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Different shades of green: a reflection on ecology and anti-road movements under climate change through the case of the 2024 Swiss referendum on motorway expansion
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This isn't a health study, but it touches on why roads matter to our wellbeing: new highways bring air pollution, microplastic pollution, and noise pollution that can affect the health of nearby communities and ecosystems. Looking at Switzerland's 2024 vote on highway expansion, researchers found that campaigners actually downplayed these environmental and health concerns, focusing instead on practical arguments about traffic and mobility — suggesting that public debates about road-building often don't fully address the health costs of pollution that come with them.
Increasingly, the concreting of landscapes including the building of new roads is perceived as contradictory with the fight against climate change initiated in many countries. Ecologist movements criticize and oppose road construction projects by highlighting the multiple negative impacts of the road infrastructure and automobility on the environment including air pollution, microplastic pollution, noise pollution, land degradation and the loss of biodiversity. In Southwestern France, the ongoing ecologist fight against the A69 Motorway project has led to intense discussions around the importance of preserving local lands and ecosystems. This highly mediatised case has brought to the fore road-related environmental issues and tensions between climate protection and mobility issues. In Switzerland, the 2024 referendum on motorway expansion offers a unique occasion to examine how road construction can be discussed and questioned at the national level. While different types of arguments were debated, this paper focusses on ecological arguments and the way they were mobilised or silenced. Interviews with members of the referendum committee have enabled to understand that climate-related arguments were deliberately set aside in favour of more technical mobility arguments. By discussing such topics, this brief research report leads to a discussion on the appropriation of multiple understandings of ecology by diverse political organizations and on the potential impacts of ecologist arguments in the fight towards more just mobility futures. Ultimately, the paper argues for a greater recognition and an exploration of the intersections between climate justice and mobility justice.
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Vehicle-Road Wear Microplastics: Fragmented Understanding of Their Impacts on Environment.
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Every time tires roll on pavement, tiny plastic-containing particles get worn off from both the tires and the road itself, and this research review pulls together what scientists currently know about where these particles go and how they might affect us. The big takeaway: these particles can end up in soil, water, and even the air we breathe, and early evidence suggests inhaling them may trigger cell damage and inflammation in the body. Since this is a review of existing studies rather than new experiments, the authors mainly stress that scientists still lack standardized methods to study these particles—meaning more research is needed before we fully understand the health risks.
The Effects of Negatıve Envıronmental Factors on Publıc Health (Aır, Water, And Soıl Pollutıon)
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This study examined the effects of air, water, and soil pollution on public health within the One Health framework, with particular attention to emerging pollutants including microplastics. Researchers found that environmental contamination, including microplastic pollution in water and soil systems, contributes to a wide range of health outcomes affecting respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological systems.
Where the rubber hits the road: The health effects of traffic-related micro- and nanoplastics via inhalation
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Tiny plastic and rubber particles from tire wear, breathed in near busy roads, were linked to short-term immune cell changes in volunteers and, in a nationwide study, to higher long-term risk of death from respiratory and neurological disease. This suggests traffic pollution from tires, not just exhaust, deserves more attention in air quality policy.
Olumsuz Çevresel Faktörlerin Toplum Sağlığı Üzerine Etkileri (Hava-Su-Toprak Kirliliği)
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This review examines how air, water, and soil pollution affect public health through a One Health framework, noting that environmental pollutants including microplastics and nanomaterials pose emerging risks. Researchers found that urbanization, industrialization, and climate change are intensifying environmental health threats, with vulnerable populations disproportionately affected. The study emphasizes the need for monitoring, early warning systems, and protective strategies to address deepening health inequalities.
Tracks of travel: unveiling tire particle concentrations in Swiss cantonal road soils
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Researchers quantified tire wear particle concentrations in roadside soils along fifteen Swiss cantonal roads with relatively low traffic volumes. They found average concentrations of 111,000 particles per kilogram of dry soil, with particle counts and sizes decreasing with increasing distance from the road. The study also found positive relationships between tire wear particle numbers and associated pollutants like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and trace metals.
Research digests by email
When a large batch of papers lands in the Atlas, we read through it and send a short write-up of what stood out.