the mortality, most of the economic impact [of fine and ultrafine particulates] are coming from cardiovascular disease. It's not primarily asthma or lung cancer," says Doug Brugge. Photo: John Soares Because of their small size-some are just a few molecules across-tiny particulates are essentially minuscule bullets, delivering toxins deep into the body where larger particles can't reach . "The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that they cause 80,000 or 100 ,000 deaths a year in the United States, and maybe four million or more worldwide," Brugge says. Tracking air pollution today is a far more subtle job than monitoring the haze of pollutants a few generations ago ever was . Before the U.S . government first allocated funding for air pollution research , in 1955, entire regions could be swallowed by smoke and smog. In 1948, residents of Donora, Pa., a mill town just south of Pittsburgh, woke to a dense cloud of particulate pollutants that had become trapped in the Monongahela River valley by stagnant weather. When the smog lifted five days later, 20 people were dead, and nearly half of the town's 14,000 residents had fallen sick . It was one of the worst air pollution disasters in U .S . history, and its impact on public health was easy to see : "You didn't have to do statistical analysis. You could just see people come to the hospital and die," says htt p://now. tufts .ed u /p r i nt t artic le s/b ig -road-blues -pollution -highwa ys Pa ge 2 of 11 Big Road Bl ues 7{6 /16 , 12 :44 PM Brugge . Although U .S . environmental regulations have gotten the big , visible clouds of particulates, such as the industrial sulfur dioxide emissions that contributed to the Donora crisis, under control, Brugge believes there's still plenty of cause for alarm. Over the last 30 years, growing numbers of studies have shown that smaller particulates emitted by trucks and cars barreling down our nation's highways can promote heart disease and strokes. The EPA regulates these tinier hazards, to a point, but Brugge is concerned that the agency hasn 't gone far enough to safeguard the health of roadside residents. About 10 percent of the U .S. population-some 35 million people-live within 100 meters of a four-lane highway, according to the EPA. Brugge's hope is to clarify the implications of this fact by measuring the airborne particulates along the road while monitoring the health of people who live in the vicinity. It's a task requiring both patience and precision . Small, Smaller, Smallest Fine and ultrafine particles are much smaller than the width of a human hair, with ultrafines posing the greater potential risk to human health. Particulates come in a few different flavors, each smaller than the next, and each with its own implications for public health. Coarse particulates (known as "PM10" in the public health world) measure about 10 microns across-roughly one-seventh the width of a human hair. They 're mostly made up of dust from construction , vehicular tire and brake wear and the road surface itself. As particulates go , they're not as high on Brugge's hit list. It's the really tiny stuff, he says, that poses the real danger: fine particulates (PM2.5)- particles smaller than 2.5 microns-and "ultrafines" (PMO.l), the smallest of the small, at 0.1 microns and below. These are created almost exclusively by combustion. As a car or truck engine runs, its exhaust gases condense into minuscule blobs within seconds of leaving the tailpipe. Some blobs are made up of unburned oil and gasoline; others form out of the countless chemical byproducts of burning fossil fuels . When they're inhaled, it's not just the lungs that take a hit , Brugge says. It's mainly the heart that suffers. "Most of the mortality, most of the economic impact [of fine and ultrafine particulates] are coming from cardiovascular disease," he observes . "It's not primarily asthma or lung cancer." Throughout the 1980s and early '90s, dozens of studies found links between fine particulate pollution and cardiovascular health. One of the largest and most influential of these , the Harvard Six Cities Study, followed http:{{now.tufts.edu{print{articles{big-road-blues-pollution-highways Page 3 of 11 Big Road Blues 7/6/16, 12:44 PM more than 8,000 participants in six towns across the Midwest and New England. Over 15 years, the initial phase of the study tracked each person's health and measured particulate levels in the air over their communities . Its findings, first released in 1993, showed that even a minuscule increase in fine particulates Oust 10 micrograms per cubic meter of air), could cause up to an 18 percent bump in cardiovascular disease . With research like this confirming the health impact of fine particulates, the EPA finally began to regulate them in 1997 . Yet Brugge says there's reason to think that ultrafine particles, which the EPA does not regulate, are even more insidious than their larger counterparts. Unlike fine particulates (PM2.5), which don't change much from day to day, ultrafines can fluctuate dramatically over the course of a morning or afternoon, depending on the weather and how many cars and trucks are on the road. Ultrafines are also confined to a relatively small area. While fine particulates disperse over an entire city, their tinier cousins stick close to major highways, often spiking dramatically within a few hundred meters of the source. Short distances do matter. During one winter rush hour, as the Tufts mobile testing lab drove within 100 meters of Interstate 93, it tallied more than 120,000 ultrafine particles in every cubic centimeter of air. Moving a few blocks farther away , that number dropped dramatically -to less than 40,000 particles. The reduction might be a result of new particles evaporating, condensing into larger particles , or-most likely -mixing with fresh air as they drift away from the road . But Brugge says one thing is clear: Because ultrafines are mostly concentrated near their source, people living and working immediately next to a highway will disproportionately suffer their effects. Matters of the Heart At first glance, the health impact of fine and ultrafine particulates seems counterintuitive. Breathing particles of any sort should cause problems in your lungs, not heart , right? But like most things in medicine , it's not so simple . http://now.tufts .edu/print/articlestbig-road-blues-pollution -hig hways Pag e 4 of 11 Big Road Blues Fine and ultrafine particulates both cause cardiovascular disease in similar ways . Once they hit your lungs , your body immediately recognizes that something is amiss . "It essentially says, 'Ob, crap, something's wrong here,' and releases cytokines, molecules that control immune response ," says David Weiss , M12, who works on the CAFEH study analyzing health surveys generated as part of the community outreach component of the research project. Those cytokines are used to summon help to the site of the infection, but also affect the activity of the immune system throughout the body. Weiss likens the body 's reaction to the terror-alert system that was put into place after 9/11. "You know , the one that was green, yellow, red," be says . "The higher levels of cytokines will take you from a level green to a level yellow." In other words, your whole body goes on high alert , causing elevated levels of inflammation. Of course, not all inflammation is bad , says Doug Brugge. For example , if you cut your finger , within a day, you'll see some inflammation (redness) around the cut as your immune system mobilizes to kill any invading bacteria. "That is an example of a good inflammatory response, because it's localized ," says Brugge. "It's responding to a real problem , and it's controlled . It has a beginning and an end ." But constant exposure to fine and ultrafine particulate pollution can cause chronic inflammation. If that happens, white blood cells called macrophages , which are part of the body 's natural defense mechanism , go into overdrive , seeking out bacteria or other foreign objects in the 7/6 /16, 12:44 PM "Larger particles can't cross the barrier from the lungs to the bloodstream," says David Weiss , M12, who has worked on analyzing neighborhood health surveys . "But the ultrafine particles can." Photo: John Soares bloodstream. They start attacking whatever's there with extra gusto-including certain types of cholesterol that accumulate in the bloodstream . As macrophages gorge themselves on this fatty molecule, they (and their cholesterol contents) settle into the inner lining of blood vessels, where they slowly build up and create ht tp://now.t uft s.edu/p ri nt/articles/big-road -blues-po ll ut ion-highways Page 5 of 11 Big Road Blue s 7/6/16, 12:44 PM artery-clogging plaques . Weiss says that some of these deposits may happen anyway as the body ages, but inflammation caused by particulate pollution speeds the process, leading to premature heart attacks and strokes. In this regard, fine and ultrafine particles have identical effects on the body. The big difference between them is their size . The smaller the particle , the more surface area it has per its mass. If that sounds confusing, think of it this way: When you're holding a bowling ball (or any other solid, for that matter) you're really only touching one thing-its outermost surface . But smash that bowling ball into tiny pieces, and you'll end up with dozens of surfaces you can touch. Each new shard increases the total amount of bowling ball material exposed, meaning the surface area of the bowling ball increases. The same is true of particulate pollution-the smaller the particles of a pollutant, the more exposed surfaces they have collectively. That means they're more likely than larger particles to react with chemicals in the body that trigger an immune response. Essentially, Weiss says, this gives the pollutants that make up ultrafine particles more bang for their buck . They're more potent than larger particles, so they may lead more quickly to heart disease. And, he adds, they may be small enough to get directly into the bloodstream, where they can do even more damage. "Larger particles can't cross the barrier from the lungs to the bloodstream," says Weiss, "but the ultrafine particles can. So because of that, and partly because of their increased exposed surface area, there's more of an opportunity for them to have reactions that will cause inflammation." The only way to avoid this inflammation-short of somehow removing particles from the air around you-is to spend less time near major highways . "For people who move away from the highway, it's like they quit smoking," says Wig Zamore, a longtime resident of Somerville with a master's degree in urban planning. Over the past decade, Zamore has worked with community groups on public health and clean-air issues, and is a member of the CAFEH steering committee, a group of academics and community members who help guide the study's research . "Their risk pretty immediately starts to go down, and for the people who move closer to a highway, their risk immediately starts to go up over a matter of just a couple years," he says, citing a 2009 study by the University of British Columbia. The problem is, of course, that many people living near highways don't have the financial means to move. According to Zamore, of the 35 million Americans who live by a major four-lane highway, roughly 18 percent are renters or live in low-income housing. Community Action http:f{now. tufts.edu{pri nt/a rticles{big -road -blues-pollution -highways "For people who move away from the highway, it's like they quit smoking," says Wig Zamore, a CAFEH steering committee member. Photo: John Soares Page 6 of 11 Big Road Bl ues 7/6/16, 12:44 P M Tina Wang deals with new immigrants in Chinatown every day as a translator for the Chinese Progressive Association , a neighborhood advocacy group. Four years ago , she moved to the United States from China. She says that most of the community members she knows are aware that living near a major highway isn't great for their health, but they simply have nowhere else to go. "[One man] told me, 'How can I leave? I don't have more money to move out. I [waited] more than five years to get this low-income apartment.' He knows there's pollution from the highway. He knows it's not good . But he asks me, 'What else can I do?' " Wang is a member of CAFEH's field staff, a group of 23 people who live mostly in the study's target neighborhoods. To assess the health impacts of ultrafine