School of Population Health, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1023, New Zealand.
School of Environment, Faculty of Science, The University of Auckland, Auckland 1142, New Zealand.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Jul 23;18(15):7808. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18157808.
Children walking to school are at a high risk of exposure to air pollution compared with other modes because of the time they spend in close proximity to traffic during their commute. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a walker's route choice on their exposure to ultrafine particles (UFP) on the walk to school. During morning commutes over a period of three weeks, exposure to UFP was measured along three routes: two routes were alongside both sides of a busy arterial road with significantly higher levels of traffic on one side compared to the other, and the third route passed through quiet streets (the background route). The results indicate that the mean exposure for the pedestrian walking along the background route was half the exposure experienced on the other two routes. Walkers on the trafficked side were exposed to elevated concentrations (>100,000 pt/cc) 2.5 times longer than the low-trafficked side. However, the duration of the elevated exposure for the background route was close to zero. Public health officials and urban planners may use the results of this study to promote healthier walking routes to schools, especially those planned as part of organized commutes.
与其他交通方式相比，步行上学的儿童在上学途中由于与交通近距离接触的时间较长，因此暴露在空气中的污染的风险更高。本研究旨在调查步行者的路线选择对其在上学途中接触超细颗粒物（UFP）的影响。在三周的早晨通勤期间，沿着三条路线测量了 UFP 的暴露情况：两条路线位于一条繁忙的动脉道路的两侧，一侧的交通流量明显高于另一侧，第三条路线穿过安静的街道（背景路线）。结果表明，沿着背景路线行走的行人的平均暴露量是其他两条路线的一半。在交通繁忙的一侧行走的行人暴露于浓度升高（>100,000 pt/cc）的时间比交通较少的一侧长 2.5 倍。然而，背景路线的升高暴露时间接近零。公共卫生官员和城市规划者可以利用这项研究的结果来推广更健康的上学路线，特别是那些作为有组织通勤一部分的路线。
