3 ms·

> I now really notice the diesel smell and the fumes in central London. Completely agree, the noise is pretty bad, that said you can tune it out or sound insul

by leonroy 10y ago

> I now really notice the diesel smell and the fumes in central London. Completely agree, the noise is pretty bad, that said you can tune it out or sound insulate your home. I find the fumes from traffic the real pain point of city living. From what I understand ozone and particles with sizes of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) are a key part of it and are damaging to our bodies. Some of these particles are small enough to cross the air/blood barrier in our lungs and disrupt cell function. At a minimum you'll have increased inflammation of the respiratory passages which makes things like pollen and pet allergies wrose. I'd recommend anyone living in a city to invest in a good air purifier from BlueAir or IQAir (if you can afford it). It's amazing how bad particulate counts (which inflame our respiratory passages) get on certain days of the year. Few great sites to track pollution in your area are: London specific: http://www.londonair.org.uk http://www.londonair.org.uk International: http://aqicn.org/city/london/ http://aqicn.org/city/london/

patrickk 10y ago
When I flew into Heathrow last year, I was amazed by how visible the pollution was- over central London, there were no clouds (there were clouds around the outskirts) but this vague, blue haze was quite noticeable. Although compared to Shanghai, London is really clean, if you live in Shanghai you keep your windows permanently shut and run an air purifier 24/7: http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/ http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/ > I'd recommend anyone living in a city to invest in a good air purifier from BlueAir or IQAir (if you can afford it). Another, more environmentally friendly option: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmn7tjSNyAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmn7tjSNyAA Also basil plants are a natural mosquito repellent, might not be an issue in the UK though.
- leonroy 10y ago
  Good info. I have a Peace Lily in pretty much every room except the kids which has an Areca Palm (non-toxic). They do sod all for my pollen allergies - only an air purifier has brought it under control (anti-histamine free now). One thing which did dismay me is just how baffled IQAir/BlueAir were when I asked if I can recycle the filter media or if they are biodegradeable. If you are in China checkout SmartAir, clever startup which is blowing up the air purifier market (in a good way): http://smartairfilters.com/en/ http://smartairfilters.com/en/

by leonroy 10y ago

patrickk 10y ago

When I flew into Heathrow last year, I was amazed by how visible the pollution was- over central London, there were no clouds (there were clouds around the outskirts) but this vague, blue haze was quite noticeable. Although compared to Shanghai, London is really clean, if you live in Shanghai you keep your windows permanently shut and run an air purifier 24/7: http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/ http://aqicn.org/city/shanghai/ > I'd recommend anyone living in a city to invest in a good air purifier from BlueAir or IQAir (if you can afford it). Another, more environmentally friendly option: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmn7tjSNyAA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmn7tjSNyAA Also basil plants are a natural mosquito repellent, might not be an issue in the UK though.

leonroy 10y ago
Good info. I have a Peace Lily in pretty much every room except the kids which has an Areca Palm (non-toxic). They do sod all for my pollen allergies - only an air purifier has brought it under control (anti-histamine free now). One thing which did dismay me is just how baffled IQAir/BlueAir were when I asked if I can recycle the filter media or if they are biodegradeable. If you are in China checkout SmartAir, clever startup which is blowing up the air purifier market (in a good way): http://smartairfilters.com/en/ http://smartairfilters.com/en/