MostOfUsUnderestimateImpactOfAirPollutionRidingBikesTraffici

[MitchJi]

Hi,

This is a slightly modified version of a thread I started here:
TMC Forum: Model X: Ordering, Production, Delivery
The reason I started that thread is quite a few people are opting not to pay for the package that includes the Hepa Air Filtration System (HAFS), and I think when they make that decision they should be aware of the consequences. The reason I am posting it here is that the exposure from pedaling a bike is clearly much worse than from driving a car.

When I started compiling the information in this post I believed that the Hepa Air Filtration System (HAFS) is more important than most of you knew. After a few minutes of glancing at search I realized that I underestimated it's importance.

A little better explanation of the importance of the Hepa Air Filtration System:
On the (attached) slide from Elon's NX Launch Presentation, in Los Angeles the life expectancy is reduced by eight month's due to poor air quality. That implies that the main benefit of the Filtration System, for residents of LA, would be increased life expectancy. That also implies that people will be equally healthy, but on average live eight month's less. That is not true. I think that most of you will be surprised if you look at the excerpts and links below. Also look at either the screen shots of the first two pages of the attached pdf (PM_Health_Studies_Update_1014.pdf), or the actual pdf if you prefer.

Is it more important to you that you or your loved ones live a year or so longer, or is it more important to avoid cancer or alzheimer's (just two examples documented below)? Or to endure years of less than optimal health?
View attachment 3



It is a little bit hard for me to stop pasting more excellent excerpts, because if you just quickly glance at the results from the google links below there are a lot of alarming quotes and studies.

The following excerpt demonstrates the potential long-term effects of a temporary exposure (i.e. riding in a car).
http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/ocar/chap4.asp>

Corresponding evidence from epidemiological research includes one study of humans who were exposed to elevated ozone levels over several days. Lung function loss persisted for a week after exposure, which suggested to researchers that cell death and inflammatory reactions were involved, not just reflex airway constriction.

The most comprehensive study was performed on populations living in two different parts of the Los Angeles Basin. People living in the more polluted area had substantially worse lung function than when they were initially tested, and they showed a significantly more rapid deterioration of lung function over time.

I used Los Angeles for most of the examples because I think that the main source of polluted air in LA is from cars, and that the worst exposure would be while driving, which would be good for demonstrating the potential benefits of the system. But unfortunately, the earth is so polluted that the harmful impacts of polluted air are not restricted to a few urban hotspots.
Quoted from the attached pdf (AirQualityInRuralAreas.pdf):

Air quality in rural areas
In the past, air pollution meant smoke pollution and it was limited to the urban areas. Today, air pollution has become more subtle and recognizes no geographic or political boundaries. The air pollution is one of the present day health problems throughout the world.

http://www.sgvtribune.com/environment-and-nature/20150810/air-pollution-from-china-undermining-gains-in-california-western-states

Air pollution from China undermining gains in California, Western states
<snip>
In a manner of speaking, China is exporting its air pollution to the West Coast of America,” Verstraeten told the online publication phys.org.

About half of the pollutants in the midtroposphere reach the surface as ozone and affect the air people breathe, Neu said. Ground-level ozone causes shortness of breath, eye irritation and sore throats, and long exposure can prematurely age the lungs and cause lung disease, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and hundreds of studies done in Southern California.

Previous studies published in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Atmospheres in 2012 estimated Asian pollution accounts for about 20 percent of the total ozone pollution in the spring in the western states such as California, Oregon, Washington, Montana and Wyoming. Some scientists estimate Asian air pollution pushes Southern California above the 75 part per billion federal hourly ozone standard for about 53 percent of the recorded exceedances.
<snip>

http://www.nrdc.org/health/kids/ocar/chap4.asp

Another probable human carcinogen, emitted from motor vehicles, is 1,3 butadiene. The EPA estimates that mobile (car, truck, and bus) sources account for as much as half of all cancers attributed to outdoor sources of air toxics.[102] Non-road mobile sources (tractors and snowmobiles) emit air toxics as well.

Recent evidence suggests that diesel engine emissions are more dangerous than previously considered. Two recent government reviews, one by the EPA and the other by California, have found diesel exhaust to be carcinogenic. A draft qualitative and quantitative cancer assessment of diesel emissions conducted by the EPA reportedly concludes that such emissions are probable human carcinogens.[106] In March 1997, CalEPA issued a draft review of the health risks from diesel exhaust and found it carcinogenic.[107]

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4129915/

Abstract
Millions of children in polluted cities are showing detrimental brain effects. Urban children exhibit brain structural and volumetric abnormalities, systemic inflammation, olfactory, auditory, vestibular and cognitive deficits vs low-pollution controls. Neuroinflammation and blood-brain-barrier (BBB) breakdown target the olfactory bulb, prefrontal cortex and brainstem, but are diffusely present throughout the brain. Urban adolescent Apolipoprotein E4 carriers significantly accelerate Alzheimer pathology. Neurocognitive effects of air pollution are substantial, apparent across all populations, and potentially clinically relevant as early evidence of evolving neurodegenerative changes.
<snip>
Protecting children and teens from neural effects of air pollution should be of pressing importance for public health.

