Biking geophysicist to study health benefits of trees

A biking geophysicist at Western Washington University is studying the effect street trees have on reducing the amount of harmful particles in the air, reports The Olympian.

In an interview with Friends of Trees, Bernard Housen described how he has found urban street trees to be good monitors of airborne pollutants, because of their ability to catch 10 times as many harmful particles as a tree in a rural setting.

Housen, who bikes almost every day to work along a busy bus route, is motivated by the health concerns related to bikers breathing microns deeply into their lungs.

“You assume the bike riders would be more healthy but you’re probably placing yourself at a higher risk,” said Housen.

“These trees actually scrub the particles out of the air. They aren’t going to be breathed by people.”

Housen is hoping for budget expansion that will allow him to look closer at particulate matter using a scanning electron microscope, and also study what happens to the magnetic particles attached to leaves when they fall to the ground.

Nitrogen dioxide and volatile organic compounds have been linked to a range of human health problems, including headaches, respiratory illness and cancer.

Read more of the blog for comprehensive coverage of the Metro-ODOT-Friends of Trees effort to bring 2,000 trees to the I-205 multi-use path.

–Toshio Suzuki