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Community Corner

I-405 Air Pollution Harms Residents' Health, Experts Say

Our One Square Mile reporters explore whether or not air pollution is a serious health issue for those living by the I-405.

Hundreds of residents in Fox Hills I-405 live within steps of the 405.  Today our environment/health team examines the risk.  Second of a three-part series.

Many Culver City residents living near the I-405 Freeway voiced concerns in recent interviews about their exposure to air pollution.

"It would help to get a little more junk out of the air," said Fox Hills resident Bryan Arenas, who lives just feet away from the 405 with his family. He plans to buy air purifiers for his family, hoping to alleviate the problem.

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So is the 405 Freeway really a cause for air quality and health concerns? Experts seem to think so.

"Pollution's effects on people who live, work and go to school very close to the freeway are very high, much higher than those that are a mile away," said Sam Atwood of the South Coast Air Quality Management District. "These people are exposed to much higher levels of pollution, including combustion pollutants, nitrogen oxide, volatile organic compounds, diesel soot, carbon monoxide and ultrafine particles."

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Air pollution is the number one environmental health concern of southern Californians, and emissions from cars, trucks and buses account for 75 percent of the area's air pollution, according to the Southern California Environmental Health Sciences Outreach Center.

This air pollution is a big concern for Culver City resident Craig Macintosh, whose backyard borders the 405. Macintosh suspects the air pollution is having negative health effects on his 12-year-old son, blaming his asthma on their home's proximity to the 405. He said even after a light bike ride, his son feels congested and clogged up.

"There's so much dust in the air that I know doesn't come from the few cars in the neighborhood," he said.

Studies seem to support Macintosh's suspicions regarding his son's health. According to a 2002 UCLA study published in the Journal of the Air and Waste Management Association that looked specifically at pollution caused by the I-405, motor vehicle emissions represent the most significant source of ultrafine particles in the air. Exposure to these particles can potentially lead to increased deaths and illness, and is linked to neurological changes, mild pulmonary inflammation and cardiovascular problems.

"Ultrafine particles have been suggested as a possible causative agent for increases in mortality and morbidity," stated the study. "Particle number concentration near the freeway was approximately 25 times greater than that at background locations."

"People living near freeways display increased respiratory symptoms, more coughs and more asthma symptoms," Atwood said. 

Low birth weight and low-term births, diabetes, cancer, and central nervous system effects are also symptoms of emissions particle exposure, said John Froines, a UCLA environmental science professor who believes the health effects are only going to get worse as more diesel trucks use the freeway to meet consumer demand.

Researchers at The Southern California Particle Center (SCPC) said there are many factors that influence the exposure to mobile source pollution, such as house placement, age and construction. Older houses have a greater air exchange and allow more outside air in, which could pose a problem for many of the residents who have lived in their homes for more than 60 years.

The "freeway community," or people who live or work by the 405, can eliminate some of the harmful particles by simply keeping their windows and doors closed, said Richard Flagan, Executive Officer of Chemical Engineering at the California Institute of Technology.

"But it's worse for those who live right by the highway because they can't escape it," he explained.

However, those living farther away from the freeway (more than 300 meters away) in the surrounding areas of Culver City and Fox Hills need not be as concerned about the quality of their air. "The air in Culver City is cleaner than anything inland, so it's one of the better areas to live in, in terms of air quality," said Kevin Durkee, a senior meteorologist with AQMD.

Next: Can the Sepulveda Pass Widening Project help 405-related air pollution?

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