particulates in those areas, CAFEH not only needs air samples; it needs biological data , too-so members of the field team go door-to-door, convincing neighbors to answer medical questionnaires, submit to blood pressure tests and give blood samples during weekly clinics held at a central location in each participating neighborhood. Tina Wang is a member of CAFEH's field staff. Photo: John Soares Over four years, the field team has canvassed Somerville, Dorchester, Chinatown and Malden-all areas where the CAFEH RV has collected air-quality data . So far, they've recruited 700 participants, 450 of whom have attended the CAFEH-run clinics. "To our knowledge, our study is the only one that's both measuring ultrafines near the highway and looking at biological markers of people living in those areas," says Brugge. That's only part of what makes the study distinctive, he says. CAFEH 's philosophy is to involve community members not just as sources of data, but also as colleagues in its research, as Tina Wang and Wig Zamore are. Other researchers in the public health community are taking notice . "[CAFEH] is pretty unique in terms of its blend of hard -science approaches and attempts to both use community residents and keep the community informed throughout the project," says Jonathan Levy, a professor of environmental health at Boston University, who is on the thesis committees of two Ph.D . students working with CAFEH- Allison Patton from Tufts School of Engineering and Kevin Lane at the BU School of Public Health. The benefits of collaboration are many. As Tina Wang sees it, even a task as simple as filling out a survey or givi ng blood can help embolden those involved . "[Chinatown residents] don 't have high expectations for the government doing something for Chinatown . But if they can do a little bit for the community, [by participating in the study], they feel powerful." One City's Response Some communities aren't simply waiting for the final results before they do something . Tucked into a bend in the Mystic River lies Somerville 's Ten Hills neighborhood-a tiny, wedge-shaped slice of land covering 50 acres . The mayor of Somerville calls it home, as do two city aldermen. Driving through, it's easy to see why http://now.tufts.e du /print /artic les/big-r oad-blues-po llu tion-highways Page 7 of 11 Big Ro ad Blues 7{6 {1 6, 12 :44 PM there 's an allure to the place. Its trim streets are lined with trees, and people wave to each other in the parks and running trails that flank the river. It 's a gem of a neighborhood. But at 5 p.m . on a Tuesday, with almost no visible traffic nearby, you can hear the steady drone of car and truck engines . Ten Hills is cut off from the rest of Somerville by two major highways. To the east, it's hemmed in by Route 28, which brings traffic across the Mystic River and into the neighboring city of Medford. To the south, it stops abruptly at Interstate 93. Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone is incensed about the interstate. He was just seven years old when it opened in 1973, splitting the city in two . Nearly 40 years later, he still hears complaints about the highway from his neighbors . "It really changed the canvas of the city," he says. "Today, people sort of accept it in bewilderment, and say, 'How the hell did anyone ever make that decision? How did this happen?' [The highway] isn't really servicing neighborhoods; it's isolating them." And, he adds, it has a di stinct impact on the health of Somervillians. The city is the most densely populated in New England, and with some 75,000 people concentrated on just four square miles of land , more than 11 percent of residents live within 400 meters of a major highway, according to estimates drawn from recent census data. Red dots show elevated mortality rates in towns aligned with major highways in the Boston area. Of 100 cities and towns in eastern Massachusetts, the highlighted communities hold some 75 percent of excess mortality, according to a recent survey. Curtatone is hoping that the CAFEH study results, once published, will help guide city policy to mitigate the effects of pollutants from these roadways. Until then, his team at city hall is working with Brugge on finding interim solutions. Emmanuel Owusu, Somerville's program manager for public housing, has already begun examining ways to http:ftnow.tufts .edu{print/articlestbig-road-blues-pollution-highways Page 8 of 11 Big Road Blues 7/6/16, 12:44 PM improve indoor air quality near the highway. He's focused his attention on the city 's largest public housing project, the Mystic River Development, which sits right next to 1-93. As is the case in the Ten Hills neighborhood , a front yard and a sidewalk are the only barriers separating the apartments from a highway traveled by an average 168 ,000 vehicles each day, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. With a grant from the U .S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Owusu is working with Tufts environmental engineer John Durant and the community advocacy group STEP (Somerville Transportation Equity Partnership) to study the effectiveness of window filtration units installed in the Mystic River apartments. They're small , about the size of an average air conditioner, but Owusu says they're making a big difference in the overall indoor air quality. "We've already seen a 35 percent reduction in particles in the rooms where we've run the filters ," says Owusu. "HUD is watching the outcome of this study. If it's successful , it means indoor air filtration could go a long way to help the pollution issue we have at hand , not only in Somerville, but across the nation ." There may be other solutions . A study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found that erecting tall sound barriers between highways and the people who live near them could contain most ultrafine particles inside highway boundaries. Another study from the University of California, Davis, experimented with trees as a natural barrier. Redwoods, researchers found , can remove up to 80 percent of ultrafines. But mitigation efforts such as these can go only so far. Kevin Stone, a field team member for CAFEH, has lived in the Ten Hills neighborhood for 25 years . He says that many of his neighbors simply haven't heard about the potential health risks of living near a highway. "This one friend of mine lives at the top of the hill, right next to the highway. He 's got a ll his windows wide open, and he's saying, 'Isn't this just a great view of Boston?"' Stone laments, shaking his head. "I'm saying to myself, 'You don't even realize what you're sucking in right off of 1-93. You 're getting really exposed to this stuff!"' At the very least, Stone says, he'd like to see warning signs posted on the bike path that runs alongside the interstate.lt's a small gesture , but it is something that would give residents an idea of what they might be breathing during rush hour. Researchers with the CAFEH project are just beginning to sift through terabytes of air-pollution data from the RV and hundreds of blood samples from participants. They've released several preliminary papers this year , and are working toward presenting the study 's main findings in summer 2013. This s tory first appeared in the Summer 2012 issue ojTufts Medicine magazine . David Levin is a freelance science writer based in Boston. Take a D eep B reath 19 43-F irst big smog event in Los Angeles ht t p://now.t uf ts .edu/p rint{a rticles/big-roa d -blues -pollutio n-highways Page 9 of 11 Big Road Blues 7/6/16, 12:44 PM In the middle of World War II, a dense brown fog descends on Los Angeles, stinging residents' eyes and noses. Some residents fear that the Japanese are waging chemical warfare, but the culprit turns out to be a combination of industrial smoke and auto exhaust. 1948-Donora, Pa., smog On October 28, stagnant weather conditions trap thick smog over the mill town of Donora, Pa. When it lifts five days later, 20 people are dead and thousands are sickened.lt remains one of the worst air pollution events in the United States. 1952-"The Great Smog" of London Windless conditions drape London in a pea-soup smog. The pollution is so thick that it penetrates indoor areas, shutting down movie theaters. More than 4,000 people later die from the smog's effects, and 25,000 claim sickness benefits. 1955-Air Pollution Control Act For the first time, the U.S. Congress passes legislation addressing air pollution as a national problem, pouring $5 million ($85 million in 2012 dollars) into federal air-quality research. 1963-Clean Air Act of 1963 Congress sets emission standards for stationary pollution sources such as power plants and steel mills and gives $96 million to state and local governments for air-quality research and control programs. 1970-Clean Air Act of 1970 In a major amendment to the 1963 legislation, Congress sets more demanding standards for emissions, including the first regulations for motor vehicles. The Environmental Protection Agency is created to enforce the new standards. 1987 -EPA regulates PM10 In light of studies showing that PM10 (particles 10 microns across) can cause respiratory disease, the EPA singles them out for regulation. Before 1987, the agency regulated only "total suspended particulates" -a term for airborne particles of all sizes. 1997 -EPA regulates PM2.5 In the early '90s, multiyear studies published by Harvard University and the American Cancer Society show clear links between fine particulates (PM2.5) and cardiovascular disease. As a result, the EPA begins to monitor and regulate PM2.5. 2006-EPA tightens PM2.5 standards The EPA raises its 24-hour exposure standard for PM2.5, bringing the acceptable level down from 65 micrograms (per cubic meter of air) to 35 micrograms. CAFEH steering committee member Wig Zamore testifies before the EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee to encourage the changes. Ultrafine http: //now. tufts .edu/print/a rtic les/big-road -b I ues-pollution-highways Page 10 of 11 Big Road Blues 7/6/16, 12 :44 PM particulates (PMO.l) remain unregulated. Tufts Now, 80 George St., Medford, Massachusetts 02155 Copyright ©2016 Tufts UniversitY- Source URL: http://now.tufts.edu/articles/big -road-blues-pollution-highway~ Links: [1] https:/ /twitter.com/share [2] http://now.tufts.edu/forward?path=print/articles/big-road-blues-pollution-highways http://now.tufts.edu/print/articlesj big-road-blues-pollution-highways Page 11 of 11 Resi d ential Proxi mity t o Major Highways-Uni t ed St ates, 2010 7/5/1 6, 11 :43 AM The mixture of traffic-related air pollutants can be difficult to measure and model. For this reason, many epidemiologic studies rely on measures of traffic (e.g., proximity to major roads, traffic density on nearest road, and cumulative traffic density within a buffer) as surrogates of exposure (6-8). These traffic measures typically account for both traffic volume (i.e., number of vehicles per day), which is a marker of the type and concentration of vehicle emissions, and distance, which addresses air pollution gradients near roads. Traffic emissions are highest at the point of release and typically diminish to near background levels within 150 to 300 meters of the roadway (7,9,10); however, the potential exposure zone around roads can vary considerably depending on the pollutant, traffic volume, ambient pollution concentrations, meteorologic conditions, topography, and land use (s). Traffic exposure metrics in the published literature have used a variety of different density and distance cut-points (6). Nevertheless, numerous epidemiologic studies have consistently demonstrated that living close to major roads or in areas of high traffic density is associated with adverse health effects, including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and other respiratory symptoms (11-15); cardiovascular disease risk and outcomes (16-20); adverse reproductive outcomes (21,22); and mortality (23-25). Some studies have observed a dose-response gradient such that living closer to major roads is associated with increased risk (13,14 ,16-18). In terms of traffic density, several studies have reported adverse health effects associated with residential proximity to roads with average daily traffic volume as low as 10,000 vehicles per day (6,11,15-17). In the United States, it is widely accepted that economically disadvantaged and minority populations share a disproportionate burden of air pollution exposure and risk (26,27). A growing