2023-06-02 11:54:43
NIJMEGEN / WIJCHEN – The GGD recently announced that new guidelines for air quality and health have been drawn up since March this year. The recent analysis by the GGD showed that many schools, sports centers and care locations in the region do not comply with these new guidelines. This also applies to our region.
More than 2,000 locations across the country are within 150 meters of a busy, polluting road. This is evident from a data analysis by Platform Investico. This concerns schools, nursing homes, nurseries, out-of-school care and sports fields. The GGD advises municipalities from the point of view of health interests.
“That has to do with the fact that exposure to air pollution leads to an increased risk of diseases. You should think of lung diseases or cardiovascular diseases. And the air quality closer to a road is worse. So further away from a road the exhaust gases are diluted and the air quality is also better there. And to reduce exposure to air pollution, it is better not to stay too close to that road, to keep your distance from that road.” This is reported by Ingrid Links, environmental health expert at the GGD. “Furthermore, a lot of noise is produced by traffic on a road, so further away from the road the exposure to noise is also lower. Noise is also an environmental factor that can affect health.”
Municipalities face challenges in practice
Also in the Rijk van Nijmegen, a number of these locations do not comply with the revised guideline. For example, the municipality of Wijchen has four. “Doing something with the guidelines will be difficult. We talk a lot about existing situations. If new developments occur in the future, we can look at how we can fit those guidelines into the new plans,” says alderman Twan van Bronkhorst of the municipality of Wijchen. But ensuring that a new building can be built far from a polluting road is quite a challenge in practice. “On the other side of the Westerdreef, the Groene Geest, a new school has to be built there. It was planned near the railway line. Guidelines also apply to the railway line, so we have moved it up a bit, but then we will soon be in the near the A326. It appears to be applicable there, but it is a challenge from practice, which we as a municipality encounter, to be able to build a school in the district,” says Van Bronkhorst.
This is due to various sources
The municipality of Nijmegen also tries to apply the guideline for new construction as much as possible. This municipality has 29 locations that are too close to polluting roads. No new facilities for groups that are extra sensitive to air pollution are being built along busy roads. Ingrid Links: “In addition, it is actually even better to tackle the air quality at the source. So to ensure fewer and cleaner cars on the road and, in addition to motorized traffic, wood distilleries, livestock farms and industrial sources of air pollution are also important. To improve the quality you actually have to reduce the emissions from all those sources And if people themselves want to contribute to healthier air, then it is important that you take the bus or bicycle more often, instead of the car and not burning wood and eat no or less meat.
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