-__- Wrote:
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> neville Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Someone made a point about bikers endangering
> > themselves by greatly increased exposure to air
> > pollution. While logic seems to support that
> idea
> > with biker’s increased respiration in close
> > proximity to car exhausts, below are some links
> to
> > a few relevant but surprising studies. One is
> a
> > study of commuters in Australia that shows that
> of
> > all the modes of commuting transportation,
> > commuting by train seems to expose individuals
> to
> > the lowest levels of dangerous pollution,
> followed
> > by bicycles and walking, with cars being the
> > worst. The summary:
> >
> > “The highest pollutant levels for all four BTEX
> > (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene)
> > pollutants were found for car commuters. Train
> > commuters recorded the lowest pollutant levels
> for
> > all four BTEX pollutants and NO2, and these
> levels
> > were significantly lower than that for car
> > commuters. Commuting by bus recorded the
> highest
> > levels for NO2. Walking and cycling commuters
> had
> > significantly lower levels of exposure to
> benzene
> > compared with car commuters and significantly
> > lower levels of NO2 than bus commuters.”
> >
> >
>
http://www.bfa.asn.au/cms/uploads/resources/hpja_a
>
> > ir_pollution_exposure.pdf
> >
> > A 1998 European study likewise found that
> > pedestrians on sidewalks were the best off,
> > bicycle riders were similar to or better off
> than
> > vehicle occupants because they were typically
> in
> > the slightly better curbside air, bus and truck
> > cabins proved less polluted because of their
> air
> > intake differences, and occupants of cars had
> > highest exposure to pollution because they
> > travelled essentially in a tunnel of pollution
> and
> > “fresh air” input was anything but fresh.
> >
> >
http://www.eco-logica.co.uk/pdf/wtpp04.2.pdf
> >
> > So the upshot is biking or walking on nice
> paths
> > is best for your respiration, but even slight
> > separation from cars’ travel lanes appears to
> be
> > better for your pollutant intake than riding in
> a
> > car in traffic. If you look at the
> cost-benefit
> > of bicycling from an exercise perspective,
> though,
> > one British survey estimated that approximately
> 20
> > life-years are gained from the health benefits
> of
> > road bicycling for every life-year lost through
> > injury. (British Medical Association; Mayhew
> > Hillman, David Morgan (1992). Cycling: Towards
> > Health and Safety.)
>
>
> tl;dr
+1
I don't need to read all of that shit to know that cyclists still need to get the fuck out of the road.
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