Commuting - Your daily commute can kill you

I get Men's Health, and came across this article...it says how the pollution on city streets actually poisons cyclists/runners because of the large volume of air (when exercising) they breathe in as well as the deeper it goes in their lungs....

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/article.do?site=MensHealth&channel=health&category=other.diseases.ailments&conitem=6dd09e134d1fb010VgnVCM200000cee793cd____

"By all means, keep running," Dr. Gong says.

Better not to do any exercise at all, then all that naughty pollution won't get you! In addition, if you eat as much red meat as possible, like a manly man should, soon enough you'll master the fine art of not breathing, and be totally immune to the effects of airborne pollutants.

Sitting on your couch eating doritos will kill you also. I have even heard that no matter how healthy you live you might die no matter what.

The pollution level inside a car is worse than outside.

The pollution level inside a car is worse than outside.

+1 to that.

Especially if you're not on a 'bent, the added height of your nose and mouth puts you above most of the nastiest stuff.

But to be honest, I'd rather be happy and athletic with lung cancer than fat and lazy with coronary disease.

It's generally accepted in the scientific community that the negatives of breathing polluted air are outweighed by the positives of exercise while commuting, unless we're talking about "fires of Kuwait" or Mexico City or something uber-nasty like that.

The pollution level inside a car is worse than outside.

Maybe so, but while the guy sitting in the car is inhaling 6 litres/minute of air, the guy outside running is inhaling 60 litres of air...which is worse?


Better not to do any exercise at all, then all that naughty pollution won't get you! In addition, if you eat as much red meat as possible, like a manly man should, soon enough you'll master the fine art of not breathing, and be totally immune to the effects of airborne pollutants.

Wow chill out, I was just posting what I thought was an interesting article, no need for the sarcastic comments. Did I somehow imply this in my first post, that we should never exercise? I am merely saying that its something to think about, and perhaps you might want to try and find a route that is maybe on a paved trail through a park, rather then on the road.

Maybe so, but while the guy sitting in the car is inhaling 6 litres/minute of air, the guy outside running is inhaling 60 litres of air...which is worse?

The hypoventilating, under-exercised guy sitting in the car is considerably worse off.


I am merely saying that its something to think about, and perhaps you might want to try and find a route that is maybe on a paved trail through a park, rather then on the road.

Uh-huh. So cycle commuters should confine themselves to paved parks and MUPs in order to avoid the big scary pollution out there. Isn't that convenient? But hey, you're forgetting about the poor people in cars! What to do... oh, I know! They should try and find a route that is maybe on a paved trail through a park, rather than on the road. Sure, the chances of it taking them where they need to go are miniscule, but who cares? They'll be preserving their health. Oh, and best of all, the roads will be available for all those cyclists to get to work or play... pollution-free!

Tell me, what exactly is your agenda here? Because it doesn't sound like innocent concern for the health of commuting cyclists, to me.

Uh-huh. So cycle commuters should confine themselves to paved parks and MUPs in order to avoid the big scary pollution out there. Isn't that convenient? But hey, you're forgetting about the poor people in cars! What to do... oh, I know! They should try and find a route that is maybe on a paved trail through a park, rather than on the road. Sure, the chances of it taking them where they need to go are miniscule, but who cares? They'll be preserving their health. Oh, and best of all, the roads will be available for all those cyclists to get to work or play... pollution-free!

Tell me, what exactly is your agenda here? Because it doesn't sound like innocent concern for the health of commuting cyclists, to me.

Dude, you're seriously getting into troll territory here.

He was posting an article that he quite reasonably expected might be of interest to other bicycle commuters. While his thread title was perhaps a tad alarmist, he never said he was advocating not cycling.

And he never said you should "confine" yourself to parks, although perhaps a little confinement could be good for certain people <cough> <cough>... However if given the option, I think MOST cyclocommuters would prefer a path through a park over a highway... not just for the cleaner air, but it is quieter, more scenic, and generally more pleasant.

Dude, you're seriously getting into troll territory here.

