i was naive when i thought the problem with air pollution is that it affects only the lungs - aggravating asthma, causing breathing difficulties or even lung cancer (read here). now, a new German study has shown a link (read here) with early dementia, & in new zealand, it seems that more people died from emission fumes than from motor vehicle accidents. (read here)
what prompted me to write this is that recently i read in someone's blog where he posted a picture of the view from his condo & it was obvious the condo was located just next to a major highway. others who may be affected by the pollution from motor vehicle fumes include highway, car park & petrol station workers.
unfortunately, for most of us, we don't have much choice to the place of work or stay. most times, the job pays well or the dwelling is affordable, or it's just a matter of convenience.
what can we do if we are constantly exposed to exhaust fumes? well, nothing much, short of changing jobs or shifting out. using face masks daily at work is not practical & ineffective, & leaving the air-con on for long hours at home is expensive, not to mention also environmentally unfriendly. the only other option for damage control would therefore to maintain an otherwise healthy lifestyle, eg. balanced diet, enough sleep & regular exercise away from those fumes!!
(sigh!) the bane of city living.
8 comments:
Hope the invention of no fumes vehicle will come out soon^^
indoor air is as bad as outdoor, my late sis-in-law was indoor type person with everything closed up most days, being married to a heavy smoker who smoke outside the condo and yet she was diagnosed with non smoker lung cancer.
and yet there are people who are heavy smoker & drinker who are still kicking at 70 plus with no serious illness whatsoever.
life sucks sometimes being paranoid about health nowadays is just not worth it.
missyc
Kelvin,
the pure electric car is being developed by Chevrolet & Honda in the US. Proton also has a JV with Detroit Electric to develop it.
alternatively, switch to NGV engines.
Missyc,
yes, life does seem unfair at times. that people who smoke & drink still live to a hearty age suggests that we still do not know the real reason why some people suffer while others don't.
as you might know, secondary smokers may be worse off than the smokers because the smoke inhaled by the smoker has been filtered, trapping tar & nicotine, while secondary smokers inhale the whole works.
Ya...I can't understand those yuppies hanging out at expensive sidewalk cafes at Bintang Walk in KL...with the perpetual jam of cars alonng the road emitting poisionous fumes for them to inhale. I really wonder about the sensibility of this modern-day pastime...
STP,
looking at the other side of the coin, the franchisees of the designer coffee chains must have had enough foresight to gamble on the youngsters fancy for premium coffee than concern over their health.
it will be a looooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooong time before malaysians will come to their senses that driving is killing.
i live next to a highway...
Zewt,
maybe it was because of you that i posted this.
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