Air Quality Health Effects and Highway Proximity

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The goals of this research are to contribute to, critically summarize, and clearly and concisely synthesize the state of scientific knowledge regarding the potential for adverse human health impacts and highway proximity. Research findings addressing the goals and specific needs of FHWA will be published in a public document and communicated to decision-makers. Reports from this work will assist decision-makers on the strength of the scientific evidence relating current and future vehicle emissions to negative health outcomes and provide a solid foundation for future policy decisions. The FHWA seeks to support complex scientific research and evaluation programs on highway proximity air quality health effects to better understand the fundamental science and relationships between on-road vehicle emissions and the health of people who live at various distances from roads or who spend differing amounts of time in traffic through the following efforts: 1) A critical review of over 400 relevant epidemiology, toxicology and exposure studies conducted over the last 20 years; 2) An initiative to understand the differential health impacts of particles from various sources so that the toxicity of vehicle emissions or lack thereof can be seen in context; 3) A determination and implementation of targeted studies needed to understand the health impacts of emerging vehicle technologies; and 4) Identification of the major trends and key regulatory decisions likely to emerge over the next 5 years.

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