body of evidence demonstrates that minority populations and persons of lower socioeconomic status experience higher residential exposure to traffic and traffic-related air pollution than nonminorities and persons of higher socioeconomic status (5,28-31). Two recent studies have confirmed that these racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities also exist on a national scale (32,33). This report is part of the second CDC Health Disparities and Inequalities Report (CHDIR). The 2011 CHDIR (:M) was the first CDC report to assess disparities across a wide range of diseases, behavior risk factors, environmental exposures, social determinants, and health-care access. The topic presented in this report is based on criteria that are described in the 2013 CHDIR Introduction (35). This report provides descriptive data on residential proximity to major highways, a topic that was not discussed in the 2011 CHDIR. The purposes of this report are to discuss and raise awareness of the characteristics of persons exposed to traffic-related air pollution and to prompt actions to reduce disparities. Methods To characterize the U.S. population living close to major highways, CDC examined data from several sources using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Three data sources were used for this assessment: 1) the 2010 U.S. census (available at htt~LLwww.census.gQYL2010census@ ), 2) 2006- 2010 American Community Survey (ACS) s-year estimates (available at ~LLwww.census.gQY~ @),and 3) 2010 (Quarter 3) road network data from NAVfEQ, a commercial data source that provides comprehensive road information for the United States (available at h.tt.u;.LLwww.nayteqm @ ). Seven sociodemographic variables were examined. Data on age, sex, and race/ ethnicity were obtained from the 2010 census; data on nativity, language spoken at home, educational attainment, https://www.cdc.govjmm wrjpreview/mmwrhtml/su6203a8.htm Page 2 of 11 Re si dential Proximity to Major Highways-United Stat es, 201 0 7/5/1 6, 11:43 AM and poverty status were obtained from the ACS . The U.S. Census Bureau collects data on race and ethnicity (i.e., Hispanic origin) as two separate questions. For this analysis, persons of non-Hispanic ethnicity were classified as white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, American Indian/ Alaska Native, other race, and multiple races . Persons of Hispanic ethnicity, who might be of any race or combination of races, were grouped together as a single category. Educational attainment was defined as less than high school, high school graduate or equivalent, some college, or college graduate. For the variable nativity, "native born" includes U.S . citizens born abroad (one or both of whose parents were citizens at the time of birth) and anyone born in the United States or a U.S . territory; "foreign-born" denotes persons who were not U.S . citizens at birth. Poverty status was categorized by using the ratio of income to the federal poverty level (FPL), in which "poor" is <1.0 times FPL, "near poor" is 1.0-2.9 times FPL, and "nonpoor" is ~3 .0 times FPL. Major highways were defined as interstates (Class 1) or as other freeways and expressways (Class 2) based on the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Functional Classification system. These road types represent the most heavily-trafficked, controlled-access highways in the United States. Although traffic volume is not factored directly into the Functional Classification system, FHWA statistics indicate that the majority of major highways have average daily traffic volumes exceeding 10,000 vehicles per day (i.e ., 77% of rural interstates have >1o,ooo vehicles per day and >72% of urban interstates and other freeways and expressways have >30,ooo vehicles per day) (36). The census tract is the smallest geographic unit of analysis available for the variables of interest in the ACS data. ESRI ArcGIS v10 GIS software was used to create circular buffers of 150 meters around all major highways , and the proportion of each census tract included within the buffer area was calculated. This area proportion was then applied to the census tract-lev el data from the 2010 census and ACS to estimate the number of persons living within 150 meters of a major highway for the total population and by sociodemographic characteristics. Census tract count estimates were summed to obtain state and national estimates. The proportion of the population living within 150 meters of a major highway was calculated for each category of the seven sociodemographic variables, using category-specific denominators derived from the 2010 census and ACS. No sampling error is associated with the 100% population counts obtained from the 2010 census. Standard errors were not calculated for the estimated population counts derived from the ACS because of the complexity of the GIS analysis used to generate these data. Therefore, for this descriptive analysis, no statistical testing or calculation of 95% confidence intervals was conducted, and it was not possible to determine if the observed differences across population subgroups are statistically significant. Results Approximately 11.3 million persons (or 3.7% of the 308.7 million U.S. population) live within 150 meters of a major highway. State-level estimates ranged from 1.8% in Maine to 5.6% in New York (Eg~). Regional patterns, based on U.S . Census Bureau groupings, indicate that the estimated proportion of the population living within 150 meters of a major highway ranged from 3.1% in the Midwest and 3.3% in the South to 4.3% in the Northeast and 4-4% in the West. The proportion of the population living near a major highway did not differ by sex (Table). By age group, the estimated proportion of persons living close to a major highway varied from 3-4% among those aged 45-79 years to ~4 .0% among those aged 18-34 years. https:Jfwww.c dc.govfmmw r /previewfmmwrht ml/s u6203a8.htm Page 3 of 11 Resident ial Proximity to Major Hig h ways -Uni t ed Sta t es , 2010 7/5/16, 11:43 AM The greatest disparities were observed for racefethnicity, nativity, and language spoken at home; the populations with the highest estimated percentage living within 150 meters of a major highway included members of racial and ethnic minority communities, foreign-born persons, and persons who speak a language other than English at home (Table). The estimated percentage of the population living within 150 meters of a major highway ranged from a low of 2 .6% for American Indians/ Alaska Natives and 3 .1% for non-Hispanic whites to a high of 5 .0% for Hispanics and 5.4% for Asians/Pacific Islanders. Likewise , the estimated proportion of the population living near a major highway was 5.1% for foreign-born persons, 5.1% for persons who speak Spanish at home, and 4 .9% for persons who speak another non-English language at home. Disparities by educational attainment and poverty status were less pronounced (Table). The estimated percentage of the population living near a major highway varied from 3.4% for high school graduates to 4.1% for those with less than a high school diploma. A more consistent pattern was observed for poverty status; the estimated proportion of the population living near a major highway was 4.2% for those in the poor category, 3. 7% for those in the near-poor category, and 3.5% for those in the nonpoor category. Discussion Overall, approximately 4% of the total U.S. population lives within 150 meters of a major highway, suggesting increased exposure to traffic-related air pollution and elevated risk for adverse health outcomes. Estimates of residential proximity to major roads are influenced by the number and type of roads and the distance or buffer size used. In terms of quantifying the total U.S. population exposed to traffic-related air pollution, the estimate of 11.3 million people derived from this analysis should be considered conservative because only interstates, freeways, and expressways were included and a relatively small buffer distance of 150 meters was used. These conditions were selected to capture persons who are at the highest risk for exposure to traffic-related air pollution. In addition, this estimate is based on distance to a single road and does not account for cumulative exposure to traffic from multiple roads. The percentage of the population exposed to traffic-related air pollution is expected to be larger in urban areas because of higher population density, more roads, and higher traffic volume. A case study of two North American cities (Los Angeles County and Toronto, Canada) estimated that 30%-45% of the population in these urban areas lives within 500 meters of a highway or 50-100 meters of a major road (5). Although this report does not address urban/rural differences directly, an additional state- level analysis of these data indicated that the percentage of the population living within 150 meters of a major highway was correlated positively (R = 0 .65) with the percentage of the population living in urban areas . Additional studies are needed to understand potential sociodemographic disparities among populations living near major highways across levels of urbanization. This analysis suggests that social and demographic disparities exist with respect to residential proximity to major highways. Larger disparities were observed for indicators of minority status (i.e., race/ethnicity, nativity, and language spoken at home) than for traditional indicators of socioeconomic status (i.e., poverty and educational attainment). Two other national studies have reported similar findings using alternative approaches. A study that examined the distribution of sociodemographic variables across various traffic exposure metrics assessed at the residential address found that race, ethnicity, poverty status, and education all were associated with one or more traffic https://www.c dc.govtmmwr/pr eviewtmmwrhtmltsu6203a8.ht m Page 4 of 11 Resid en tial Pr oxi m it y t o Majo r Highways -United St ates , 2010 7/5 /16, 11:43 AM exposure metrics (32). Another study demonstrated that the correlation between traffic exposure metrics and sociodemographic variables across all U.S. census tracts was stronger for race and ethnicity than it was for poverty, income, and education and that the magnitude of the correlations varied spatially by region and state (33). The environmental justice literature suggests that socially disadvantaged groups might experience a phenomenon known as "triple jeopardy" (37). First, poor and minority groups are known to suffer negative health effects from social and behavioral determinants of health (e.g., psychosocial stress, poor nutrition, and inadequate access to health care). Second, as suggested in this analysis, certain populations (e.g., members of minority communities, foreign-born persons, and persons who speak a non-English language at home) might be at higher risk for exposure to traffic-related air pollution as a result of residential proximity to major highways. Third, there is evidence suggesting a multiplicative interaction between the first two factors, such that socially disadvantaged groups experience disproportionately larger adverse health effects from exposure to air pollution (37-39). Limitations The findings in this report are subject to at least three limitations. First, the area-proportion technique used assumes a homogeneous population density and population distribution by sociodemographic characteristics within each census tract, which might result in erroneous count estimates . The direction of the bias (overestimate or underestimate) could differ across population subgroups. For example, if socioeconomic disparities associated with residential proximity to major highways exist within census tracts, then the calculated percentages for minority subgroups might be underestimated and those for nonminority subgroups might be overestimated. Second, living within 150 meters of a major highway is only a surrogate for exposure to traffic-related air pollution. This study did not address the following factors that could affect exposure to traffic-related air pollution: number and type of vehicles traveling on major highways, cumulative effect of living near multiple roads, individual time-activity patterns (e.g., time spent at home vs . away, time spent inside vs. outside), meteorologic conditions, topography, and land-use patterns. Finally, it was not possible to perform testing to determine if the differences in the estimated percentages