[GPSCC-chat] Fwd: [South Bay Cycling] Study of health benefits of cycling

[Gerry Gras]

FYI,

 From the SVBC list

Gerry


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [South Bay Cycling] Study of health benefits of cycling
Date: Sat, 20 Nov 2010 10:53:21 -0800

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Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?
Johan de Hartog J, Boogaard H, Nijland H, Hoek G, 2010 Do the Health
Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?. Environ Health Perspect 118
(8): doi:10.1289/ehp.0901747

http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.0901747



Do the Health Benefits of Cycling Outweigh the Risks?

Article
Jump to
Abstract
Editor's Summary
Materials and Methods
Air Pollution Exposures and Health Effects
Accidents
Physical Activity
Comparison of Life Years Gained or Lost
Overall Discussion
Conclusions
Supplemental Material
References
Jeroen Johan de Hartog1, Hanna Boogaard1, Hans Nijland2, Gerard Hoek1
1 University of Utrecht, Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences,
Utrecht, the Netherlands, 2 Netherlands Environmental Assessment
Agency, Bilthoven, the Netherlands


Abstract Top
Background: Although from a societal point of view a modal shift from
car to bicycle may have beneficial health effects due to decreased
air pollution emissions, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and
increased levels of physical activity, shifts in individual adverse
health effects such as higher exposure to air pollution and risk of a
traffic accident may prevail.

Objective: We describe whether the health benefits from the increased
physical activity of a modal shift for urban commutes outweigh the
health risks.

Data sources and extraction: We have summarized the literature for
air pollution, traffic accidents, and physical activity using
systematic reviews supplemented with recent key studies.

Data synthesis: We quantified the impact on all-cause mortality when
500,000 people would make a transition from car to bicycle for short
trips on a daily basis in the Netherlands. We have expressed
mortality impacts in life-years gained or lost, using life table
calculations. For individuals who shift from car to bicycle, we
estimated that beneficial effects of increased physical activity are
substantially larger (3–14 months gained) than the potential
mortality effect of increased inhaled air pollution doses (0.8–40
days lost) and the increase in traffic accidents (5–9 days lost).
Societal benefits are even larger because of a modest reduction in
air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents.

Conclusions: On average, the estimated health benefits of cycling
were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for
individuals shifting their mode of transport.


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