He was posting an article that he quite reasonably expected might be of interest to other bicycle commuters. While his thread title was perhaps a tad alarmist, he never said he was advocating not cycling.

And he never said you should "confine" yourself to parks, although perhaps a little confinement could be good for certain people <cough> <cough>... However if given the option, I think MOST cyclocommuters would prefer a path through a park over a highway... not just for the cleaner air, but it is quieter, more scenic, and generally more pleasant.

Yes, that reply was pretty grumpy, wasn't it? I prefer riding on paths and through parks when it is convenient. Air pollution on the road would never be a factor in my choosing a different, less convenient route. I don't think that I'm all that worse off in traffic. When I do choose to go out of my way to avoid roads, it has more to do with traffic and stress then it does with the air quality.

Thank you Eggplant:)

Better not to do any exercise at all, then all that naughty pollution won't get you! In addition, if you eat as much red meat as possible, like a manly man should,

Don't forget to add "drive the biggest truck/SUV/etc that you can get. The more black smoke coming out the tailpipe and noise from the engine, the better.

This is part of the essential definition of "manly".

If you can gun said engine while passing lean, fit, little girly man cyclist, you have effectively proven that you are the bigger man.

I live in an area rated fairly high for air quality.
My only issues tend to be at the end of a long ride, climbing a tall hill, towing a trailer with my 3 year old in it, 90F+, and in the high ozone part of the day.

I can tell when my lungs are having issues since I have problems trying to breathe.

All in all I would say the positives far outweigh the negatives. As a side note, I have to exercise outside. I find it utterly unexciting to workout indoors.

Quote:Better not to do any exercise at all, then all that naughty pollution won't get you! In addition, if you eat as much red meat as possible, like a manly man should, soon enough you'll master the fine art of not breathing, and be totally immune to the effects of airborne pollutants.


Wow chill out, ...
You are assuming he is reacting, directing his remark at you rather than the article you posted. Maybe you should be the one to chill out. There is nothing wrong with his reaction to the article.

Quote:Better not to do any exercise at all, then all that naughty pollution won't get you! In addition, if you eat as much red meat as possible, like a manly man should, soon enough you'll master the fine art of not breathing, and be totally immune to the effects of airborne pollutants.


Wow chill out, ...

You are assuming he is reacting, directing his remark at you rather than the article you posted. Maybe you should be the one to chill out. There is nothing wrong with his reaction to the article.

I disagree, I infered from that reply that he was reacting towards me, as the one to bring this article to attention. Whether or not he implied that is debatable perhaps for you. Secondly, I simply told him there was no need for sacrastic remarks in this thread, I like to keep the comments intelligent and constructive, thats the most efficient way of learning. I think my reply was completely correct. He even admitted his reply was grumpy:


Originally Posted by Eggplant Jeff
Dude, you're seriously getting into troll territory here.

He was posting an article that he quite reasonably expected might be of interest to other bicycle commuters. While his thread title was perhaps a tad alarmist, he never said he was advocating not cycling.

And he never said you should "confine" yourself to parks, although perhaps a little confinement could be good for certain people <cough> <cough>... However if given the option, I think MOST cyclocommuters would prefer a path through a park over a highway... not just for the cleaner air, but it is quieter, more scenic, and generally more pleasant.


Yes, that reply was pretty grumpy, wasn't it?

Don't drink, don't smoke, don't eat meat.. die anyway.

A fair post and something to consider. I think about the amount of exhaust I'm inhaling, especially as I cross the 14th St. bridge within feet of commuter traffic. Does it keep me off of the bike? No way, I know the benefits far outweigh the risks.

A good analogy is the current debate in Alexandria regarding the Mirant Power plant. It's a coal buring electric supplier to DC that many are trying to shut down. Even though they burn the top 99% cleanest coal and have EPA regulated cleansers and emissions safeguards, many who live nearby, claim to have respiratory problems, soot on their cars, and are at increased risk of sickness. I, however, could claim just the opposite. I live directly across the street from this plant (and ride past it daily) but my proximity to it, one could argue, has allowed for a more active lifestyle and increased physical fitness and overall health. The fact that I'm close enough to work to ride everday is a more significant health factor than the plant's negligable emissions. A sedintary person, for example, who lives in the pollution free country, it may be argued, may be less healthy than an active person in the city. The fact that I'm near this power plant is largely incidental as it pertains to my health-the bigger factor is the accessability to the bike path and work. Recent pulminary function tests came back at "over 100%" in every catagory-contradicting the idea that this behemoth is killing everyone in its path. The greater likliehood is that, while coal emissions most likely aren't good for one's health, other factors such as: age, activity level, diet, etc are bigger contributors to one's health.