across population subgroups were statistically significant. However, the findings are consistent with other published research (32 ,33). Conclusion Primary prevention strategies to reduce traffic emissions include improving access to alternative transportation options (e.g., transit, rideshare programs, walking, and cycling), financial incentives to reduce vehicle miles traveled and congestion, diesel retrofitting, and promoting the use of electric and low emission vehicles. In addition, secondary prevention strategies to reduce exposure to traffic emissions include mitigation techniques for existing homes and buildings (e .g., roadside barriers and improved ventilation systems) and land-use policies that limit new development close to heavily- trafficked roads. For example, a recent study of roadside barriers suggests that solid barriers (i.e., noise barriers) might be more effective at mitigating traffic-related air pollution than vegetative barriers (i.e., tree stands) (41). In California, public health law has been used to restrict siting of new schools near major highways and busy traffic corridors (California Education Code §7213.c.2.C). Implementation of these strategies can help reduce exposures to traffic-related air pollution and health risks associated with these exposures . https:/fwww.c d c.govtmmw r/pr ev iew/m mw rhtml/su620 3a8.ht m Page 5 of 11 Re sid entia l Proxi mity to Ma j or H ig hways -United States , 2010 7/5/16, 11 :43 AM Focusing prevention and mitigation interventions in urban areas, where there is a higher concentration of traffic-related air pollution and a greater proportion of the population residing near major roads, and in areas with the most socially disadvantaged populations will likely result in larger health benefits (37). Future and ongoing efforts to address disparities in residential proximity to major highways and traffic-related air pollution exposures will require an interdisciplinary collaboration between transportation, urban planning, and public health specialists. References 1. US Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated science assessment for carbon monoxide. Report No. EPA/6oojR-09/019F. Research Triangle Park, NC: US Environmental Protection Agency; 2010. 2. US Environmental Protection Agency. Integrated science assessment for particulate matter. Report No. EPAj6oojR-o8j139F. Researcli Triangle Park, NC: US Environmental Protection Agency; 2009. 3. US Environmental Protection A~ency. Integrated science assessment for oxides of nitrogen- health criteria. Report No. EPAj6oojR-o8/071. Research Triangle Park, NC: US Environmental Protection Agency; 2008. 4· US Environmental Protection Agency. Air quality criteria for ozone and related photochemical oxidants. Report No. EPA/6oo/R-05/004aF. Research Triangle Park, NC: US Environmental Protection Agency; 2006. 5 . HEI Panel on the Health Effects of Traffic-Related Air Pollution. Traffic-related air pollution: a critical review of the literature on emissions, exposure, and health effects . HEI Special Report 17. Boston, MA: Health Effects Institute; 2010. 6 . Boothe VL, Shendell DG. Potential health effects associated with residential proximity to freeways and primary roads: review of scientific literature, 1999-2006. J Environ Health 2008;70:33-41. 7. Brugge D, Durant JL, Rioux C. Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: a review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks. Environ Health 2007;6:23. 8 . Rioux CL, Gute DM, Brugge D, Peterson S, Parmenter B. Characterizing urban traffic exposures using transportation planning tools: an illustrated methodology for health researchers. J Urban Health 2010;87:167-88. g. Gilbert NL, Woodhouse S, Stieb DM, Brook JR. Ambient nitrogen dioxide and distance from a major highway. Sci Total Environ 2003;312:43-6. 10. Zhu YF, Hinds WC, Kim S, Sioutas C. Concentration and size distribution of ultrafine particles near a major highway. J Air Waste Manag Assoc 2002;52:1032-42. 11. Garshick E, Laden F, HartJE, et al. Residence near a major road and respiratory symptoms in U.S . Veterans. Epidemiology 2003;14:728-36. 12. Gauderman WJ, Vora H, McConnell R, et al. Effect of exposure to traffic on lung development from 10 to 18 years of age: a cohort study. Lancet 2007;369(9561):571-7. 13. Kim JJ, Huen K, Adams S, et al. Residential traffic and children's respiratory health. Environ Health Perspect 2008;116:1274-9. 14. McConnell R, Berhane K, Yao L, et al. Traffic, susceptibility, and childhood asthma. Environ Health Perspect 2006;114:766-72. 15. Schikowski T, Sugiri D, Ranft U, et al. Long-term air pollution exposure and living close to busy roads are associated with COPD in women. Respir Res 2005;6:152. 16 . Hoffmann B, Moe bus S, Mohlenkamp S, et al. Residential exposure to traffic is associated with coronary atherosclerosis. Circulation 2007;116:489-96. 17. Hoffmann B, Moebus S, Stang A, et al. Residence close to high traffic and prevalence of coronary heart disease. Eur Heart J 2006;27:2696-702. https:ffwww.cdc .govtmmwr/pre viewtmmwrhtmltsu6203a8.htm Page 6 of 11 Re sidential Proxim ity to Maj or Highways-United States, 2010 7 /5 /1 6, 11:43 AM 18. Kan H, Heiss G, Rose KM, Whitsel EA, Lurmann F, London SJ. Prospective analysis of traffic exposure as a risk factor for incident coronary heart disease: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study. Environ Health Perspect 2008;116:1463-8. 19. Tonne C, Melly S, Mittleman M, et al. A case-control analysis of exposure to traffic and acute myocardial infarction. Environ Health Perspect 2007;115:53-7. 20. Van Hee VC, Adar SD, Szpiro AA, et al. Exposure to traffic and left ventricular mass and function: the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2009;179:827- 34. 21. Wilhelm M, Ritz B. Residential proximity to traffic and adverse birth outcomes in Los Angeles county, California, 1994-1996. Environ Health Perspect 2003;111:207-16. 22. Yorifuji T, Naruse H, Kashima S, et al. Residential proximity to major roads and preterm births. Epidemiology 2011;22:74-80. 23. Gehring U, Heinrich J, Kramer U, et al. Long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and cardiopulmonary mortality in women. Epidemiol 2006;17:545-51. 24. Jerrett M, Finkelstein MM, Brook JR, et al. A cohort study of traffic-related air pollution and mortality in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Environ Health Perspect 2009;117:772-7. 25. Medina-Ramon M, Goldberg R, Melly S, et al. Residential exposure to traffic-related air pollution and survival after heart failure. Environ Health Perspect 2008;116:481-5. 26. Bell ML, O'Neill MS, Cifuentes LA, et al. Challenges and recommendations for the study of socioeconomic factors and air pollution health effects. Environ Sci Pol2005;8:525-33. 27. O'Neill MS, Jerrett M, Kawachi L, et al. Health, wealth, and air pollution: advancing theory and methods. Environ Health Perspect 2003;111:1861-70. 28. Apelberg BJ, BuckleyTJ, White RH. Socioeconomic and racial disparities in cancer risk from air toxics in Maryland. Environ Health Perspect 2005;113 :693-9. 29. Brender JD, Maantay JA, Chakraborty J. Residential proximity to environmental hazards and adverse health outcomes. Am J Public Health 2011;101:S37-52. 30. Chakraborty J . Automobiles, air toxics, and adverse health risks: environmental inequities in Tampa Bay, Florida. Ann Assoc Am Geogr 2009;99:674-97. 31. Gunier RB, Hertz A, VonBehren J, Reynolds P. Traffic density in California: socioeconomic and ethnic differences among potentially exposed children. J Expo Anal Environ Epidemiol 2003;13:240-46. 32. Parker JD, Kravets N, Nachman K, Sapkota A. Linkage of the 1999-2008 National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys to traffic indicators from the National Highway Planning Network. National health statistics reports; No. 45. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2012. 33· Tian N, Xue J, Barzyk TM. Evaluating socioeconomic and racial differences in traffic-related metrics in the United States using a GIS approach. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol2013;23:215- 22. 34· CDC. CDC health disparities and inequalities report-United States, 2011. MMWR 2011;QQ(SY.p_p.l; Januaru._4, 2011}. 35. CDC. Introduction. In: CDC health disparities and inequalities report-United States,_g_Ql~ MMWR 2013;62(No. Sup_l2l3). 36. US Department of Transportation. Highway statistics 2008. Table HM-57: length by average daily traffic volume, arterials and collectors. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration; 2009. Available at httll;.LLwww.fhwa.dot.ggyLllQlicyjnformationLstatisticsL2oo8lf?. 37. Jerrett M, Burnett RT, Kanaroglou P, et al. A GIS-environmental justice analysis of particulate air pollution in Hamilton, Canada. Environment and Planning A 2001;33:955-73. 38. Cakmak S, Dales RE, Rubio MA, Vidal CB. The risk of dying on days of higher air pollution among the socially disadvantaged elderly. Environ Res 2011;111:388-93. 39. Ou C-Q, Hedley AJ, Chung RY, et al. Socioeconomic disparities in air pollution-associated https:{fwww.cdc.gov{mmwr{preview{mmwrhtml{su6203a8.htm Page 7 of 11 Residential Proximity to Ma jo r Highways -United States, 2010 7/5/16, 11:4 3 AM Totalt 11,337,933 (3-7) Sext Male 5,547,223 (3.7) Female 5,790,844 (3.7) Age group (yrs)t 0-4 766,603 (3.8) 5-9 727,279 (3.6) 10-17 1,168,995 (3.5) 18-24 1,219,887 (4.0) 25-34 1,714,903 (4.2) 35-44 1,523,607 (3.7) 45-64 2,808,121 (3-4) 65-79 977,948 (3-4) ~80 412,215 (3.7) Race/Ethnicityt Non-Hispanic White 6,030,811 (3.1) Black 1,676,225 (4-4) Asian/Pacific Islander 800,723 (5-4) American Indian/ Alaska Native 59,378 (2 .6) Other 27,239 (4.5) Multiple race 235,995 (4.0) Hispanic§ 2,502,616 (5.0) Nativit)11 https://www.c dc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/su 6203a8.htm Page 9 of 11 Res idential Proxi mity to Major Highways -United Sta t es , 2010 7/5/16, 11:43 AM Use of trade names and commercial sources is for identification only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 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Contact GPO for current prices. **Questions or messages regarding errors in formatting should be addressed to mmwrg_@~gQY. Page last reviewed: November 22,2013 Page last updated: November 22, 2013 Content source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Road Atlanta, GA 30329-4027, _.-,f .. ~ ... ~ ... USA rUS.t (:~· Boo-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) 'ITY: (888) 232-6348-Contact CDC-INFO ft.QQV \ Government Made Easy '- https:/fwww.cdc.gov/mmwrfpreview/mmwrhtml/su6203a8.htm Page 11 of 11 F reeways are a Public Health Hazard 1 . Studies show that the zone of increased pollution along a freeway corridor (compared to community wide concentrations) is approximately two miles wide. 2. People who live, work or travel within 165 feet downwind of a major freeway are exposed to the most dangerous part of air pollution, ultrafine particulate matter, at concentrations 25-30 times higher than the rest of the community. 3. For people who live near a freeway, the concentration of freeway generated pollution inside their homes is about 70% as high as outdoor air along the freeway corridor. For an average home, the indoor air exchanges completely with outdoor air every two hours. People living near a freeway are unquestionably breathing more pollution. 4. Wasatch Front air pollution is already a serious public health hazard. Our air pollution is sometimes the worst in the nation and typically we rank in the top ten worst cities in the country for acute spikes in air pollution. All of the health consequences of air pollution a re found at even higher rates among people who live near freeways or other high traffic locations, including heart and lung diseases, strokes, shortened life spans, higher mortality rates, poor pregnancy outcomes , multiple types of cancer and even autism. Freeways are literally cancer and autism corridors. Thousands of studies conf i rm t he health t h reat of f reeway pollution. Below is a small sam ples of t h ose studies. The rate of progression of hardening of the arteries, the cause of strokes, heart attacks and generalized aging, is double for those living within 1 00 meters of a freeway. Kunzli N, Jerrett M, Garcia-Esteban R, Basaga fia X, Becke rmann B, et al. (2010) Am bient Air Pollution and the Progression of Atherosclerosis in Adults. PLoS ONE 5 (2): e 9096. