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The association between greenness and traffic-related air pollution at schools
Dadvand, Payam Rivas, Ioar Basagaña, Xavier Alvarez-Pedrerol, Mar Su, Jason de Castro Pascual, Montserrat Amato, Fulvio Jerret, Michael Querol, Xavier Sunyer, Jordi
Dadvand, Payam
Rivas, Ioar
Basagaña, Xavier
Alvarez-Pedrerol, Mar
Su, Jason
de Castro Pascual, Montserrat
Amato, Fulvio
Jerret, Michael
Querol, Xavier
Sunyer, Jordi
Abstract
Greenness has been reported to improve mental and physical health. Reduction in exposure to air pollution has been suggested to underlie the health benefits of greenness; however, the available evidence on the mitigating effect of greenness on air pollution remains limited and inconsistent. We investigated the association between greenness within and surrounding school boundaries and monitored indoor and outdoor levels of traffic-related air pollutants (TRAPs) including NO2, ultrafine particles, black carbon, and traffic-related PM2.5 at 39 schools across Barcelona, Spain, in 2012. TRAP levels at schools were measured twice during two one-week campaigns separated by 6 months. Greenness within and surrounding school boundaries was measured as the average of satellite-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) within boundaries of school and a 50 m buffer around the school, respectively. Mixed effects models were used to quantify the associations between school greenness and TRAP levels, adjusted for relevant covariates. Higher greenness within and surrounding school boundaries was consistently associated with lower indoor and outdoor TRAP levels. Reduction in indoor TRAP levels was partly mediated by the reduction in outdoor TRAP levels. We also observed some suggestions for stronger associations between school surrounding greenness and outdoor TRAP levels for schools with higher number of trees around them. Our observed reduction of TRAP levels at schools associated with school greenness can be of public importance, considering the burden of health effects of exposure to TRAPs in schoolchildren.
Keywords
air pollution, green space, child health, NDVI, school, vegetation
Date
2015
Type
Journal article
Journal
Science of the Total Environment
Book
Volume
523
Issue
Page Range
59-63
Article Number
ACU Department
Mary MacKillop Institute for Health Research
Faculty of Health Sciences
Faculty of Health Sciences
Collections
Relation URI
Source URL
Event URL
Open Access Status
License
File Access
Controlled