Joe Gardner

(AP) - Long-term exposure to the air pollution in some of America's biggest metropolitan areas significantly raises the risk of dying from lung cancer and is about as dangerous as living with a smoker, a study of a half-million people found. The study echoes previous research and provides the strongest evidence yet of the health dangers of the pollution levels found in many big cities and even some smaller ones, according to the researchers from Brigham Young University and New York University. More...

Maybe its time i picked up a respo.

Weasel

Yeeeaaah. They have just raised the price of fuel again last night, which means that Mr Driver will be paying much more for his tank of fuel than he did yesterday.

Naturally, there are a lot of p!ssed off people who drive their cars about for one reason or another. Hopefully more increases on already expensive fuel will remove more idiots from the roads who only use their cars for short trips. Some towns and cities are now introducing "efficient driving courses" aimed at reducing the amount of fuel used for driving - many courses are free as well. I wish they would use an ounce of common sense and introduce as many bikes for these people.

Still, it is a step in the right direction.

JonR

I think that's what it's going to take to cut down on pollution and (I hope) boost public transportation and alternate methods of transport. So I agree it's a step in the right direction.

Weasel, your signature "If you want spectacular results, you have to know how to treat your bike badly" intrigues me: there must be more to it than that, because I treat my bikes very badly, yet I get no spectacular results at all!

Weasel

Hit 'em where it hurts most Jon - in their pockets. They won't be able to drive with no money. But you can bike for free.

P.S. I stole the quote from Ferrari. He used it when referring to his racing car! ".....you have to know how to treat your car badly"

But it applies equally as well to MTB XC racing, only that I should treat my bike worse even - judging by my results

Personally, I think we should treat every car badly

Steele-Bike

I just heard about that study yesterday, too. Ironically, last week Iowa City banned smoking from all resturaunts. The city council said they were compelled to ban smoking for the safety of the workers and patrons.

So, if this is the case, Iowa City will be banning driving real soon.

Richard D

Richard

Richard D

Does anyone here use a mask?

How comfortable do you find it? How much does it restrict your breathing?

Richard

JonR

Well, then, Iowa City might just be the quieter more reasonable place I'm longing to move to!

LittleBigMan

This is more significant than many people realize, in fact, this whole thread is extremely pertinent. I heard exactly the same thing some 20 years ago! It was true then, too!!

Solutions (masks?) I've seen one guy in a mask while cycling. It may have been extremely smart, but it sure looked like World War III had started. (Maybe World War III HAS started, but it's not being fought with guns, but rather, with political action!) Ozone, a potent lung irritant, can scar lung tissue easily. Symptoms are bronchial irritation, coughing, and shortness of breath. Ozone has NO SMELL and is INVISIBLE.

My solution is simple: call the State of Georgia Environmental Protection Division (404) 362-4909. During ozone season, when temperatures and weather conditions are favorable for ozone to be produced from car exhaust, the EPD issues air quality forcasts
based on a standard "air pollution index." When ozone peaks, I am inside, not on my bike! I also learn how to avoid congested areas, or, "smog tunnels." There's more to wind direction than meets the eye!

Take courage! Even in the big city, it takes a little while for ozone to be formed in the hot sunny weather. Often, a commuting cyclist can avoid dangerous levels by getting home before 6:00 pm. or taking the bus on windless days. In the morning, ozone is usually almost completely gone, having dissipated by about 3:00 am., so the ride TO WORK is usually "a breeze." But ozone is odorless and colorless, so you HAVE TO INQUIRE TO KNOW THE TRUE LEVELS!

Anywhere in the United States, you should be able to get the pollution forcast for your city from the EPA website. DO IT when summer comes! You may avoid getting "exercise induced asthma"
(ya, that's a good name for it...how about, "tailpipe crud induced lung destruction." Don't blame it on people who exercise and are trying to get healthy!)