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.000 9096 Children who live w ithin 500 meters of a major highway are not only more likely to develop asthma and other respiratory diseases, but their lung development may also be stunted permanently. Gauderman WJ , et al. "Effect of exposu re to traffic on lu ng development from 10 to 18 years of age : a co hort study," The Lancet, Volume 368, February 2007. Living within 1,000 ft of a freeway doubles the ris k of a child being born with autism . Volk HE, Hertz-Picciotto I , Delwiche L , Lurmann F , McConnell R. Residential proximity to freeways and autism in the CHARGE study. Environ Health Perspect. 201 1 Jun ;1 19(6}:873-7. doi :10.1289/ehp.1002835. Epub 2010 Dec 13. Children growing up with more traffic pollution have significantly lower IQs and impaired memory. Suglia SF , et al. Assoc iation of Black Carbon with Cognition among Children in a Prospective Birth Cohort Study Am J Epidemiology 2008 167:280-286 Pregnant mothers exposed to more air pollution, give birth to children with lower intelligence, and behavioral and attention deficit disorders, even if the children breathe clean air themselves. Frederica P. Perera, Deliang Tang , Shuang Wang , Julia Vishnevetsky, Bingzhi Zhang , Diurka Diaz , David Camann, Virginia Rauh. Prenatal Polycycl ic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH) Exposure and Child Behavior at age 6-7. Environmental Health Perspectives, 2012; DOl: 10.1289/ehp. 1104315 Edwards SC, Jedrychowski W, Butscher M, Camann D, Kielty ka A, Mroz E, et al. 2010. Prenatal Exposu re to Airborne Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Children 's Intelligence at Age 5 in a Prospective Cohort Study in Poland. Environ Health Perspect :-. doi :10.1289/ehp.0901070 Pregnant women who lived close to high-traffic roadways during pregnancy were more likely to give birth prematurely or have a low-weight baby, putting the child at risk for multiple, life long chronic diseases Laurent 0, Wu J, Li L, Chung J , Bartell S. Investigating the assoc iation between birth weight and complementary air pollution metrics : a cohort study. Environ Health . 2013 Feb 17;12(1):18. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-12-18 . Wilhelm M, et al. Traffic-Related Air Taxies and Term Lo w Birth Weight in Los Angeles County, California. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 January; 120(1): 132-138. Published online 2011 August 11. doi : 10.1289/ ·ehp.1103408 Living within 1 00 meters of a freeway increases the risk of childhood leukemia 370%, living within 300 meters increases the risk 100%. Amigou A, et al. "Road traffic and childhood leukemia: The ESCALE study (SFCE) autho rs" Environ Health Pers 2010; DOl: 10.1289/ehp.1002429. Pregnant mother breathing higher rates of air pollution give birth to children who have higher rates of several types of rare childhood cancers. Prenatal air pollution associated higher rates of retinoblastomas, ALL, and germ cell tumors . http :// www.aacr.org/home/public--media/aacr-in-the-news.aspx?d=3062 Women exposed to more traffic-related air pollution have higher rates of breast cancer and decreased survival if they get breast cancer. Background Wasatch Front levels correlate with an increase of about 125%, living near a freeway increases that much more. Crouse DL, Goldberg MS , Ross NA , Chen H, Labreche F 2010. Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Is Associated with Exposure to Traffic-Related Air Pollution in Montreal, Canada : A Cas~ontrol Study. Environ Health Perspect 118:1578-1583. doi :10.1289/ehp.1002221 Chronic exposure to traffic air pollution increases the risk of lung cancer. Raaschou-Nielsen 0, Andersen Z, Hvidberg M, Jensen SS, Ketzel M, Smensen M, Loft S , Overvad K, Tj0nneland A. Lung Cancer Incidence and Long-Term Exposure to Air Pollution from Traffic. Environ Health Perspect. 2011 Jan 12. [Epub ahead of print] High traffic air pollution exposure more than doubles the rate of cervical and brain cancer, and increases the risk of prostate cancer and stomach cancer Raaschou-Nielsen 0 , Andersen ZJ, Hvidberg M, Jensen SS , Ketzel M, S0rensen M, Hansen J , LoftS, Overvad K , Tj0nneland A . Air pollution from traffic and cancer incidence: a Danish cohort study. Environ Health. 2011 Jul19;10:67. doi: 10.1186/1476-069X-10-67. Parent ME, Goldberg MS, Crouse DL, Ross NA, Chen H, Valois MF, Liautaud A . Traffic-related air pollution and prostate cancer risk: a case-control study in Montreal, Canada. Occup Environ Med. 2013 Mar 26. [Epub ahead of print] People exposed to more traffic related air pollution have more DNA damage, a trigger for multiple chronic diseases including cancer. Huang HB, Lai CH, Chen GW, lin YY, Jaakkola JJ, Liou SH , Wang SL. Traffic-related air pollution and DNA damage: a longitudinal study in Taiw anese traffic conductors. PloS One. 2012;7(5):e37 412. doi: 1 0 .1 371/ journal.pone.0037412. Epub 2012 May 21. Traffic related air pollution shortens telomeres (a critical part of chromosomes). Shortened telomeres are highly correlated with reduced life expectancy McCracken J, Baccarelli A , Hoxha M, Dioni L, Melly S, Coull B, Suh H, Vokonas P, Schwartz J. Annual ambient black carbon associated with shorter telomeres in elderly men: Veterans Affairs Normative Ag ing Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Nov;118(11):1564-70. Residential proximity to major roadways is associated with decreased kidney function . LueS, Wellenius G, Wilker E, Mostofsky E, Mittleman M. Residential proximity to major roadways and renal function. J Epidemiol Community Health Published Online First: 13 May 2013 doi:10.1136/ jech-2012-202307 Long term exposure to traffic-r elated air pollution is associated with insulin resistance in children and type I I diabetes in adults Thiering E, Cyrys J, Kratzsch J, Meis inger C, Hoffmann B, Berdel D, von Berg A, Koletzko S, Bauer CP, Heinrich J. Long-term exposure to traffic-related air pollution and insulin resistance in children: results from the GINiplus and LISAplus birth cohorts Diabetologia, DOI10.1007/s00125-013-2925-x Chen H , Burnett AT, Kwong JC, Villeneuve PJ, Goldberg MS, Brook AD, van Donkelaar A, Jerrett M, Martin RV, Brook JR, Copes A. Risk of Incident Diabetes in Relation to Long-term Exposure to Fine Particulate Matter in Ontario, Canada. Environ Health Perspect (): .doi :1 0. 1289/ehp.1205958 Liu C, Ying Z, Harkema J , Sun Q, Rajagopalan S. Epidemiological and Experimental Links between Air Pollution and Type 2 Diabetes. Toxicol Pathol. 2012 Oct 26. [Epub ahead of print] Compiled by the Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment The Southern California Particle Center and Supersite (SCPCS) seeks to explore health and exposure issues related to mobile source pollution. With funding from the U.S. EPA and California Air Resources Board, investigators at the SCPCS work to better understand why airborne particulate matter emitted from cars and trucks causes adverse health outcomes. As part of our research , we have taken measurements on and near major freeways in Los Angeles in an effort to characterize the particles found there . These and other scientific studies have sparked media attention and community interest, generating many questions regarding where to buy property and whether health is affected by living in a particular location. It is impossible for us to answer individual questions about potential risks in specific locations. We can, however , offer some general guidance on what is currently known about exposure to pollution and the related health effects of living near busy roads and freeways. Numerous studies have linked traffic-related air pollution with respiratory problems such as asthma and chronic bronchitis. Studies have found decreased lung function, increased hospital visits for people with respiratory diseases, increased absenteeism from work and school , and increased morbidity (illnesses) and mortality (deaths) associated with exposure to particulate matter. All of these effects were observed at levels common in many U .S. cities . (Pope) New studies show that long-term exposure to particulate matter has also been linked to increased illness and death rates from cardiovascular (heart-related) disease , and that sudden increases in air pollution may even cause more heart-related illnesses and deaths than is seen from lung disease. (Pope; Johnson) Some particles in air pollution, given their tiny size, are able to pass through the cellular tissue in the lungs and enter the circulation system. Their presence in the lungs may also induce a series of events that ultimately affect the heart. (Utell) Of growing concern to the general public is whether living near a freeway is detrimental to health. The closer people are to the source of traffic emissions, the high er their exposure is to many of the constituents of exhaust. Compelling evidence suggests that people living, working and going to school near roads with heavy traffic may have an increased risk of adverse health effects associated with exposure to mobile source pollution. These "traffic density" studies have observed development and increased aggravation of asthma (Montnemery), decreased lung function in children (Brunekreef), and low birth weight and premature births for mothers living near major roadways (Ritz). Taking this research into consideration, it is easy to see why new homebuyers are concerned with how close property is to a busy road or freeway . Unfortunately scientists cannot say exactly how close is "too close" at this point. European studies have shown increased respiratory health problems in children who live or go to school within 100 meters (-330 feet) of a busy roadway , with the greatest risks appearing in the first 50 meters (-165 feet). Studies conducted by SCPCS investigators here in LA show that carbon monoxide and ultrafme particles -the smallest portion of particulate matter emissions and potentially the most toxic -are extremely high on or near the freeway, dropping to about half that concentration 50-90 meters (-165-295 feet) from the freeway. After about 300 meters ( -990 feet) the concentration of particulate matter reaches the "ambient" level -the normalleve1 in the air without the influence of any nearby sources. In 2003 the California state legislature enacted a law that new schools must be built at least 500 feet from very busy roadways. Besides the actual distance from a roadway, there are a number of additional factors that influence exposure to mobile source pollution when at home: ~ Weather-temperature, humidity, wind direction and speed all affect the concentration of pollution; ~ Placement of the house-is it upwind or downwind of the major roadway? That is, does the wind blow pollutants from the cars and trucks toward the property? ~ Construction/design of the house -older houses may have greater air exchange between indoors and outdoors with more outside air getting inside and therefore potentially increasing exposure to pollutants; ~ Type of filtration system installed in the home -few homes have HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filters, but they have been shown to remove significant amounts of the particulate matter from the air. There are also a number of personal factors to consider when determining what your personal exposure may be, such as : ~ Will I be at home during peak traffic times? ~ Will I spend much time outdoors during these times? ~ Will I open my windows or will I use central heating and cooling? )> How much time do I spend on the freeway? [On-road studies are currently being conducted which may show that if you have a considerable commute, the exposure you receive during your time on the freeway may well overshadow your level of exposure at home.] Other resources for questions on particle measurements and possible health effects: South Coast Air Quality Management District http://www.aqmd .gov/ General phone number -(800) CUT-SMOG (800-288-7664} California Air Resources Board http://www.arb .ca.gov/ Community Health I Environmental Justice S ection -(866) 39 7-5462 Air Pollution and Respiratory Health, National Center for Environmental Health, CDC http: I /www .cdc.gov /nceh/airpollution/ default.htm U.S. EPA-Air http://www.e pa.gov/ebtpages/air.btml. For more detailed information about the topics presented above, please reference the following citations. Green RS, Smorodinsky S, Kim JJ, McLaughlin R , Ostro B . (2004) Proximity of California Public Schools to Busy Roads. Environmental Health Perspectives, 112 (1): 6 1-66. Pope CA Ill, Bates DV, Raizenne ME. (1995) Health Effects of Particulate Air Pollution: Time for Reassessment? Environmental Health P erspectives, 103 (5) Asthma -acute exacerbation and possible onset Delfino RJ. (2003) Epidemiologic Evidence for Asthma and Exposure to Air Toxics: Linkages between Occupational, Indoor, and Community Air Pollution Research. Environmental Health Perspectives, 110 (Sup 4): 573-589. McConnell R , Berhane K, Gilliland FD, London SJ, Vora H , Avo! E . (1999) Air Pollution and Bronchitic Symptoms in Southern California Children with Asthma. Environmental Health Perspectives I 07(9):757-760 Montnemery P , Bengtsson P, Elliot A, Lindholm L-H, Nyberg P, Lofdabl C-G. (2000) Prevalence of obstructive lung diseases and respiratory symptoms in relation to living environment and socio-economic group. Respiratory Medicine, 95 : 744-752 Cardiovascular effects Dockery, DW. (200 1) Epidemiologic Evidence of Cardiovascular Effects of Particulate Air Pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 109(Suppl4): 483-486. Johnson, RL. (2004) Relative Effects of Air Pollution on Lungs and Hearts. Circulation, 109:5-7. Pope CA III, Burnett RT, Thurston GD, Thun MJ, Calle EE, Krewski D, Godleski JJ. (2004) Cardiovascular Mortality and Long-Term Exposure to Particulate Air Pollution. Circulation, 109:71 -77 . Utell MJ, Frampton MW. (2000) Acute Health Effects of Ambient Air Pollution: the Ultrafme Particle Hypothesis. Journal of Aerosol Medicine, 13(4): 355-59. N ea r-highway pollutants in m ot or vehicle exhaust: A r ev i ew of epidemi. .. cardiac and pulmonary health risks 1 Env iro nmental Health 1 Full Text 7/6/16, 12:44 PM Skip to main content 0 BioMed Central The Open Access Publisher Menu Search Search Publisher main menu • Eli.