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Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

cuimc.columbia.edu

111–120 of 150 posts

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually it doesn’t have to be A/C. If you have central air then you have a HEPA filter so just run the system’s fan.

Yes, I have no problems with the particulates, it's the temperature that's the problem with the windows closed.

One option is filtering the air immediately before you breathe it in. The active airflow can greatly mitigate common comfort issues with traditional masking.

It also gives you some protection outside, which is nice.

https://www.amazon.com/BROAD-Rechargeable-Electrical-Purifyi...

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#112
post #109
post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but they still sell plastic garbage bags You ever tried to put the drippy nasty stuff in a paper trash bag?

I agree completely with the point here, but why are you buying drippy nasty stuff?

I was talking about leftover foodstuffs :)

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#113
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a tangentially related note, it confuses me why so many people seem to think that the only reason to do away with fossil fuels as much as possible is climate change. Millions die prematurely from air pollution every year. Even if climate change was fake we should still be trying to use cleaner energy.

"What if it's a big hoax and we create a better world for nothing?" https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_if_it%27s_a_big_hoax_an...

That's not a great argument.

There are limited resources. If we spend on X, it means we don't spend on Y.

If it turns out Y is the bigger problem? Well, we missed a massive opportunity to make the world even better.

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The other problem is, the EPA isn't also all sunshine and rainbows https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/09/us/colorado-epa-mine-river-sp...

To be clear - in that example, a river was polluted by waste that a negligent private company had gathered for decades and then abandoned in an uncapped gold mine -- the EPA was only involved because they were cleaning up what was already a nightmare of pollution. The spill which accidentally released 100k tons of acidic water mixed with mining tails into the river was proceeded by the owners of that mine intentional…

The EPA screwed up and basically instead of the acidic water slowly leaking out they caused it burst open and dump all of it in the span of days. There is no disputing that fact.

But interesting, the mine wasn't polluted in the sense of the company dumped chemicals. The mining process simply exposed rock that when it reacts with water, turns acidic. It's a natural process that is simply amplified by the mining process.

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#116
post #2

Anecdotally, moving from India to North America really helped my health. I know this study is about long term effects but I believe even short term , it’s quite noticeable. It’s why I find it perplexing why so many people in the US want to do away with EPA regulations. Not only was pollution rampant in many Americans lifetimes, it’s completely observable how bad pollution is elsewhere in the world for people.

> so many people in the US want to do away with EPA regulations

why do you say that?

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#117
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a tangentially related note, it confuses me why so many people seem to think that the only reason to do away with fossil fuels as much as possible is climate change. Millions die prematurely from air pollution every year. Even if climate change was fake we should still be trying to use cleaner energy.

There was a reply to this comment, now deleted, which said " Should have cars add something to exhaust so humans can see/smell it--even if just for demo purposes. Might help people to understand. " And I wanted to reply to that to say that we did used to be able to see exhaust fumes, and things were added so that we can't see them. I have often thought that "the school run" would be different if everyone could see th…

Radiation from coal is probably not a problem: "These studies concluded that the maximum radiation dose to an individual living within 1 km of a modern power plant is equivalent to a minor, perhaps 1 to 5 percent, increase above the radiation from the natural environment"

https://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/1997/fs163-97/FS-163-97.html

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Factories have done unmeasurable damage to our ecosystem, that is unequivocable. But we had to rename it climate change because people couldn't get over the phrase global warming whenever it was cold so I don't see "Reduce Pollution!" as a winning slogan. People who care, care about the underlying concept no matter what it's called. People who don't care don't believe it's a problem in the first place and won't do an…

Well, I disagree with the cynicism (as I believe people are caring more & more) but my bad on misinterpreting.

but thank you for sticking up for planet Earth!

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#119
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If by “people” you mean “Americans”, they buy F-150s to go to the grocery store, and they vote out governments that threaten their ability to do so. Taxing pollution, particularly consumer-facing taxes, has a long history of political failure, whereas subsidising clean technology has a long history of political and technical success.

*F-250

Saw an F-450 the other day... granted, it was at the gun range, but I was there in my compact hatchback and it had not a spec of dust on it.

Re: Decades of air pollution undermine the immune system

#120
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On a tangentially related note, it confuses me why so many people seem to think that the only reason to do away with fossil fuels as much as possible is climate change. Millions die prematurely from air pollution every year. Even if climate change was fake we should still be trying to use cleaner energy.

As a bike riding hippie in the age of video meetings and streaming, explain to me why the world elite need to fly all over the world in private jets to discuss climate change? Can you tell me why my grocery store stopped giving out free plastic bags by charging for them, and now phasing them out for paper, but they still sell plastic garbage bags and I can't reuse the grocery store bag for my garbage bag now? Can you…

Shipping is https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shipping-environment-imo-...
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