JonR

Amen. Isn't "exercise induced asthma" a subtle effort to put down exercise? "You know, if you'd stop running/cycling/jogging/walking and just stay indoors in front of the TV, or drive around in your car like normal healthy consumers, you folks wouldn't be getting sick!"

It reminds me of the effort defense attorneys make now and then to blame a woman for being sexually assaulted, because she was dressed attractively.

LittleBigMan

D*mn right! Or, "careful, exercise is bad for your health!"

Whew! So glad they warned me before I started down THAT deceptive path! Even more than that, I think people mistake
normality for a standard: if it's normal, it's a good thing. So today, C******e says, "Hey, Pete! Have you lost weight or something?" [concerned tone of voice that implies sickness or impending doom] I am not rude (except privately ) so I didn't say, "No, C******e, you are just way too fat, and so are all your friends. I'm the first healthy person you've seen this week."

MichaelW

When pollution is broadcast with the weather bulletin, it just makes it sound like a natural phenomena. There is bad pollution, rather than people are producing pollution.
More often it is just an indication of wind speed. The pollution gets produced every day, but some days, it just doesnt get dispersed.

I found that by taking side roads, tracks and trails around the city, I can avoid the worst concentrations most of the time, but there have been times I have been really nausious on calm summer days.

VegasCyclist

I guess it isn't hard to figure out pollution is bad for you, but it takes a study of half a million to figure out that the public needs to know about it (heh)

LittleBigMan, you have the right idea but the wrong word. Carbonmonoxide (part of the many gasses expelled from automobile exhaust) creats the smog seen over most cities... hmm kidna like Las Vegas

ozone is by defition - A colorless gas (O3) soluble in alkalis and cold water; a strong oxidizing agent; can be produced by electric discharge in oxygen or by the action of ultraviolet radiation on oxygen in the stratosphere (where it acts as a screen for ultraviolet radiation)

it is a highly unstable form of oxygen which is being destroyed by greenhouse gasses and such. anyhow it's not what is bad.

well that's it for the chemistry lesson for today hehe

Allister

That's pretty much what I thought. They had to study this? I guess the study did correlate it with the big C, as if this was the only health problem associated with pollution, and as if cancer were the only health issue we need to worry about. Sounds like another study from ISBO*, possibly with funding from PWTSOE**.

I really wonder what the purpose of this study was. Do people seriously think that major polluters are only going to do anything to change their ways if there's a so-called scietific study to back it up? Surely all anyone has to do, if they are uncertain of the effects of pollution, is to stick their face in front of the exhaust pipe of an idling vehicle for half an hour. If we need any more proof than that, then I despair for the state of society.



*Insitute for the Study of the Bleeding Obvious.
** People Who Trust Science Over Experience.

JonR

Allister, I already despair for the state of society and have for ages... I agree, what's the use of such a study? Sometimes I think they do them (1) because they have grant money they don't know what to do with; (2) in order to scare the public more than it's already scared.

There's plenty of the latter--gratuitous scaring of the public--carried out by media: for example, today there's a story about "dirty bombs" as a terrorist tool. Now what's the point of going on about that, something that nobody can do anything about, unless it's just to upset readers more than they're already upset by the thousand horrifying things in the news?

Weasel

I think they are just beginning to learn from the last mistake. The mistake which goes:

"I'm sueing everyone and his dog for $700, 000,000,000 because no one ever really told me that 80 cigarettes a day was going to f**k my life up! Now look at me, I have no lungs, legs or fingers and its all your fault - not mine!

I reckon this will happen en masse but with the resulting damage caused by car exhaust fumes. Perhaps they are starting now in order to cover their arses early. "But we warned you years ago, that by running and cycling or generally leading a healthy lifestyle - YOU were at fault and were going to catch 'exercise induced asthma' - so there!".

Be warned.

:confused:

JonR

Weasel, you got it nailed down!

Allister

True true. But what possible purpose could this serve?

