Air pollution this week

alihisgreat

Is it something we should be worried about? Apparently its less than 1/10th of what they sometimes get in China?

.. and the weather is pretty fantastic so don't want to miss a day of training!

ugo.santalucia

Are you worried about going to a BBQ?

It's more likely to contribute to premature death

alihisgreat

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Are you worried about going to a BBQ?

It's more likely to contribute to premature death

I don't know if I'm worried. That's why I'm asking!

ugo.santalucia

It doesn't seem too bad to be honest... I think the flags are out for those who have respiratory problems... asthma etc... otherwise short term exposure to a higher than normal level of pollution shouldn't have long term effects

veronese68

We're all going to die eventually.
There are far more important things to worry about. Unless, as Ugo says, you have other issues this could effect.

wishitwasallflat

Each to their own of course and we all make our own decisions about risk but I wonder have any of you who say don't worry ever seen or touched lung tissue? It's amazingly delicate and complex stuff personally I wouldn't risk exposing mine to any dirt that I could avoid. Sounds like there is rain coming so at most its just a few days off the bike we are talking about here.

alihisgreat

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Each to their own of course and we all make our own decisions about risk but I wonder have any of you who say don't worry ever seen or touched lung tissue? It's amazingly delicate and complex stuff personally I wouldn't risk exposing mine to any dirt that I could avoid. Sounds like there is rain coming so at most its just a few days off the bike we are talking about here.

I wouldn't have been too bothered but I had an easy week last week, was away over the weekend etc. so need to get some decent miles in this week!

I went out for an hour and a bit. You could tell the air was horrible, wouldn't have wanted to go for a longer ride!

Mikey23

The advice for asthmatics was to avoid strenuous exercise... So phhht to that

Initialised

North East escapes due to our continuing depression.

ugo.santalucia

Initialised wrote:

North East escapes due to our continuing depression.

Admittedly Middlesborough and Hull are very depressing...

sbbefc

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Each to their own of course and we all make our own decisions about risk but I wonder have any of you who say don't worry ever seen or touched lung tissue? It's amazingly delicate and complex stuff personally I wouldn't risk exposing mine to any dirt that I could avoid. Sounds like there is rain coming so at most its just a few days off the bike we are talking about here.

People commute everyday in places like London, surly its only marginally worse than the exhaust fumes they breath in everyday?

I don't think its something to worry about.

k3vinjam3s

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Initialised wrote:

North East escapes due to our continuing depression.

Admittedly Middlesborough and Hull are very depressing...

I live in a neighbouring town to Middlesbrough in Teesside and wouldn't swap it for city living as a cyclist. Quiet country roads within minutes of my house, I have the Cleveland hills, north Yorkshire moors and if I don't feel like climbing can head west and have plenty of flat roads to get lost on.

As for this pollution, my eyes are sore from it but I do suffer from hay fever so might be the start of that.

Bozman

I was out today and it got worse the higher up I got, at one point there was a brown fog rolling over the hills and visibility dropped. I now have sore eyes and a cough which hopefully will disappear tomorrow.

bompington

Pretty fresh round here. As in 6°, howling easterly kind of fresh. And heavy rain forecast for tomorrow...

alihisgreat

bompington wrote:

Pretty fresh round here. As in 6°, howling easterly kind of fresh. And heavy rain forecast for tomorrow...

I'll take the Saharan dust :shock:

It was 18c here today, with a relatively light and warm wind.

Moonbiker

Was a fairly thick smog haze hanging over over Anglesey today, wasn't that nice to cycle through. Pretty sure it was the pollution/Sahara combo smog rather than more natural mist etc.

Moonbiker

Real time map

http://aqicn.org/map/europe/

metronome

Moonbiker wrote:

Real time map

http://aqicn.org/map/europe/

Thanks for this link, great website.

simona75

Moonbiker wrote:

Real time map

http://aqicn.org/map/europe/

Thats really good (check out some of the numbers in China)

I definitely felt it on my chest during my morning commute today

wishitwasallflat

sbbefc wrote:

wishitwasallflat wrote:

Each to their own of course and we all make our own decisions about risk but I wonder have any of you who say don't worry ever seen or touched lung tissue? It's amazingly delicate and complex stuff personally I wouldn't risk exposing mine to any dirt that I could avoid. Sounds like there is rain coming so at most its just a few days off the bike we are talking about here.

People commute everyday in places like London, surly its only marginally worse than the exhaust fumes they breath in everyday?

I don't think its something to worry about.

As I say each to their own; all I can say is that if I cycled in London I would wear a mask (I would invest in a good one not just a paper decorators thing from B&Q).

I reckon this must be worse than normal levels of city pollution due to weather conditions but the thing I find very strange is when they say the pollution from Europe and the sand are being blown up here to add to our own pollution. If there is wind to blow that stuff up here surely it must blow our own pollution away as well!

Also - for those who are talking about how thigns comapre to other places like China -my take on that is that the situaion elsewhere may be dreadful and much worse than ours but that doesn't mean our situaiton is good - it's just less bad. So if in China pollution shortens the mean life span by say ... 15 years maybe our pollution levels shortens average life span by 5! I once spent some time in New Dheli now that's a place I would never cycle under any circumstances.

fatsmoker

I could certainly feel it this morning. Lots more snot and phlegm than usual.

ThatBikeGuy

k3vinjam3s wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Initialised wrote:

North East escapes due to our continuing depression.

Admittedly Middlesborough and Hull are very depressing...

I live in a neighbouring town to Middlesbrough in Teesside and wouldn't swap it for city living as a cyclist. Quiet country roads within minutes of my house, I have the Cleveland hills, north Yorkshire moors and if I don't feel like climbing can head west and have plenty of flat roads to get lost on.

As for this pollution, my eyes are sore from it but I do suffer from hay fever so might be the start of that.

We aren't called smoggies for nothing!

wishitwasallflat

Its grim down south

gimpl

Live in Milton Keynes and it was horrible yesterday came back from an hour and a half ride and had really scratchy eyes (don't normally suffer) plus felt a bit off all afternoon. Was due to go our again this morning but canned it - the air even smelt different.