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Vehicle emissions: progress and challenges

Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology volume 20, pages 487–488 (2010)Cite this article

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Understanding exposures to vehicular emissions is fundamental to characterizing health risks and developing regulatory approaches that effectively reduce that risk.

The current interest in electric-drive vehicles, which include hybrid electric, plug-in hybrid, battery electric, and fuel-cell hybrid designs, arises from concerns about energy security and greenhouse gas levels. While their further reduction of air pollutant emissions will be welcome, these reductions will be small. But other mobile sources, with combustion engines, do require continuing attention. As compared with the low emissions and durability of new vehicles, the emissions from a few, generally older, “high emitters” present an important control challenge.

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References

  1. Health Effects Institute. Special Report 17: Traffic-Related Air Pollution: A Critical Review of the Literature on Emissions, Exposure, and Health Effects, January 2010. http://pubs.healtheffects.org/getfile.php?u=553

  2. US Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration. Quick Find: Vehicle Miles of Travel—Highway Statistics Series. http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/policy/ohpi/qftravel.cfm.

  3. US EPA. National Emissions Inventory (NEI) Air Pollutant Emissions Trends Data. 1970–2008 Average Annual Emissions, All Criteria Pollutants (2009). http://www.epa.gov/ttn/chief/trends/trends06/nationaltier1upto2008basedon2005v2.xls.

  4. US EPA. Our Nation’s Air—Status and Trends Through 2008. http://www.epa.gov/airtrends/2010.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering and Energy and Resources Group, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    Robert F Sawyer

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  1. Robert F Sawyer
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Correspondence to Robert F Sawyer.

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Sawyer, R. Vehicle emissions: progress and challenges. J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol 20, 487–488 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/jes.2010.44

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