Roughly five Americans die every hour due to exposure to toxic road vehicle pollution, a new study has found.
It’s the latest warning showing fossil-fueled transit is a major driver of mortality.
In 2024 alone, the study found, more 41,800 premature deaths in the US were attributable to road pollution.
“Transportation emissions have real, everyday impacts on the health and safety of communities we live in and represent,” said Paul Jones III, the transportation planner at the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance, a network of grassroots community-based groups which reviewed the new research.
The analysis from the non-profit research group International Council on Clean Transportation quantified the emissions from producing and consuming fuel for auto vehicles, using measurements collected via sensors by the group in partnership with the UK-based Fia Foundation. They then calculated the health impacts of that pollution using methods established by scholars.
Polls show a growing share of Americans are concerned about exposure to environmental toxins and would support more stringent regulations from federal officials.
“At a time when many Americans are concerned about the impact of environmental toxins on their families’ health, public health authorities can’t afford to overlook the impact of vehicle pollution on mortality and respiratory health outcomes,” said Lingzhi Jin, a senior researcher at the International Council on Clean Transportation, in a statement.
The research also found that the US has more new pediatric asthma cases attributable to vehicle pollution annually than any other country. In 2024, US children accounted for one in 10 new pediatric asthma cases attributable to vehicle pollution globally.
By accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles, decision makers could significantly reduce these harmful effects, the authors say. In fact, they found that if the nation reaches 100% market share for electric cars, trucks and buses by 2040, it could avert more than 100,000 premature deaths and prevent more than 42,000 children from developing asthma by 2050, compared with the currently expected rate of adoption.
Right now, experts say, the nation is moving in the wrong direction, with the Trump administration undertaking sweeping environmental rollbacks and revoking plans to accelerate the uptake of clean vehicles.
The analysis is the latest in a long line of expert advisories about the dangers of toxic air. Nearly half of Americans breathe in dangerous levels of airborne emissions, the American Lung Association found last year – a rise compared with one year earlier.