<fires up the portion of the brain used to figure out society - the cynical cortex> It couldn't be that the media are just playthings of the government, and all the scaremongering is just a ruse to try and get us to put all our faith in the government, could it? The message is 'hey things are bad, but we the government will protect you.' when they have no real intention of actually doing that, they just want us to believe it.

God forbid that the Truth should get out: that 'hey things are bad, but you the people have everything you need to deal with it.' or maybe even the Absolute Truth: that 'hey, things may look bad, but in Truth, there is no good and bad, just stuff that happens. The ultimate reality is that everything is perfect and full of light and love and we only need to open our eyes to see it.' Now there's a headline I'd like to see.

In the meantime, after we've burned all the lawers and fed the advertising execs. to a pack of rabid hounds, we can put all those so-called 'journalists' on a leaky boat and send it into Indonesian waters.<cynical cotex -off>

JonR

I love it!

John E

I disagree. Carbon monoxide is odorless and colourless. It does not cause visible haze or eye- and lung-burning irritation, but it does endanger health by binding to hemoglobin in the bloodstream. (In the atmosphere, it does eventually oxidize to one of the greenhouse gases, CO2.)

Oxides of nitrogen and partially-burned hydrocarbons contribute to photochemical smog, of which ozone (O3), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2, the pungent brown stuff) are primary ingredients. Yes, O3 is unstable and highly reactive -- it also does alot of damage to living tissue as it gives up that extra oxygen atom. The other extremely significant air pollution component is particulate matter, which includes diesel soot as well as some of the sulfurous and nitrogenous end products of the photochemical reaction sequence. Acidic or oxidizing particulates are inhaled deep into the lungs, where they can be trapped to exert their damage. Sulfates and nitrates dissolve in water to create sulfuric and nitric acid, respectively. Nasty stuff!

Now the good news -- being physically fit and eating a diet rich in antioxidants will help protect one against the deleterious effects of photochemical smog.



John A. Eldon, D.Env.; "Statistical Oxidant-Precursor Relationships for the Los Angeles Region"; doctoral thesis, Environmental Science and Engineering program; UCLA; 1978; A temporal and spatial study of the relative effectiveness of hydrocarbon and oxides of nitrogen emission control strategies in NO2 and O3 control.

Oxymoron

Hi there,
I have been watching you all since last fall. You amused me (and provided me with good consumer info in the searches) so I decided to join. I have had a lot to say, just not the time to say it, so this is the first you have heard of me.
I also read that article about pollution in the cities. In the same week I also saw an article about how children who are active in outdoor sports are more likely to develope asthma, and another article about how 50% of men eventually get cancer. I always thought that biking would increase my long term health, but maybe not. I have respiratory problems already and come from a family with a history of cancer. I live in a city that, while not large, has bad coal pollution. Furthermore, I have found myself in a situation more than once where the car passing me put out so much exhaust my lungs actually locked up and I couldn't breath for a couple seconds. No one can tell me that 30 minutes of that every day isn't going to kill me. And mmmm, nothing like the taste of carbon monoxide still in your mouth ten minutes after you get off your bike. My only hope is that before I die a long, horrible death from asthma, emphazima and cancer, that I am instantly anihalated (hopefully painlessly) by a SUV. By the way, where's the spellcheck on this thing?

Allister

Ride lots, and drink red wine. Does it get any better?

JonR

The spellcheck became unavailable several months ago--I think they started charging for the service that was used--so we're on our own. I say, don't wurry abot speling. As long as the mening comes thru, thats whta counts.

LittleBigMan

VegasCyclist,

I appreciate you because of your concern about air pollution.

But ground-level ozone is not the same as upper-level atmospheric ozone, which is a good and natural thing, protecting us from UV radiation.

Ground-level ozone unnatural and toxic.



(P.S. Mr. John Eldon has stolen my fire... )

VegasCyclist

guess I should have looked first, I found a epa site on the net which shows that you're right. but it is the carbonmonoxide which creates the unnatural ozone... which they termed smog so I guess we're both right