6 ms·

A comparison would be nice. The smoke can be awful, no doubt - but is it worse for a person's health than living near a busy road or highway? That is 24x7, and

A comparison would be nice. The smoke can be awful, no doubt - but is it worse for a person's health than living near a busy road or highway? That is 24x7, and cumulative over many years.

wonder_er 4y ago
I am curious to know this comparison as well. I moved across town two years ago, into an expensive house (it's not a nice house, just an expensive house) that's directly adjacent to a road with lots of traffic, and I think every day about air quality now. I also started riding a motor scooter around Denver (and across the country to British Columbia, then to Seattle, and back) and I wonder about protecting myself from road pollution while riding, especially in rush hour in cities. I wonder if an n95 would improve things for me, and I wonder how much damage I'm doing to myself by breathing vehicle pollution (emissions, brake dust, tire rubber micro-plastics), eg: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyres-produce-more-particle-pollution-than-exhausts-tests-show https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyre... I'm 33, I'm already resigned to not-great long-term health outcomes based on environmental contaminants in food and the air. I avoid most meat (that gets me out of the factory farmed meat harm universe) and avoid most processed food, and am generally "healthy and active", but I despair of the world, for many reasons. Ugggghhhhhhhh.
- landemva 4y ago
  Denver geography traps bad air into the occasional brown cloud. Get higher.
- bombcar 4y ago
  Get some N95s and wear them for a few days, then look at how dirty they are. Unscientific, but it'll tell you a bit. Much of emissions may not be caught, but those are relatively "clean" now, brake dust and tire rubber falls to the ground relatively quickly (unless it's being kicked back up by the vehicles). You can get various air quality meters, too.
- thegjp210 4y ago
  I'm sincerely curious as to what long-term health outcomes you ascribe to environmental contaminants in the food and air. Could you elaborate?
  - manmal 4y ago
    There was an article here on HN recently that linked air pollution to cancer via inflammation.
jejeyyy77 4y ago
Would love to see this comparison too. I rented a 30th floor apartment literally next to a major highway once. My Dyson Purifier never reported anything though.
clsec 4y ago
I would think so. I've lived right next to the Bay Bridge on 2nd St in SF and the amount of soot on my window sills and just inside my windows was a constant chore to clean up. At one point I found a map that stated I lived in the worst place for pollution in SF. I'm much happier now on the west side of the City. Here's a different SF map showing where most of the exhaust is (PDF): https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/ehsdocs/airquality/airpollutantexposurezonemap.pdf https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/ehsdocs/airquality/airpollut...
- planetsprite 4y ago
  Here's a more detailed map which shows the actual levels for each part of the city in PM2.5 https://s.hdnux.com/photos/65/37/61/14023807/10/1200x0.jpg https://s.hdnux.com/photos/65/37/61/14023807/10/1200x0.jpg
stinos 4y ago
living near a busy road or highway? Or, to stay in the same realm as wildfire smoke, living in a place where lots of wood stoves without filter? According to numbers I once saw seen in 'typical' small villages with no heavy industry, pollution from that is the biggest contributer, more than traffic and farming combined. Not 24x7 though.

A comparison would be nice. The smoke can be awful, no doubt - but is it worse for a person's health than living near a busy road or highway? That is 24x7, and cumulative over many years.

wonder_er 4y ago

I am curious to know this comparison as well. I moved across town two years ago, into an expensive house (it's not a nice house, just an expensive house) that's directly adjacent to a road with lots of traffic, and I think every day about air quality now. I also started riding a motor scooter around Denver (and across the country to British Columbia, then to Seattle, and back) and I wonder about protecting myself from road pollution while riding, especially in rush hour in cities. I wonder if an n95 would improve things for me, and I wonder how much damage I'm doing to myself by breathing vehicle pollution (emissions, brake dust, tire rubber micro-plastics), eg: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyres-produce-more-particle-pollution-than-exhausts-tests-show https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/jun/03/car-tyre... I'm 33, I'm already resigned to not-great long-term health outcomes based on environmental contaminants in food and the air. I avoid most meat (that gets me out of the factory farmed meat harm universe) and avoid most processed food, and am generally "healthy and active", but I despair of the world, for many reasons. Ugggghhhhhhhh.

landemva 4y ago
Denver geography traps bad air into the occasional brown cloud. Get higher.
bombcar 4y ago
Get some N95s and wear them for a few days, then look at how dirty they are. Unscientific, but it'll tell you a bit. Much of emissions may not be caught, but those are relatively "clean" now, brake dust and tire rubber falls to the ground relatively quickly (unless it's being kicked back up by the vehicles). You can get various air quality meters, too.
thegjp210 4y ago
I'm sincerely curious as to what long-term health outcomes you ascribe to environmental contaminants in the food and air. Could you elaborate?
- manmal 4y ago
  There was an article here on HN recently that linked air pollution to cancer via inflammation.

jejeyyy77 4y ago

Would love to see this comparison too. I rented a 30th floor apartment literally next to a major highway once. My Dyson Purifier never reported anything though.

clsec 4y ago

I would think so. I've lived right next to the Bay Bridge on 2nd St in SF and the amount of soot on my window sills and just inside my windows was a constant chore to clean up. At one point I found a map that stated I lived in the worst place for pollution in SF. I'm much happier now on the west side of the City. Here's a different SF map showing where most of the exhaust is (PDF): https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/ehsdocs/airquality/airpollutantexposurezonemap.pdf https://www.sfdph.org/dph/files/ehsdocs/airquality/airpollut...

planetsprite 4y ago
Here's a more detailed map which shows the actual levels for each part of the city in PM2.5 https://s.hdnux.com/photos/65/37/61/14023807/10/1200x0.jpg https://s.hdnux.com/photos/65/37/61/14023807/10/1200x0.jpg

stinos 4y ago

living near a busy road or highway? Or, to stay in the same realm as wildfire smoke, living in a place where lots of wood stoves without filter? According to numbers I once saw seen in 'typical' small villages with no heavy industry, pollution from that is the biggest contributer, more than traffic and farming combined. Not 24x7 though.