1989

Himanen, Veli; Mäkelä, Kari; Alppivuori, Kari; Aaltonen, Pekka; Louhelainen, Jorma

The quantity of noise, exhaust emissions and dust caused by road traffic in Finland is estimated along with the monetary value of their effects. The valuations are mainly based on the estimated costs of the prevention of these hazards. In addition, the costs due to losses caused by traffic noise and exhaust emissions are estimated. The results contain a substantial degree of uncertainty. 840,000 people in Finland lived within road traffic noise zones in 1987. The number of people suffering from the noise was 208,000. The noise hazard was valuated at 1,200 million FIM in 1987 (1 FIM = 0.25 USD). In 1987, the exhaust emissions of road traffic contained 110,000 tons of nitric oxides, 310,000 tons of carbon monoxide, 30,000 tons of hydrocarbons, 6,000 tons of sulphur dioxide, 10,000 tons of solid particles, and 340 tons of lead. The exhaust emissions can be valuated at 900 - 4,800 million FIM in 1987, depending on the method of calculation. Traffic produced 260,000 tons of rock dust in 1987. The costs of dust prevention would have been 800 million FIM. The total annual costs of noise, exhaust emissions and dust caused by road traffic would thus amount to 3 - 7 billion FIM.