So, in a very long winded, convoluted, and admittadly circuitous kind of way, what I'm trying to say is that it is far better to be an active, health-concious person who lives near a city than a sedintary person who lives in the country. I guess the ideal situation would be an active person who lives and works in the country and doesn't have to work-allowing him/her to ride their bike at their leisure. Huhhhhhhhh......

I guess the ideal situation would be an active person who lives and works in the country and doesn't have to work-allowing him/her to ride their bike at their leisure. Huhhhhhhhh......

You can work, there's nothing that says the person doesn't have to work. Their work just has to be nearby so they don't have to ride through smog to get there. Organic (and maybe Amish?) farmers are the example that jumps to my mind.

Live on/near the farm, work on the farm, no significant exposure to pollutants (REGULAR farm workers have high exposure to chemical pesticides and fertilizers)

Unfortunately, an agrarian society can't support the population levels we have at the moment so unless some of you fine folks'd like to volunteer to die in the name of me being able to live a better life, I guess we'll just have to do the best we can.

Unfortunately, an agrarian society can't support the population levels we have at the moment so unless some of you fine folks'd like to volunteer to die in the name of me being able to live a better life, I guess we'll just have to do the best we can.

My point exactly. Let's all become farmers.

"When I see people running or bicycling along a busy street in the middle of the day, I want to tackle them and scream at them to stop," says Rachel Langford, coordinator of the Clean Air Project for the American Lung Association in Oregon.

--
Anybody see the problem with this statement. This lady works for the American Lung Assoc, and is more interested in getting us off the street to save ourselves than reducing the number of cagers to try to help EVERYBODY's lungs.

C'mon Rachel, look at the forest, not the trees...

Let's sue some cagers for second hand pollution. I choose not to drive a car, so I shouldn't have to suffer from your choice to drive one. Is there a dissease (like emphesima for tobacco, or mesothelioma for asbestos) that I can point to as having been caused by the dirty commuters assualting me?

So what, our only choices then are exercise and breathe too much pollution, drive cars and produce more pollution, or go live on a farm in Amish country?

C'mon you guys. Ride a bike, create less pollution, work to get more people to choose less-polluting alternatives and eventually maybe things can improve.

Or just sit around here working up a good foam over the silliest excuses. Whatever.

Life WILL kill you. You determine how you want to live it.

Or - you can live where I do - I assure you - the only exhaust I deal with is what comes out from behind cows... (deadly to be sure) Okay, also diesel trucks - but I can pass them...

I really liked one quote I read "It is going to be really sad when the health freaks eventually die of nothing."

It is sad. The people who are doing something to reduce the effects of fossil fuels on the planet are the ones breathing in more pollution. Like second hand smoke, its just dangerous.

Don't drink, don't smoke, don't eat meat.. die anyway.

lol...I was thinking about some graffiti I saw once that said something very similar:

"Eat Healthy, Exercise a lot, Die Anyway"

You don't have to go inside to avoid air pollution.

Check the website www.airnow.gov for air pollution levels in your town. The website is very accurate about it's smog forcasts.

Usually, if there's going to be a problem with smog that day, it will be during a summer afternoon, but it varies a lot according to the weather. So there's no need to be alarmed. In the morning, the air quality is usually very good. If the smog is forcast to be heavy in the afternoon, take an easy pace home and take the back roads, or put your bike on the bus. You can even take the afternoon off from riding.