~Q.I!Illills. • {ill_~ • About Bi oMed Ceorral L,Qgj.nJQ.Y.o ur acco unt Follow BioMed Central • Twiner • Facebook Environmental Health Environmental Health main menu • Al22lU • Al:1i..!;ks • Submi ssion Guideli nes Review O pen Access Open P eer Re view This articl e has Open Peer Review reports available. How does Open Peer Review work ? Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: A review of epidemiologic evidence of cardiac and pulmonary health risks • Doug Bruggel.Email author, • John L Duraot2 and • Chri stine Riouxl Environmental Health20076:23 DOl: 10.11 86/1476-069X-6 -23 © Brugge e ta!; li censee Bi o Med Central Ltd. 2007 Received: 02 January 2007 Accepted: 09 August 2007 Published: 09 August 2007 Qpen Peer Review reports Abstract There is growing evidence of a distinct set of freshly-emitted air pollutants downwind from maj or highways, motorways, and freeways th at include elevated levels of ultrafine particu lates (UFP), blac k carbon (BC), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), and carbon monox.ide (CO). People living or o th erwise spending substantial time within about 200m of highways are exposed to these pollutants more so than pe rsons living at a greater di stance, even compared to living on bu sy urban streets. Ev idence of the health hazards of th ese pollutants arises from studies th at assess proximity to highways, actual exposure to the pollutants, or both . Taken as a whol e , th e health studi es s how elevated ri sk for devel opment of asthma and reduced lung function in children who live near major highways . Studies of parti cul ate matter (PM) that show associati ons with cardiac and pulmonary mortali ty also appear to indicate in creasing ri sk as smaller geographic areas are studied , sugges ting localized sources that likel y include major highways. Although le ss work has tes ted the association b etween lung cancer and highways, the existing studies suggest an association as we ll . While the evidence is subs tantial for a link between near-hi g hway exposures and ad verse health o utcomes, considerabl e work remain s to understand th e exact nature and mag ni tude of the ri sks. https://ehjourna I. bi omedcentra !.com/a rticles/1 0 .118 6/14 76-069X-6 -23 Page 1 of 13 Near-highway poll utants in motor vehicle exhaust: A revie w of epidemi ... cardiac and pulmonary hea lth risks I Environmen tal Health 1 Full Te xt 7/6/16, 12:44 PM Background Approximately II% of US households are located within 100 meters of 4-lane hi ghways [es tim ated using: U.2J]. While it is clear that automobiles are s i gnifi cant sources of air pollution , the exposure of near-highway residents to pollutants in automobile exhaust has only recentl y begun to be characterized. There are two m ai n reasons for this: (A) federal and state air monitoring programs are typically set up to meas ure pollutants at the regiona l , not local scale; and (B) regional monitori n g stations typicall y do n o t m easure all of the ty pes of pollutants that are elevated next to hi gh ways. It is, therefore, critical to ask what is known about near-high way exposures and their possible health conseq uences. H ere we rev iew s tud ies d escribing measu rement of n ear-h ighway ai r pollutants , and e pidem iologic s tudies of cardiac and pulmonary outco m es as they relate to exposure to these pollutants and/or proximity to highways. Although some s tudies s uggest that other health impacts are also important (e.g ., birth outcomes), we feel that the case f or these health effects ar e less well developed scientifical ly and d o not have th e same potential to drive public policy at this time. We did not seek to f ull y integrate t he relevant cellular biology and toxicological literature, except for a f ew key references, because they are so v ast by themselves . We s tarted wi th studies that we knew well and also searc hed the en gi n eering and health literatu.re o n Medline. We were able to find som e earlier epidemiologic studies based on citations in m ore recent articles. We incl ude some studies that asse ssed motor vehicle-rel ated po llutants at central site monitors (i .e ., that did not m easure highway proximity o r traffic) because we feel tha t they add to the plausibility of the associations seen in other studi es. The rel ative emphasis given to s tudies was based o n our ap prai s al of the rigo r of their methodol ogy and the sig nifi cance of their findings . We conclude w ith a s ummary and with recommendations for policy and further research. Motor vehicle pollution It is well known that motor vehicle ex haust is a si gnificant source of air pollution. The most widely reported poll utants in vehicular exhaust incl ude car bon m onoxide, nitrogen a nd s ul fur oxides, unburned hydrocarbons (from f uel and c rankcase o il ), particulate matter, pol ycycli c aromatic hydrocarbon s , and o ther o rganic co mpo unds that derive from combustion Q, :!;, .5J. While much attentio n h as focused o n the transport and transformatio n of these pollutants in ambient air -particularly in areas where both ambient pollutant concentration s and human exposures are elevated (e.g., co ngested city centers , tunnels, and urban canyons created by tall buildings), less attention has been given to measuring p o llutants and exposures near heavily-trafficked hi ghw ays. Several lines of ev idence now s uggest that steep gradients of certain pollutants exist next to heavily traveled h ighways and that li ving within these el evated pollution zones can have detrimental effects on human heal th . It should be n oted that many d ifferent types o f hi ghways have b ee n studied , ranging from California "freeways • (defined as multi -lane, high-s peed roadways with restricted access) to four-la ne (two in each direction), variable-speed roadways w ith unrestricted access. There is considerable vari ation in the literatu re in defining highways and we ch oose to include s tudies in our review that used a broad range of definitions (see Table 1). T able I Summary of near-highway pollution gradients I Citation I Location Highway traffic inte nsity8 Po llutants measuredb Observed Pollution Gradients I S bi et al . 1999 (6 ) I Birmingham, UK I 30 ,000 veh/d I UFP+ FP(IO-J o4 n m) 2-100 m c I Z hu et al . 2002 (8) Los A ngeles; Freeway 7 10 I 12 ,180 veh/h I UFP,CO,B C 17-300 m c I Z hu et al. 2002 (7) Los Angeles; Freeway 405 1 13 ,900 vehlh I UFP,CO ,B C 30-300 m c Hitc hins et al. 2002 (II ) Bris bane (Aus tr.) I 2 ,130-3,400 vehlh UFP+ FP(I5-2 x l o4 nm),PM2.5 15-375 m c Fi scher et al . 2000 ( 13) I Amsterdam I <3 ,000-30,974 veh/d PM2.5 ,PM10,PPAH, VOCs NA R oorda-Knape et al. 1998 (14)1 Netherlands 80,000-152 ,000 veh/d PM2.s . PM10 , BC , VOCs, N02 15-330 m c Janssen et al . 200 I (15) I Netherlands I 40.000-170,000 veh/d I PM2.5, V OCs, N02 <400m 0 Morawska et al. 1999 (12) Brisbane (Aus tr.) I NA I UFP 10-210 m c 3 A s defined in article cited (veh/d =vehicles per day; veh/h =vehicles per hour). bUFP = ultrafine particles; FP = fine particles; PM2_5 =particles w ith aerodynamic diameter s 25 urn; PM 1o = particles with aerodynamic diameters I 0 urn ; B C = black carbon ; PPAH =particle-bound polycyclic arom atic hydrocarbo ns; VOCs =volati le organic compounds cpollutant measurements were made along a transect aw ay from the highway NA = n o t appli cable; measurements were n ot made . It sh ould also be noted that there m ay be significant heterogeneit y in the types and amounts of veh icl es u sing highways. The typical vehicle fleet in the US is composed of https://ehjou rna I. biomedcentra l.com/articles/1 0 .1186/14 76-069X-6 -2 3 Page 2 of 13 Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaus t: A review of epidemi. .. cardiac and pulmonary health risks 1 Environmental Health 1 Fu ll Text 7/6/16, 12:44 PM Results from clinical , epidemiological , and animal studies are converging to indicate that short-term and long-term exposures to traffic-related pollution , especially particulates, h ave adverse cardiovasc ular effects [l.!i..ll . .J.m. Most of the se studies have focu sed on, and/or demonstrated the strongest associations between cardiovascular health outcomes and particulates by weig ht or number concentrations [.1.2 . W.lll though CO, S02, N02 , and BC have also been examined. BC has been sh ow n to be associated with decreases in heart rate variability (HRV ) ln. 23.] and black smoke and N02 shown to be associated with cardiopulmonary mortality !l!J. Short-term expos ure to fine parti culate pollution exacerbates existing pulmonary and cardiovascular disease and long-term repeated exposures increases the ri sk of cardiovas cular disease and death [.f2, 2.2]. Though n ot foc u sed on near-highway pollution, two large prospective cohort studies, the Six-Citie s Study 1.21) an d the American Cancer Society (ACS) Study LZ.aJ provided the groundwork f or later research on fine particulates and cardiovascular di sease. Bo th of these studies found associations between increased levels of exposure to ambient PM and sulfate air pollution recorded at central city monitors and annu al average mortality from cardiopulmonary disease, which at the ti me combined cardiovascular and pulmonary di sease other than lung cancer. T he Six-Cities Study exami n ed PM25 and PM1011 5. The ACS study examined PM 2.5. Relative ri sk ratios of mortality from cardiopulmonary disease comparing locations with the highest and lowest fine particle concentrations (which had differences of 24.5 and 18.6 ug/m3 respectivel y) were 137 ( 1.11 , 1.68) and 131 (1.17, 1.46) in the Six C ities and ACS studies, respectivel y. These analyses controlled for many confounders, incl uding s mokin g and gas stoves but not other housing conditions o r time s pent at home. The studies were subject to intensive replication , validation, and reanalysis that confirmed the original findings . PM2.5 generally declined following imp lementati on of new US Environmental Protection Agency standards in 1997 fll. 29], yet since that time studies h ave shown elevated health risks due to long-term exposures to the 1997 PM threshold concentrations [l2,1QJ. Much of the epidemiological research has focused on asse ssing the early physiological re s ponses to short-term fluctuations in air po llution in order to understand how these exposure s may alter cardi ovascular risk profiles and exacerbate cardiovascular di sease f.ll.]