Debate on reducing levels of private traffic in Dublin city has become polarised around the battle over road space, specifically requisitioning space occupied by motorists, either traffic lanes or parking spaces, for other modes of transport, usually buses or bicycles. What is usually forgotten is the impact on health by allowing continued high levels of polluting vehicles crowd into the city.
A new study from Dublin City Council and Google has brought the effects of traffic on air quality to the fore. Project Air View captured more than 50 million air quality measurements at five million locations around the city using an electric Google “Street View” car equipped with mobile air sensing technology.
This 16-month study measured the air pollution in every street in the city from 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday, with multiple readings taken for every location. The results show that air quality in the capital is generally good, except on the major approach roads to the city and along the Liffey quays where levels of nitrogen dioxide, a pollutant associated with transport emissions, are elevated. High levels of nitrogen dioxide were also detected in spots in the suburbs, which the council said it will investigate to determine if these results are associated with cars idling outside schools and sports grounds.
Nitrogen dioxide is implicated in a number of respiratory conditions, including reduced lung function and increased asthma attacks. The maps produced will allow Dubliners to see where that polluted air might be.
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Nor is the air pollution problem all due to private cars. A separate study from the Environmental Protection Agency this week showed how burning of polluting fuels by households – on the rise due to higher energy costs – is leading to poor air quality in towns across the country.
One in five deaths in Ireland is caused by air pollution. If, to some, climate change remains a distant concern, the more immediate threat of respiratory disease should help to inspire the move from private cars and polluting fuels.