Health Impact of Urban Physicochemical Environment Considering the Mobility of the People

Most of the current environmental health researches assumes that exposure to the environmental agents occurs either in the residence or workplace, neglecting the mobility of the people due to commuting and daily activities. Mobility of the people varies in terms of spatial and temporal range, that is, from momentary short ones to generation-scale long ones. Focusing on the daily movement of the people, various methods for grasping the mobility, which also range from simple observational methods like time allocation to methods with advanced technology like global navigation satellite systems, will be reviewed. Referring environmental health studies examining the health effects of either air pollution or heat, importance of the mobility of the people is discussed. Assessing the mobility will open a new research avenue for the study of infectious diseases as well as noncommunicable diseases.