Open AccessHealth benefits of decreases in on-road transportation emissions in the United States from 2008 to 2017
Author(s) -
Ernani F. Choma,
John S. Evans,
José A Gómez-Ibáñez,
Qian Di,
Joel Schwartz,
James K. Hammitt,
John D. Spengler
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.2107402118
Subject(s) - environmental health , health benefits , baseline (sea) , particulates , air pollution , environmental science , public health , population , natural resource economics , medicine , economics , traditional medicine , ecology , biology , oceanography , chemistry , nursing , organic chemistry , geology
Significance Despite decades of reductions in vehicle emissions in the United States, their impacts remain large, and the offsetting effects of different factors on benefits achieved in recent years are not well understood. We assess benefits from 2008 to 2017 on a fine spatial resolution using the latest epidemiological evidence and emissions inventories. We find that regulation continues to yield large benefits: $270 (190 to 480) billion in 2017 from reduced PM2.5 -attributable mortality and greenhouse gas emissions. Traffic-related PM2.5 -attributable mortality would have been 2.4 times as large in 2017 if vehicles had still been emitting at 2008 levels, accounting for most benefits. Urban passenger light-duty vehicles have become increasingly important, and major health gains require more stringent policies to curb their emissions.