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Has there been any long-term research done on the health effects of particulate pollution? I was in Beijing last winter when the air pollution was nearing reco
by jliechti1 13y ago
Has there been any long-term research done on the health effects of particulate pollution?
I was in Beijing last winter when the air pollution was nearing record highs, and every time I blew my nose after returning from being outside, it would be full of black mucus. That has to be a wakeup call.
In addition, when I returned to the states (Chicago), even the air around O'Hare Airport - probably one of the more polluted areas in the city - felt so clean to me!
- ddeck 13y ago>Has there been any long-term research done on the health effects of particulate pollution? Yes. The 2013 WHO report "Health Effects of Particulate Matter" [1] provides a reasonable summary. Primary long term impacts are increased mortality from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases and from lung cancer. Recent findings indicate no real safe level, with increased mortality observed at even very low levels (as seen in "clean" developed cities). [1] http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/189051/Health-effects-of-particulate-matter-final-Eng.pdf http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/189051/H...
- iaskwhy 13y agoI usually get my fair bit of black mucus in Central London. Not sure what that means but some places don't smell that good. For example, Queen's Gate road in Kensington has a very strong smell of gas.
- vinceguidry 13y agoThat's your nose doing its job. The whole point of the nasal passages and mucus is to filter the air, the good thing about this filter is that it's easy to replace.
- iaskwhy 13y agoOh, I know that! What I'm not sure of is whether the black mucus happens because of pollution or something else.
- vinceguidry 13y agoIt's just dirty. All the particulates it's stopping is going right into the mucus.