Cars are more than 90 percent cleaner now than in 1970. And yet, air pollution from vehicles has not improved as much as everyone hoped. This is because there are more cars driving more miles.
Breathing polluted air is unhealthy for everyone, especially pregnant women, kids, the elderly, and people with asthma or other heart or respiratory diseases. Today, nearly 30 million adults and children in the United States have been diagnosed with asthma.
Cars and trucks are responsible for about half the air pollution in Minnesota. Pollution from vehicles includes:
Carbon monoxide–a gas that reduces oxygen delivery to the body’s organs.
Nitrogen oxides and volatile organic compounds–two ingredients in ground-level ozone. Ground-level ozone is unhealthy to breathe and causes smog.
Fine particles--microscopic particles that can trigger asthma and heart attacks.
There are important laws to help keep the air clean–such as the Clean Air Act of 1970–but decisions we all make, including what to drive and how often to drive, are important parts of the solution. Here are things you can do to reduce air pollution from cars and trucks:
Never idle. Vehicle idling creates a hot spot of pollution, often around people. Cut unnecessary idling when waiting to pick someone up or drop something off. Many cities have anti-idling ordinances, including the City of Minneapolis. Idling is also not allowed by buses at Minnesota schools.