EPA Research Partner Support Story: Near-road air pollution exposure in vulnerable student populations
Partners: Environmental Law and Policy Center (ELPC) and Morton Arboretum with support from Illinois Department of Transportation, City of Chicago, Chicago Public Schools, Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning
Challenge: Near-road air pollution exposure in vulnerable student populations
Resource: Tools and technical support to mitigate near-road air pollution with strategically placed vegetative barriers
Project Period: 2020 –2021
Numerous health studies show that people who live, work and go to school near large roadways and transportation facilities face increased health risks from air pollution exposure, including asthma and other respiratory diseases, cardiovascular effects, cancer and premature mortality.
“EPA’s technical support has been invaluable to assessing which area schools could have safer, cleaner air by installing a vegetative buffer. We look forward to continuing the collaboration through successful implementation.” – Environmental Law & Policy Center Senior Policy Advocate Susan Mudd
EPA ORD researchers worked with partners in Illinois to use the Agency-developed EnviroAtlas and the report Recommendations for Constructing Roadside Vegetation Barriers to Improve Near-Road Air Quality to improve air quality for schools located near major roadways.
EnviroAtlas is a robust, interactive web-based resource that provides geospatial data, easy-to-use tools, and other resources that help users identify and incorporate aspects of the natural environment to improve public health.
EPA scientists consulted with the partners on using green infrastructure to mitigate near-road air pollutant exposure in vulnerable student populations. They provided a virtual demonstration of EnviroAtlas’ fine-scale data availability, and ELPC identified Chicago schools within 200 meters of major expressways and assessed those school sites with respect to existing near-road tree cover. EPA researchers also developed a list of factors for partners to consider for identifying and prioritizing schools that may benefit from vegetative barriers to improve air quality.