Air Pollution and Estimated Health Costs Related to Road Transportations of Goods in Italy: A First Healthcare Burden Assessment

Prisco Piscitelli, Barbara Valenzano, Emanuele Rizzo, Giuseppe Maggiotto, Matteo Rivezzi, Felice Esposito Corcione and Alessandro Miani
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Prisco Piscitelli: Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), 20149 Milan, Italy
Barbara Valenzano: Director of the Environmental Department of Apulia Region, 72100 Bari, Italy
Emanuele Rizzo: Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), 20149 Milan, Italy
Giuseppe Maggiotto: Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), 20149 Milan, Italy
Matteo Rivezzi: Euro Mediterranean Scientific Biomedical Institute (ISBEM), 1040 Bruxelles, Belgium
Felice Esposito Corcione: Former Director of the Institute of Motors, National Research Council (IM-CNR), 80100 Naples, Italy
Alessandro Miani: Italian Society of Environmental Medicine (SIMA), 20149 Milan, Italy

IJERPH, 2019, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-11

Abstract: Background : The Italian Society of Environmental Medicine has performed a preliminary assessment of the health impact attributable to road freight traffic in Italy. Methods : We estimated fine particulate matter (PM10, PM2.5) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) generated by road transportation of goods in Italy considering the number of trucks, the emission factors and the average annual distance covered in the year 2016. Simulations on data concerning Years of Life Lost (YLL) attributable to PM2.5 (593,700) and nitrogen oxides NO2 (200,700) provided by the European Environmental Agency (EEA) were used as a proxy of healthcare burden. We set three different healthcare burden scenarios, varying from 1/5 to 1/10 of the proportion of the overall particulate matter attributable to road freight traffic in Italy (about 7% on a total of 2262 tons/year). Results : Road freight traffic in Italy produced about 189 tons of PM10, 147 tons of PM2.5 and 4125 tons of NOx in year 2016, resulting in annual healthcare costs varying from 400 million up to 1.2 billion EUR per year. Conclusion : Road freight traffic has a relevant impact on air pollution and healthcare costs, especially if considered over a 10-year period. Any solution able to significantly reduce the road transportation of goods could decrease avoidable mortality due to air pollution and related costs.

Keywords: road freight traffic; transportation of goods; air pollution; years of life lost; healthcare burden (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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