Smog

[Queso]

when you are standing atop the mountains that surround the silicon valley, on a good bad day you can see the piss-tinted color of smog that just sits above millions of people.

i've heard (oh yes heard! but from where?) that living in san jose, ca, is like smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day (YUCK!) i've also heard it's like smoking a full pack!

obviously just breathing isn't anything like smoking a cigarette...

the polution and mutated disgust that we swim in has to be bad for us, but HOW bad? is it really as bad as cigarettes?

if so, well..i must leave this valley.

[freeztar]

when you are standing atop the mountains that surround the silicon valley, on a good bad day you can see the piss-tinted color of smog that just sits above millions of people.

i've heard (oh yes heard! but from where?) that living in san jose, ca, is like smoking half a pack of cigarettes a day (YUCK!) i've also heard it's like smoking a full pack!

obviously just breathing isn't anything like smoking a cigarette...

the polution and mutated disgust that we swim in has to be bad for us, but HOW bad? is it really as bad as cigarettes?

if so, well..i must leave this valley.

 

I wouldn't think of it in terms of smoking cigarettes. There are different chemicals involved (although some, such as CO are found in both). I live in Atlanta, so I feel your concern, but at the same time, I've never coughed from breathing in the air here, even in traffic. Another way to think of it is by looking at the buildings in LA. The older ones have a yellow tinge to them. But that's after 20 some years of being exposed. Look at a smoker's lungs after 20 years and there is a big difference. Not exactly apples to apples, but you get the point.

 

I think a bigger concern is the effects of the smog on the atmospheric air and rain.

[CraigD]

Some years ago, shortly after moving to a new apartment that put my bicycle commute onto a different, heavily trafficked road, I developed a persistent cough, and was diagnosed with “environmentally induced asthma”. A pull on my bronchodilator “puffer” before and after my ride completely cleared up my cough. When I moved again, and changed roads, both my cough and the need for a puffer went away.

 

At the same time my cough appeared, I noticed a grey-brown color in the water when I wash my hair. I set some of the water aside, and after it evaporated, found that it left a slick, nearly clear film that looked and felt just like diesel fuel (kerosein)

 

A section of the road I was riding had a traffic light on a fairly steep uphill grade, and was frequently clogged with big trucks. My guess is that they were belching unburned fuel, coating my unfortunate hair, skin, and lungs.

 

Seems that internal combustion can create different kinds of nastiness, depending on a variety of factors.

[HydrogenBond]

The lungs are very effecient when one inhales a cigarette. The second hand smoke due to human cigarrette exhaust is nothing compared to auto and truck exhaust. The smoldering cigarette in the ashtray is a different thing, since the smoke was not filtered by the lungs. We need to take out the KNO3 that keeps cigarettes burning.

[Turtle]

As a fire prevention measure, many cigarettes now have additives so they go out in an ashtray if not smoked regularly. Some areas require them by law. I think I get them sometimes, but I don't know our law here on it. :confused:

[UncleAl]

Brown smog is NOx. Your sinuses continuously produce a few ppm as a bacteriostat and bronchiodilator. Trace NOx causes desert seeds to sprout when wetted. A few ppm of NOx in air is probably good for you.

[Queso]

A few ppm of NOx in air is probably good for you.

interesting...

it just seems extremely disgusting. SEEMS!

[Boerseun]

Vehicle exhaust (which makes up the biggest share of smog) contains carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is poisonous in that it lowers the oxygen-carrying capacity of red blood cells, and is the primary reason you die when gassing yourself in your car. That fact in itself should prove how bad smog is for you.

[Queso]

oi :hihi:

[Turtle]

Technically, 'smog' is a mixture of smoke & fog; fog is a low laying (lieing?) cloud. No cloud, no fog, no smog. What cha got with no clouds is just smoke. :hihi:

:cup:

[Queso]

Technically, 'smog' is a mixture of smoke & fog; fog is a low laying (lieing?) cloud. No cloud, no fog, no smog. What cha got with no clouds is just smoke. :hihi:

:cup:

heh, damn. never looked at it that way.