title: The association between greenness and traffic-related air pollution at schools.
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 6months. 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 50m 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.
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: pdadvand@creal.cat.
authors: Payam
authors: P
authors: Dadvand
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), C/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Ioar
authors: I
authors: Rivas
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Xavier
authors: X
authors: Basagaña
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Mar
authors: M
authors: Alvarez-Pedrerol
authors: Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA.
authors: Jason
authors: J
authors: Su
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Montserrat
authors: M
authors: De Castro Pascual
authors: Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), C/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Fulvio
authors: F
authors: Amato
authors: Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, 50 University Hall, Berkeley, CA, 94720-7360, USA.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Jerret
authors: Institute of Environmental Assessment and Water Research (IDAEA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), C/Jordi Girona 18-26, 08034 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Xavier
authors: X
authors: Querol
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Jordi
authors: J
authors: Sunyer
authors: Centre for Research in Environmental Epidemiology (CREAL), C/Dr. Aiguader 88, 08003 Barcelona, Spain; CIBER Epidemiología y Salud Pública (CIBERESP), C/Monforte de Lemos 3-5, 28029 Madrid, Spain; Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF), Plaça de la Mercè, 08002 Barcelona, Spain.
authors: Mark J
authors: MJ
authors: Nieuwenhuijsen
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012574:Schools / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013030:Spain; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D001335:Vehicle Emissions
keywords: Air pollution; Child health; Green space; NDVI; School; Vegetation