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The Wikipedia article claims air pollution from living in New York or Boston is 30 times worse than the risk from living with a smoker, though that was in 1979.
by SatvikBeri 13y ago
The Wikipedia article claims air pollution from living in New York or Boston is 30 times worse than the risk from living with a smoker, though that was in 1979. Presumably air pollution has become much less severe since then. Does anyone know the figure today?
- tankenmate 13y agoIndeed, the EPA has steadily increased the stringency of particulate matter (PM) standards over the years (these have an impact on car/engine design and fuel (sulphur and nitrogen content)); you can find more information here: http://www.epa.gov/pm/ http://www.epa.gov/pm/
- bodyfour 13y agoThese days people vastly overestimate the risk of second-hand smoke. Based on the numbers in this article living with a smoker is equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes every two years. i.e. not much. Second-hand smoke does have some health consequences -- for instance poor air quality is strongly linked to childhood asthma. It's also certainly considered a nuisance by most people. Anyway, I'm not surprised at all that living in a polluted city would expose you to far more danger than a smoker at home. 30x sounds fairly reasonable.