I'm no automobile apologist, everyone here probably knows that.
With that aside, first of all, if you're in a crappy car, you're probably breathing in some real nasty crap. Second of all, with HEPA style carbon filters, the air inside a car is a lot cleaner than the air outside the car. Third of all, every time I go out for anything over 2 hours and come home at night after work, I can wipe my face with a white towel and it'll come out gray, which is the same stuff going into my lungs. Fourth of all, we're sucking in a lot more air than someone sitting still in a car. Fiveth of all, we get an awful lot of sun exposure too, automobile glass blocks out some UV. Sixeth of all, not everyone in an automobile is out of shape and wheezing.

I didn't read the article, but I wonder if the amount of pollution reaching your lungs can be lessened some by breathing through your nose rather than through your mouth. You've got a lot more hairs and mucus and disgusting stuff like that that will trap stuff in your nasal passageways than through your mouth. I've found that even when breathing heavy, I can get in a good amount of breath quickly through my nose, although not so quickly breathing out. So I often try to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth, especially in heavy traffic.

I swear a guy at a bus stop blew a huge cloud of cigarette smoke just in time for me to pass through this am. I can't imagine anyone would have good enough timing and aim to do that deliberately, though.

I do find myself holding my breath periodically behind buses, they seem to belch more when they speed up.

I do find myself holding my breath periodically behind buses, they seem to belch more when they speed up.

The busses in Cincinnati were converting to biodiesel shortly before I left, and riding behind one smelled like doing laps in a McD's parking lot.

I dunno.

I live in Toronto (rather big), I bike on some busy streets.

When I wipe my face with a towel at the end of the day, the towel remains white. I am very sensitive to smells, and the only time I have trouble with exhaust on my rides is when I am stuck behind a bus or a large truck - and that's pretty rare. I think I am lucky as far as location is concerned. It used to be much worse in my hometown in Siberia that had fewer cars but also fewer (in fact, none, as far as I know) exhaust regulations.

All in all, it is a valid concern. But, in my humble, the positives outweight the negatives considerably.


"When I see people running or bicycling along a busy street in the middle of the day, I want to tackle them and scream at them to stop," says Rachel Langford, coordinator of the Clean Air Project for the American Lung Association in Oregon.

--
Anybody see the problem with this statement. This lady works for the American Lung Assoc, and is more interested in getting us off the street to save ourselves than reducing the number of cagers to try to help EVERYBODY's lungs. Yep, she's like one of those people who think biking in traffic is insanely dangerous and cyclists should never mix with cars for their own good. Good intentions, but my oh my, how misguided...

I live in Toronto too. today I was out at Queen St./Spadina and was running to get to a store. Honestly, the pollution was brutal, combined with the hot 35 degree wether. I had to stop and walk. To not, I am extremely fit and athletic with great cardio.

I live in Toronto too. today I was out at Queen St./Spadina and was running to get to a store. Honestly, the pollution was brutal, combined with the hot 35 degree wether. Yeah, that deep into the downtown jungle it can get pretty bad, I guess. And the heat definitely doesn't make anything easier.

However, when I biked from Queen and Broadview to St. Clair and Spadina recently, exhaust was not a problem. All I was noticing was HEAT. :D I guess the key is to avoid congested roads; I find those particularly bad when it comes to pollution.

The tone of the article seems a quite discouraging considering it is in a magazine that encourages exercise. I would have expected the more positive focus of "Ways to minimise pollution exposure" rather than 'Dying breaths".

Whilst an interesting read, the contents of that article won't be my biggest concern any time soon.
I think being run over is a much more immediate danger than being poisoned to death!

I didn't read the article, but I wonder if the amount of pollution reaching your lungs can be lessened some by breathing through your nose rather than through your mouth.
Yes, the article specifically mentions that. But one thing the article does not mention is that you can ride at a leisurely pace, breathing in almost exclusively through your nose. Also, there are quiet alternate routes I can take that are much cleaner than the main arteries.

I think the article could have been more balanced. Other doctors and experts could be quoted who would point out that it's not necessary to exercise indoors. It's a fact that air pollution is not always at hazardous levels and that heavy smog days are predictable and avoidable. The article would have us believe that we are killing ourselves, which is completely false.