Living near a petrol pump unhealthy

Air in the immediate vicinity of petrol pumps is often polluted and can harm local residents.

Experts say that a "minimum" distance of 50 yards should be maintained between petrol pumps and houses. A 100 yards minimum distance should apply to "especially vulnerable" facilities such as hospitals, health centres, schools and old people's homes.

To evaluate the extent to which petrol pumps affect their surroundings, researchers from Spain studied the effects of air contamination at petrol stations that is potentially harmful to health. The research team measured the levels of "typical traffic" pollutants in different parts of the urban area of Murcia, and calculated the quotients for the levels of an aromatic compound (benzene) and a hydrocarbon (n-hexane) at three Murcia petrol pumps and their surrounding areas - to find the distance at which the petrol pumps stopped having an impact.

It was found that the air at petrol pumps and in their immediate surroundings is affected by emissions stemming from evaporated vehicle fuels which are unburnt fuels from fuel loading and unloading operations, refuelling and liquid spillages. In the three cases studied, a maximum distance of influence of nearly 100 metres was found although the average distance of contamination was around 50 metres. But the distances depend on the number of petrol pumps, the amount of fuel drawn from them, traffic intensity, the structure of the surroundings, and weather conditions.

Some airborne organic compounds such as benzene, which increases the risk of cancer, were recorded at petrol pumps at levels above the average levels for urban areas where traffic is the primary source of emission.

The findings indicate that living in close proximity of a petrol pump raises the health risks of residents.