. Heart rate variability, a ri sk factor for future cardiovascular outco mes, is altered by traffic-related pollutan ts particularly in o ld er people and people with heart di sease [ll.D..ll]. With decreased heart rate variability as the adverse outcome, negative association s between HRV and particulates were strongest for the smallest size fraction studied [ll) (PM03-J.O); ~) (PM0 .02-l).ln two studies that included other pollutants , black carbon, an indicator of traffic particles, a lso elicited a strong association with b oth time and frequency domain HRV variables; associations were al so strong fo r PM2.5 for both time and frequency HRV variables in the Adar et al study [[n:J; thi s and s ub sequent near highway s tudies are s ummarized in Table 2], however, PM2.5 was not asso ciated with frequency domain variables in the Schwartz et al . s tudy f1l]. Table 2 Summary of near-highway health effects studi es FIL~Uoo Highway traffic Pollutants Distance from Health Outcomes intensity• measuredb highway Statistical association• Schwartz et al. Fr-=-PM2.5 ,BC, ~ Heart rate variability Decreases in measures of heart ra te 2005 (22) co variabili ty A dar et al. 2007 St. Lo uis , r-=-PM 2.5 ,BC, On highway in busses Heart rate variability Decreases in measures of heart rate (23) Missouri UFP vari a bility Hoek et aJ . 2002 Netherlands r-:-1 BC ,N~ Continuous d Cardio-pulmonary mortality, 1.41 OR for Jiving near road (24) lung cancer Tonne et al. 2007 Worchester, r-=-F Continuous d Acute myocardial infarction 5% increase in odds of AMI (41) Mass. (AMI) Venn et al. 200 I Nottingham, r-=-r-:-Continuous d Wheezing in children 1.08 OR for li ving w/in !50 m of road . (49) UK Nicolai et al. Munich , >3 0 ,000 veh/d Soot, benzene , Traffic counts within As thma , respiratory symptoms, 1.79 OR for asthma and high traffic 2003 (58) Germany N02 50 m ofhouse allergy volume Gauderman et aJ . Southern ~~ Continuous d Asthma, respiratory s ymptoms Increased asthma closer to freeways 2005 (65) California McConnell et al. Southern r-=-r-:-Continuous d I Asthma Large risk for children living w/in 75 m 2006 (57) California of road Ryan , et al . 2007 Cincinnati , > 1.000 ""'"'' Fl 400m Wheezing in children I NA (59) Ohio Kim et al . 2004 San Francisco 90,000-210,000 PM ,BC,NOx School sites C hildhood asthma 1.07 OR for high levels of NOx (60) veh/d https :t/ehjourna l.biomedcentra l.comfarticles/1 0 .1 186/14 76-069X-6-23 Page 5 of 13 Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: A review of epidemi. .. cardiac and pulmonary health ri sks 1 Environmental Health 1 Full Te xt 7/6/16, 12:44 PM Wjst et al. 1993 Munich, 7,000-125.000 F School sites Asthma, bronchitis Several stati s tical associations found (68) Germany vehld ' Brunekreef et a!. Netherland s 80.000-152,000 F Continuousd Lung function Decreased FEV with proximity to high 1997 (69) veh/d 10• 2 truck traffic Janssen et al . Netherlands 30,000-155,000 PM25,N02 , F Lung function , respiratory No association with lun g function 2003 (74) veh/d benzene symptoms Peters et al. 1999 Southern ~FI-Asthma, bronchitis, cough, 1.54 OR of wheeze for boys with (82) California wheeze exposure to N02 Brauer et al . Netherlands Highways and PM2.5 ,N02 , Modeled exposure A sthma, allergy, bronchitis, Strongest association was with food 2007 (67) streets soot respiratory symptom s al lergies v;,..," "· 2004 F (9 !) ms er am > 10,000 veh/d ~I NA I Cancer Multiple associations Vineis et al . 2006 10 Eurpoean ~ PM10,N02, I-I Cancer 1.46 OR near heavy traffic , 130 OR for (87) countries so2 high exposure t o N02 Gauderman et al. South ern ~F Continuousd Lung Function Decreased FEV for those living near 2007 (73) California freeway 8 As defined in article cited (veh/d =vehicl es per day ; veh/h =vehicles per hour). bUFP = ultrafine particles; FP = fine particles; PM2.5 = particles with aerodynamic diameters 2 .5 urn; PM 10 = particles with aerodynamic diameter s I 0 urn ; BC = black carbon; PPAH =particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons; VOCs =volatile organic compounds cPollutant measurements were made along a transect away from the highway dProximity of each participant to a major road was calculated using GIS software estatistical association between proximity to highway or exposure to traffic-generated pollutants and measured health o utcomes NA =not applicable; measurements were not made . Several studies show that exposure to PM varies spatially within a city [;ti, ~.Jl], and finer s patial analyses show higher risks to individuals li ving in close proximity to heavily trafficked roads [~. :nJ. A 2007 paper from the Woman's' Health Initiative u sed data from 573 PM2 5 monitors to follow over 65,000 women pros pectively. They reported very high hazard ratios for cardiovascular events (1.76; 95% CI , 1.25 to 2 .47) possibly due to the fine grain of exposure monitoring [1.8.J . ln contrast, studies that re lied on central monitors [21 , 2ID or interpolations from central m onitors to highways are prone to expos ure mi s classification because individuals li ving close to highways will have a higher ex pos ure than the general area . A possible concern with this interpretatio n is that social gradients may also situate poorer neighborhoods with potentially more s usceptible populations closer to highways ll!i. ~. ~- At a finer grain, Hoek et al . [21] estimated home exposure to nitrogen dioxide (N02) and black smoke for about 5 ,000 participants in the Netherlands Cohort Study on Diet and C ancer. Modeled exposure took into consideration proximity to freeways and main roads (100m and 50 m, respectivel y). Cardiopulmonary mortality was associated with both modeled level s of pollutants and living near a major road with associations less strong for background levels of both pollutants. A case-control study ill], found a 5% increase in acute myocardial infarction associated with living within 100m of major roadways. A recent analysis of cohort data found that traffic density wa s a predictor of mortality more so than was ambient air pollution [!!1]. There i s a need for studies that assess exposure at these scales, e .g ., immediate vicinity of highways, to test whether cardiac risk increases still m ore at even s maller scales. Although we cannot review it in full here, we note that evidence beyond the epidemiological literature support the contention that PM2.5 and UFP (a sub-fraction of PM 2_5) have adverse cardiovascular effects [l2,ll]. PM2.5 appears to be a ri s k factor for cardiovascular diseas e via mechanisms that likely include pulmonary and systemic inflammation, accelerated atherosclerosis a nd altered cardiac autonomic function Ul, 2.2. :!3_, 44, ~. :!2]. Uptake of particles or particle constituents in the blood can affect the autonomic control of the heart and circulatory system . Black smoke, a large proportion of which is derived from mobile source emissions [JQ], has a high pulmonary deposition efficiency, and due to their surface area-to-volume ratios can carry relatively more adsorbed and condensed toxic air pollutants (e.g., PPAH) compared to larger particles U1.17..~. Based on high particle numbers, high lung deposition efficiency and surface chemistry, UFP may provide a greater potential than PM 2.s for inducing inflammation flQ]. UFPs have high cytotoxic reactive oxygen s pecies (ROS) activity, through which numerous inflammatory responses are induced, compared to other panicles UQ]. Chronically elevated UFP level s such as those to which residents living near heavily trafficked roadways are likely exposed can lead to long-term o r repeated increases in systemic inflammation that promote arteriosclerosis l.l.a . 22 .:14. m . Asthma and highway exposures https :f/ehjourna I. biomedcentra l.com/ artie les/1 0.118 6/14 76 -069X -6-23 Page 6 of 13 Nea r-highwa y pollutants i n motor vehicle exhaust: A re v i ew of epidemi. .. cardiac and pulmonary health risks 1 Env ironmental Health 1 Fu ll Text 7/6/16, 12:44 PM Eviden ce th at near h ighway expos ures present elevated ri sk is relati vely well devel oped with respect to child asthma s tudies . These studies have evolved o ver time with the use of different methodologies. Studies that used larger geographi c frames and/or overall traffic in the vicinity of the home or school [1.2 , 50,~.~ or that u sed self-report of traffic intensity l2lJ found no association with asthma prevalence. Most recent chi ld as thma studies have, instead , u sed increasingly narrow definitions of proximity to traffic , including air monitoring or modeling) and have focused on major highways instead of street traffic~. 55,~. ;[1_, 2ll_, .2!]. All of these studies have found stati stically significant a ssociations between the prevalence of asthma or wheezing and li ving very close to high volume vehicle roadways . Confounders considered included housing conditions (pests , pets, gas stoves , water damage), exposure to tobacco smoke, various measures of socioeconomic status (SES), age, sex, and atopy, albei t self-reported and n ot all in a single study. Multiple studies have found girls to be at greater ri s k than boy s for asthma resulting from highway expos ure~. ;il, QQ). A recent study also reports elevated ri sk only for children who moved next to the highway before they were 2 years of age , suggesting that early childhood expos ure may be key [;[1_]. The combined evidence suggests that living within I 00 meters of major highways is a ri s k factor, although s maller di s tances may also result in graded in creas es in ri s k . The neglect of wind direction and the absence of air monitoring fro m s ome studies are notable mi ssing fac tors . Additio nally, recent concerns have been rai sed that geocoding (attaching a physical location to addresses) could introduce bias due to inaccuracy in locations lhll Studies that rely on general area monitoring of ambient pollution and assess regional pollution on a scale orders of magnitude greater than the near-roadway gradients have also found associations between traffic generated pollution (CO and NOx) and prevale nce of asthma [62.] or hospital admission for asthm a [a]. Lweguga-Mukasa et aL [21] monitored air up and down wind of a major motor vehicle bridge complex in Buffalo, NY and found that UFP were higher downwind, dropping off with distance . Their statistical models did not , however, support an association of UFP with asthma . A study in the San Francisco Bay Area measured PM2 _5, BC and NOx over several months next to s chools and found both higher pollution level s downwind from highways and a linear association of BC with asthma in long-term residents [@]. Gauderman et al. IQ,2] measured N02 next to home s of 208 children . They found an odds ratio (OR) of 1.83 (confidence interval (CI): 1.04-3.22) fo r outdoor N02 (probably a surrogate for to tal highway pollution) and lifetime diagnosis of asthma. They al so found a s imilar association with distance from residence to freeway . Self-report was u sed to c ontrol for numerous confounders , including tobacco smoke, SES , gas stoves , mi ldew, water damage, cockroaches and p ets which did not substantiall y affect the association . Gauderman's study sugges ts that ambient air monitoring at the residence substantial ly increases stati stical power to detect association of asthma with highway exposures. Modeling of elemental carbon attributable to traffi c near roadways based on ambient air monitoring of PM25 has recently emerged as a viable approach a nd a s tudy u sin g thi s method found an association with infant wheezin g . The modeled values appear to be better predictors than proximity. Elevation of the residence relative to traffic was al so an important facto r in thi s study [Q2). A 2007 paper reported on modeled N02, PM2 _5 and soot and the association of these values with asthma and vari ous respiratory symptoms in the Netherlands [67]. While find ing modes t statistically significant associations for asthma and symptoms , it is somewhat s urpri s ing that they found stronger associations for development of sensitization to food allergens . Pediatric lung function and traffic-related air poUution Studies of association of chi ld ren's lung function with traffic pollutants have used a variety of measures of e11p osure , including: traffic density, distance to roadways, area (city) monitors , monitoring at the home or school and personal moni toring . Studies have assessed both chro nic effects on lung development and a cute effects and have been both cross- sectional and longitudinal . The wide range of approaches somewhat complicates evaluation of the literature. I Traffic dens ity in school districts in Munich was associated with decreases in forced vital capacity (FVC ),forced expiratory volume in l second (FEY t), FEY 1/FVC and other meas ures , although the 2 -kilometer (km) areas, the use of