Bicycling
is encouraged to use as the sustainable alternative of an automobile. On individual level,
it gives health benefits by increasing physical activities and reduces
transportation cost. On social level, it improves air quality, public health,
congestion, and gas consumption. In
spite of promoting a bicycling is advantageous
in terms of a social cost, there has been debates on health benefits of
bicycling.
According
to Weichenthal et al., gas emission from
vehicles likely affect on heart rate variability. In their experiment, high
frequency power of heart was decreased after cycling in congested routes
compared to indoor bicycling. Rojas-Rueda et al. examined the health benefits
and hazards of bicycling. They concluded that the benefits of bicycling were
greater than the risks of it after comparing mortality of road traffic crashes
and deaths caused by polluted air with the number of mortality avoided due to
the increase in physical activities. Furthermore, annual carbon dioxide
emissions were dropped because of the shift of mode choice from automobile to
bicycle.
It
seems that there has been no consensus on the health effects by bicycling as
alternative of driving. When it comes to the main source of adverse health
effects of bicycling, it is caused not by bicycles but by vehicles. Polluted
gas emission from vehicles directly affects on bicyclists who contribute to
improving air quality by not driving like other drivers. Are there any ways to
reduce the negative influence of vehicles on the health of bicyclist? One clue could be found from a research by Weichenthal et al.
In
their research, the intensity of polluted air which participated bicyclists
inhaled was monitored. The results showed that high-traffic routes had greater
air pollutants including UFP, BC, and PM2.5 concentrations compared to low-traffic
routes. It indicates that the greater
expose to gas emission makes adverse health impacts to bicyclists getting worse.
For all
registered vehicles in Oregon, department of Environmental Quality(DEQ)
operates
vehicle emission test. Depending on a vehicle year, type of test is
determined. Basic emissions test monitors the level of carbon monoxide and
hydrocarbon in gas emission from vehicles. For newer vehicles, on-board
diagnostics test is performed to check emission systems working properly. Air
quality of Oregon seems to be good in terms of air quality index, since all
areas in Oregon meet federal health standards for air pollution. Clean air
strategies including vehicle emission tests which are administrated by DEQ have
created positive results. For a reference, in 1980, only 30 percent of Oregon
area was in a satisfactory air quality condition. On the other sides, there are
still concerns in air quality of Oregon. Air toxic is that distress.
Air toxics are polluted air which triggers
cancers and other serious health problems related to nerve damage and
respiratory irritation. Vehicles are one of major sources of air toxics. Air
toxics generated from vehicle include benzene, 1,3-butadiene, formaldehyde,
acetaldehyde, acrolein, polycyclic organic matter, naphthalene, and diesel
particulate matter. These air toxics directly affect neurological,
cardiovascular, liver, kidney, and respiratory, immune and reproductive
systems. There are
no national health standards for air toxics. In the meanwhile,
the level of several
air toxics in Oregon area exceeds clean air health goals,
and Portland region has the highest air toxic concentrations.
There
will be various approaches to make bicycling in Oregon as a safer activity for
the perspective of air quality. One of it would be the inclusion of air toxics as criteria in vehicle inspection program.
Reminding that the greater exposes result in the greater adverse health effects
for bicyclists. Prior to modify a current gas emission test program, it is also required to set standards for air toxics generated from vehicles. Bicyclists
often share roads with vehicles. For the case, bicyclists take higher health
risks at the intersection where vehicles are idling so that they inhale directly air toxics of vehicles.
It is known that vehicles generate much air pollutants while vehicles
idle. By
regulating air toxics through vehicle inspection program, the amount of exposed air toxics to
bicyclists in a densely developed area such as Portland would be decreased.
One
of good programs for providing a less polluted environment for cyclists would
be
voluntary accelerated vehicle retirement program which is implemented in
California. California provides monetary incentives to promote a voluntary
retirement of vehicles when vehicles fails to pass gas emission test. At local level, even vehicles passing gas
emission test are eligible to apply to get monetary incentives for the sake of
scrapping their vehicles. The implementation of the program in Oregon will reduce
the use of old vehicles which tend to produce more polluted air. It would improve not only
public air quality but also provide a safer environment of bicycling.
*Academic References
1. de Nazelle, A. et al. (2011). Improving Health Through
Policies That Promote Active Travel: A Review of Evidence to Support Integrated
Health Impact Assessment. Environment International. 37. 766-777.
2. Rojas-Rueda, D., Nazelle, A.D., Tainio, M.,
Nieuwenjuijsen, M.J, 2011. "The health risks and benefits of cycling in
urban environments compared with car use: health impact assessment study",
British Medical Journal . 343.