I believe most of you will be surprised if you run the following searches and glance at the results.
https://www.google.com/#q=los%20angeles%20air%20quality%20health%20effects

https://www.google.com/#q=los+angeles+air+quality+health+effects+cancer

https://www.google.com/?gfe_rd=ssl&ei=dAhmVqK6O-qD8QeftZDgDw#q=los+angeles+air+quality+health+effects+alzheimer%27s

 

[nutnspecial]

So if we can figure out hepa for cigarettes, we could be extra safe (and buzzed) while being outdoors? << humour attempt

Seriously though, very nice info set & thankyou. I wholeheartedly agree on the importance of air quality, but are the people outside most of the time supposed to wear maskes or live indoors instead? I'm hoping the rural studies at least show much cleaner air.

Maybe sickness/dying from a quickly irreversable polution situation would contribute to your offspring/future gens evolving to better cope?
^^ attempt at optimism

 

[markz]

You want cleaner air nutspecial, you have to go to South America, or maybe Australia.

Tangent: Is Australia like Canada, where it was a British colony at one time?
I just wonder if the travel regulations are lesser then USA. Americans are denied entry all the time into AUS.
Canadians are denied entry into USA all the time and vice-versa.
I remember something about how AUS likes working visa tourists under 26 or maybe it was 29. My brother did that for a year.

This is where I tie it all back together folks:
Australia would be awesome to travel to and visit. But so would South American.
For the cleaner air!

 

[Dauntless]

Regardless of where you go, air pollution is exported from China and shipped everywhere. No tariffs, no nothing.

 

[veloman]

I wear a respro mask most of the time on the roads. Most people would say that my area or routes are not that bad, but I rather be on the safe side. If I can smell it, then no good - that's my rule. The mask significantly cuts down on what I smell, so I think it works well.
I just hate sitting at a red light surrounded by dorsal trucks or poorly maintained old vehicles. Also depends on the wind. If there's no wind, that's the worst.

 

[MitchJi]

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/sifter/want-avoid-breathing-air-pollution-your-commute-slow-down-and-enjoy-ride

Want to avoid breathing in air pollution on your commute? Slow down and enjoy the ride
Oct. 31, 2016
<snip> (longer article in full posted below)

Or ride an E-Bike!

http://www.theprovince.com/news/local+news/riding+faster+while+commuting+increases+inhaled+pollutants/12324669/story.html

Active commuters beware: Pushing yourself hard while walking or biking on city streets can dramatically increase the amount of airborne pollutants you take in, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.

Cyclists who maintain speeds near 30 kmh may absorb three to four times the toxicants of a cyclist pedaling at a moderate 13 kmh, said lead author Alex Bigazzi, a transportation expert in the department of civil engineering.

Active commuters are exposed to a cocktail of pollutants, which includes carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), particulates and soot. But exerting yourself to minimize your time on the road — and presumably your exposure to toxic pollutants — is a losing strategy, said Bigazzi.

The researchers built a computer model of 10,000 people using census data to find the optimal speeds pedestrians and cyclists of different ages and sexes should maintain to reduce pollutant intake while enjoying the well-documented benefits of exercise.

“There is a trade-off between the time you spend traveling and how much air you take in,” he said. “The faster you move, the harder you breathe and the more pollution you could potentially inhale, but you also are exposed to traffic for a shorter period of time.”


“This analysis shows where the sweet spot is and it’s right in the middle,” he said. “You don’t want to go real slow and you don’t want to power through.”

The optimal speed for cyclists is around 13 kmh on a flat road, but maintaining speeds up to 20 kmh didn’t make a huge difference in pollutant intake.

“But when you get 10 kilometres per hour above your optimal speed it pretty quickly goes to two, three or four times the total pollution inhaled over a trip,” he said. “The highest risk is to people who are cycling for exercise on polluted streets.”

The optimal speed for adult walkers is around 4.5 kmh, but the best speed for children is closer to three kmh, because they have to exert themselves more to keep an adult pace.

“The same principle would apply to families cycling together,” Bigazzi said.

Runners take in about double the pollutants compared with walkers. The optimal speed for joggers is about 10 kmh.

“We don’t know whether the extra exercise is worth the risk, but there are certainly cardiovascular benefits from running,” he said.

The study, published in the International Journal of Sustainable Transportation, builds on Bigazzi’s earlier work, which found that exposure to airborne VOCs was 100 to 200-per-cent higher on high-traffic arterial routes and roads through industrial areas.

Blood levels of toxicants were 40 to 100-per-cent higher than normal in cyclists after riding just six to nine kilometres on heavily used urban streets. No difference in toxicant levels was detected in cyclists that used low-traffic streets.

“When I talk to cyclists, they are worried about air pollution and they want to know what they should do to reduce their pollution risk,” said Bigazzi. “This begins to answer that question.”

The next stage of the research will involve taking breath samples from walkers and cyclists using city streets to determine the levels of pollutants in their bodies after different levels of exertion.

 

[dogman dan]

Even a less than hepa rated filter in your car can be very nice. Any day on the freeway, the air is full of tiny particles of dirt and pulverized asphalt and rubber that is not cool to breathe a lot of.

Personally, I just like the way the filter in my Subaru cleans pollen out of the air I'm breathing when I drive.

 

[gogo]

I suppose e-bicyclists with tubed filtration masks would make quite the statement about who is inconveniencing who on the roads.

I found E-S while researching batteries to use for a powered mask for work. The maintenance crew was choosing not to fix the equipment where powdered blue pond dye was packaged and working that detail resulted in hacking up blue snot, even until the next morning. I quit after going blind for a few hours from methanol exposure at another station. I finally went across the street to a job at the hydraulics factory instead of subjecting myself to the hazards.