sitting position for spirometry and problems with translation for non-German children were limitations [2ID . Brunekreef et al . £§2] used distance from major roadways ,considered wind direction and measured black smoke and N02 inside s chools . They fo und the largest decrements in lung fun ction in girls living within 300m of the roadway s. A longitudinal study of children (average age at start= J 0 years) in Southern Cali fornia reported res ults at 4[1QJ and 8 years 11l]. Multiple air pollutants were measured at sites in 12 comm unities . Due to s ubstantial attrition, only 42% of children enrolled at the start were available for the 8-year follow-up. Substantially lower grow th in FEY 1 was associated with PM 10 , N02 , PM2.s. acid vapor and elemental carbon at 4 and at 8 years . The analysi s could not indicate whether the effects seen were reversible or not 11IJ . In 2007, it was reported from thi s same cohort that living within 500 m of a freeway w as reported to be associated with reduced lung function [TI). A Dutch study LMJ measured PM2_5• N02, benzene and EC f or one year at 24 s chools located within 400 m of major roadways . While a ssoc iations were seen between symptoms and truck traffic and m easured pollutants , there was no significan t association between any of the environmental measures and FV C < 85% or FEY 1 < 85%. Res tricting the analysis to chi ldren li ving within 500 m of highways generally increased ORs . Personal exposure monitoring of N02 as a surrogate for total traffic pollutants with 298 Korean coll ege students found s tati stically s ignificant associations with FEY 1, FEY 1/FVC , and forced expiratory volu me between 25 and 75% (FEY2 s..75), but not with FV C. Th e multivariate regression m odel presented suggests that FEY2s..75 was the outcome measure that most clearly showed an effect ruJ . Cross -sectional studies of children in Korea~ and France 1111 also indicate that lung function is dimini shed in association with area pollutants that largely derive from traffic . lime series studies suggest there are also acute effects . A study of 19 as thmatic children measured PM via personally carried monitors, at homes and at central site monitors. The study found deficits in FEY 1 that were associated with PM, although many sources besides traffic contributed to exposure . In addition , the res ults s uggest that ability to see associations with health outcom es improves at finer scale of monitoring f]ID . PM was associated with reduced FEY 1 and FVC in only the a sthmatic s ubset of children in a Seattle study [12]. Studies have also seen associations between PM and self reported peak flow measurements lliQ , ~) and asthmatic symptoms Ui2]. Cancer and near highway exposures As noted above, both the Six-Cities Stud y [21] and the American Cancer Society (ACS) Study [2.8] found associati on s between PM and lung cancer. Follow-up studies using the ACS cohort [22, lll and the Six-Studies cohort [BlJ that controlled for smoking and other risk factors also demonstrated significant associati ons between PM and lung cancer. The original studies were subject to intensive replication , validation , and re-analysi s which confirmed the original finding s [.8:1]. The ASHMOG study 1.8iJ was des igned to look specifical ly at lung cancer and air pollution among Seventh-day Adventis ts in California, taking ad vantage of their low s moking rates . Air polluti on was interpolated to centroids of zip codes from ambient air monitoring stations. Highway proximity was not considered. The study found associations with ozone (its primary pollutant of considerati on), PMIO and S02 . Notably, these are not the pollutants that would be expected to be s ubstantially elevated immediately adjacent to highways . A case control study of residents of Stockholm , Sweden modeled traffi c-related N02 1evels at their homes over 30 years and found that the stronges t association involved a 20 year latency period [liQ]. Another case control s tudy drawn from the European Prospective Inve stigation on Cancer and Nutrition found statistically significantly elevated ORs for lung cancer with proximity to heav y traffic(> I 0 ,000 cars per day) as well as for N02 and PM 10 at nearby ambient monitoring stations [87]. Nafstad et al . [.8li) used m odeled N02 and https ://ehjournal.biomedcent ra l.comta rticles/1 0.1186/14 76-069X -6-23 Page 7 of 13 Near-h ighway poll utants in motor vehicle exhaust: A review of epidemi...card iac and pulmonary health risks 1 En vi ro nmental Health 1 Full Te xt 7/6/16, 12:44 PM S02 concentration s at th e homes of over 16,000 men in Oslo to test associations with lung cancer incidence. The models included traffic an d poi nt sources. The study found small , but stati s ti cally significant associations between N02 and lung cancer. Problems that run thro ugh all these studies are weak measures of expos ure to second hand tobacco s m oke, the use of main roads rather than hi ghways as the expos ure group and m odeled rather than measured air po llutants. A s tud y of regional polluti on in Japan and a case control study of more local ized polluti o n in a town in Ital y also found association s between N02 an d lung cancer and PM and lu ng c ancer [82, 2.Q]. On th e other hand , a s tudy that calcul ated SIRs for speci fic cancers across lower and higher traffic intensity found little e vid ence of an association with a range of cancers l2.1]. The pl ausibility of near-h ighway pollution causin g lung cancer is bolstered by th e presence of known carcinogens in diesel PM. The US EPA has concluded after reviewin g the literatu re th at di esel exhaust is "likely to be carcinogenic to humans by inh alation" [22.]. An interesting study of UFP and DNA d am age adds credibil ity to an association with cancer l.2lJ . This stud y had participants bicycle in traffi c in Copenh agen and measured perso nal exposu re to UFP and DNA oxid ati o n and strand breaks in mononuclear bl ood cell s . Bicy cling in traffic increased UFP exposure and oxidativ e d amage to DNA , thus demons trating an associati on between DNA damage and UFP exp osure in vivo . Policy and research recommendations Based on th e literature re vi ewed above it is plausible that gradients of pollutants next to hi ghways carry elevated health ri sk s th at m ay be larger than the ri s ks of general area a mb ient pollutants. While the evidence is considerabl e, it is not overwhelming and is weak in som e areas . The stronges t evidence comes from studies of development of asthma and reduction of lung function during childhood , while the studies of cardiac health risk require extrapolation from area s tudi es of smaller and larger geographic scales and inference from t oxicology laboratory investigations . The lung cancer studies, because they include pollutants s uch as~ that are not locally concentrated , are not particularly stron g in terms of the case f or near-highway ri sk. There is a n eed for lun g cancer research that us es maj o r hi ghways rather than heavily trafficked roads as the en vi ronmental exposure. While more studies of asthma and lung f un ction in chi ldren are needed to confirm exi sting finding s, es peciall y stu dies that integrate expos ure at school, home and during commuting, to refine our knowled ge about the association , we would point to the greater need for studi es o f cardiac health and lung cancer and their asso ci a ti on with near highw ay exposures as the primary research areas needing to be d eveloped . Many of the studies of PM and card iac or pulmonary health have focused on mortality. Near highway m ortality s tudi es m ay be possible, but would be lengthy if they were initiated as prospective cohorts. Other possibilities include retrospective case control studies of mortality , cross sectional s tudi es or p rospective studi es that have end points short of mortality, such as biological m arkers of disease. For all health end points there i s a n eed for s tudies that adequatel y address the possible confoundin g of SES with proximity to hi gh ways. There is good reason to think that property val ues decl ine near hi ghways and that control for SES by, for example , income, may be inadequate. Because o f the inco mplete dev el opment of th e science regarding the health risks of near highway exposures and the hi gh cost and implication of a t least some possible changes in planning a nd development , policy deci sions are co mplicated . The State of California has largely prohibited siting of schools within 500 feet of freeway s (S B 352; a pprov ed by the governo r October 2 , 2003). Perhaps thi s is a viable model for other s tates or for national-level response . As it is th e o n ly such law of which we are aware, there may be other approaches that will be and should be tried . One limitation of th e Califo rnia approach is th at it does nothing to address th e population already exposed at schools c urrentl y ci ted near freeways and does not addre ss re sidence near freeways. Conclusion The most susceptible (an d overlooked) population in the US s ubj ect to seriou s health effects from air poll uti on may be those who live very near major regional transportation ro ute, e specially hig hways. Policies that have been technology based and regio nal in orientation do not efficiently address th e very large exposure and health gradients suffered by th ese populati ons. This is problematic because even region s that EPA has deem ed to be in regional PM "attainment" sti ll include very large numbers of near highway resid ents who c urrentl y are no t pro tected . There is a need for more research , but al so a need to begin to explore policy opti ons th at would protect the expo sed popul ati on . Abbreviations UFP: ultra ti ne particles BC: black carbon nitrogen di oxide NOx: oxide s of nitrogen CO : carbon monoxi de PM: parti culate matter particu late matter less than 2.5 urn https ://ehjou rna l.bi o medcentra l.com/art icles/1 0 .1 186/14 7 6-069X-6-23 Page 8 of 13 Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust: A review of epidemi...cardiac and pulmonary health risks 1 Environmental Health 1 Full Text 7{6/16, 12:44 PM particulate matter Jess than I 0 um PPAH : particle bound polyaromatic hydrocarbons EC: elemental carbon VOC: volatile o rganic compounds sulfur dioxide ACS: American Cancer Society SES: socioeconomi c status EPA: Environmental Protection Agency OR: odds ratio forced expiratory vol ume in I second FEV/FVC: ratio of FEY 1 and forced vital capacity forced expi ratory volu me between 25 and 75 FVC: forced vital capacity mi crogram s per cubic meter of air m: meters urn : micrometers veh!d: vehicles per day veh/11: vehicles per hour Declarations Acknowledgements We thank Wig Zamore for useful insights into the topic. The Jonathan M Tisch College of Ci tizen ship and Publi c Service partially supported the effort of Doug Brugge and Chri stine Rioux . Figure 1 was reproduced with pennission of the publisher. https:f {ehjournal.biomedcentral.com{a rticles/1 0 .1186/14 76-069X-6-23 Page 9 of 13 Near-highway pollutants in motor vehicle exhaust : A review of epidemi ... cardiac an d pu lmonary health risks I En v ironmental Hea lth 1 Fu ll Text Authors' original submitted files for images Below are the li nks to the authors ' o ri ginal s ubmitted files for images . .ll24Q 2007 122 MOESM L.ES.M.I2!ll Authors ' original fi lefor figure I Competing interests The author(s) declare that they have no competing interests . Authors' contributions 7/6/16, 12:44 PM DB took the lead o n the manus cript. He co-wrote the background and wrote the sections on asthma ,Jung function and cancer and th e concl usions . JLO wrote the section on air pollutants near roadways and contributed substantially to the background. 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Environmental Health Per sp ec tives . 2005, 113 :1485-14 90. Copyright @ Brugge et al ; li censee BioMed Central Ltd . 2007 This article is publi shed under license to Bi oMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under th e terms of the C reati ve Comm on s Attribution License (hnp·/kreati vecommons.org/!jcenseslby12.0), which permits unrestricted use , dis tribution . and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Download PDF Download e Pub Export citations Citations & R eferences • ~.ZQ!rm Referen ce Mana~. Re!Wo rk s <.RIS} • EndNot e (~ htt ps://ehjou rna I. biom e d centra !.com/artie les/1 0 .1 186/14 7 6 -069X-6-2 3 Page 12 of 13