Study ties traffic emissions to 251 deaths in Chicago last year

May 26, 2011 1:00PM

Dan Ryan Expressway near Ruble Street.FILE PHOTO. | John H. White~Sun-Times

Updated: September 1, 2011 12:18AM

Experts have long warned that pollution from idling vehicles on crowded roads is harming Americans’ health.

Now, for the first time, researchers have quantified the damage.

A Harvard University study found that congestion in Chicago and the nation’s 82 other biggest urban areas last year led to what’s estimated to have been more than 2,200 premature deaths.

In Chicago, the researchers estimate there were 251 premature deaths last year tied to traffic congestion.

That was third only to Los Angeles, with an estimated 426 premature deaths, and New York, with 337.

The researchers focused on motor vehicle emissions, using several models to predict what they described as “how much of what people are breathing in each urban area is attributable to emissions from traffic congestion.”

They evaluated premature deaths resulting from people breathing particulate matter.

Previous studies have shown that motor vehicle emissions contribute up to one-third of particulate matter in urban areas.

Gannett News Service

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