ReviewEnvironmental health perspectives2010
Do the health benefits of cycling outweigh the risks?
Review in Environmental health perspectives, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 159 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
159 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 870 citations in OpenAlex.
- Types and anatomical locations of injuries among mountain bikers and hikers: A systematic review.PloS one · 2023Pooled it
- A systematic review of the effect of infrastructural interventions to promote cycling: strengthening causal inference from observational data.The international journal of behavioral nutrition and physical activity · 2019Pooled it
- Revealed Preference Methods for Studying Bicycle Route Choice-A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2018Pooled it
- What are the health benefits of active travel? A systematic review of trials and cohort studies.PloS one · 2013Pooled it
- Interventions to promote cycling: systematic review.BMJ (Clinical research ed.) · 2010Pooled it
- From cars to bikes - The effect of an intervention providing access to different bike types: A randomized controlled trial.PloS one · 2019Trial
- Particulate matter exposure and health impacts of urban cyclists: a randomized crossover study.Environmental health : a global access science source · 2018Trial
- Traffic-related air pollution and acute changes in heart rate variability and respiratory function in urban cyclists.Environmental health perspectives · 2011Trial
- Modelled Physical Activity Benefits and PMToxics · 2026Article
- Nonimaging optical design breaking the conventional symmetry of headlamp optics by side lighting with white LEDs.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- A scoping review of bicycling interventions' impacts on psychological, social, affective, and cognitive well-being.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2026Review
- Outdoor bicycle training following stroke: protocol development, feasibility testing and application guidelines.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciences · 2026Article
- European Code Against Cancer, 5th edition - outdoor and indoor air pollution and cancer.Molecular oncology · 2026Review
- Musculoskeletal Disorders and Psychological and Environmental Factors Associated with Recreational and Sport Fishing: A Narrative Review.Journal of functional morphology and kinesiology · 2025Review
- Incorporating active commuting into daily life: a narrative review of e-bikes' impact on health and urban air quality.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2025Review
- Computer vision and statistical insights into cycling near miss dynamics.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Article
- Crowdsourced cycling data applications to estimate noise pollution exposure during urban cycling.Heliyon · 2024Article
- Objectively measured the impact of ambient air pollution on physical activity for older adults.BMC public health · 2024Article
- The association between head injury and facial fracture treatment: an observational study of hospitalized bicyclists from a level 1 trauma centre.Acta neurochirurgica · 2024Observational
99 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundAlthough from a societal point of view a modal shift from car to bicycle may have beneficial health effects due to decreased air pollution emissions, decreased greenhouse gas emissions, and increased levels of physical activity, shifts in individual adverse health effects such as higher exposure to air pollution and risk of a traffic accident may prevail.
objectiveWe describe whether the health benefits from the increased physical activity of a modal shift for urban commutes outweigh the health risks. DATA SOURCES AND EXTRACTION: We have summarized the literature for air pollution, traffic accidents, and physical activity using systematic reviews supplemented with recent key studies. DATA SYNTHESIS: We quantified the impact on all-cause mortality when 500,000 people would make a transition from car to bicycle for short trips on a daily basis in the Netherlands. We have expressed mortality impacts in life-years gained or lost, using life table calculations. For individuals who shift from car to bicycle, we estimated that beneficial effects of increased physical activity are substantially larger (3-14 months gained) than the potential mortality effect of increased inhaled air pollution doses (0.8-40 days lost) and the increase in traffic accidents (5-9 days lost). Societal benefits are even larger because of a modest reduction in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and traffic accidents.
conclusionsOn average, the estimated health benefits of cycling were substantially larger than the risks relative to car driving for individuals shifting their mode of transport.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.