Vehicle pollution study says trucks aren’t the main culprit

There is a vehicle pollution problem in the Northeast, and trucks are not the main culprit.

A study published on June 8 looked into deaths in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions caused by ozone and fine particulate matter from vehicle emissions. The research conducted by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Institute for the Environment and the Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H Chan School of Public Health accounts for numbers in 2016.

According to the study, vehicle pollution from tailpipe emissions in 2016 led to more than 7,000 deaths in the studied regions. That pollution is traveling across state lines, compromising the health of people who live downwind. All 12 states and the District of Columbia revealed significant health effects from vehicle pollution.

Five vehicle types were studied. Across the two regions, light-duty trucks, including SUVs, were responsible for more than 2,400 deaths, the most among the vehicle types. Behind light-duty trucks were light-duty passenger vehicles (1,881) and heavy-duty trucks (1,465).

Adjusted by ton for ton, buses in the New York-Newark-Jersey City metro area had the largest health damages at $4 million for every ton of particulate matter emitted.

Vehicle pollution by vehicle type accounts for the entire region. However, the problems vary when narrowed down by city or state.

“While particulate matter from New York City buses has the largest impact per ton of emissions in New York, in Massachusetts it’s heavy-duty trucks in Boston, and in Virginia it is light-duty autos,” Jonathan Buonocore, a researcher at the Chan School’s Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment, said in a statement. “As policymakers consider how to transform the transportation sector – the largest source of carbon pollution – this research offers a roadmap for where to target investments to most cost-effectively improve air quality and health.” LL