Beltline a test site for air pollution study

Researchers with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are using Raleigh's Beltline as a staging area for a nationwide study of pollution from vehicles and how it may affect people living near busy highways.

As cars and trucks whoosh by on the Beltline near Wake Forest Road, an array of air monitoring instruments on tripods and poles at distances of 15 to 300 yards from the highway suck in pollutants such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxide, soot and microscopic particles.

Video cameras record traffic flow so researchers can correlate the types and amounts of pollutants at different times of day.

"The near-road issue is going to be a major focus for our air research lab over the next several years," said Dan Costa, national program director for air research at EPA's research office in Research Triangle Park.

The eventual goal is to help the EPA, public health officials and urban planners understand how pollutants near major roadways affect communities and public health.

Costa said that scientific studies, particularly in Europe, had found statistical correlations with increases in asthma, premature births and cancer for people living within 300 to 400 meters of highways. But more study is needed.

"There has been some research evidence to show that ... motor vehicles may have a greater impact on public health than previously appreciated," he said. "The public is concerned."

EPA, working with the Federal Highway Administration, plans to set up monitoring equipment to analyze vehicle emissions at up to five busy roadsides nationwide.

The roadside air analysis is part of the settlement of a lawsuit stemming from the widening of a highway in Nevada and its potential effects on nearby residents and schoolchildren.

The Sierra Club, an environmental advocacy group, challenged a plan to widen U.S. 95 from six to 10 lanes. The lawsuit contended transportation planners hadn't adequately considered health risks.

A lack of roadside monitors and filters were key to the legal argument.

As part of the settlement reached last year, federal authorities agreed to monitor vehicle emissions at five major highway locations nationwide to gather data on the level and behavior of toxins emitted by passing cars.

"This is really exciting," said Jane Feldman, a representative of the Sierra Club in Nevada. "We are really setting a precedent in recognition of these mobile toxins. I think we are going to be making a difference in people's lives."

Rich Baldauf, a research scientist with EPA, said the stretch of the Raleigh Beltline where the monitoring is occurring is typical of a lot of urban areas. He estimated that 120,000 vehicles a day pass the location. Traffic backs up during rush hours, and at other times there is little traffic.

"As traffic conditions change, we're trying to see how emissions change," said Baldauf. "Do we see different levels and kinds of pollutants?"

The data will help researchers show whether airborne pollutants collected next to roadsides are more toxic than those farther away.

Researchers are using Raleigh initially to fine-tune the air monitoring equipment and their measurement techniques. They plan to do more monitoring in the Triangle in the next three years as well as in Las Vegas and Detroit, where there is an ongoing pollution study.

Jeb Powell, 23, a carpenter who lives in Pinecrest subdivision a few houses from the Beltline, said he thinks there is more pollution that close to the highway.

"Sometimes, I smell whiffs of gas from cars," Powell said. "There is a lot of traffic on the highway between 4:40 and 6:30 in the afternoon. On days when it's not breezy, it gets to where you can smell it."