Have you
ever thought about the dangers of living in a big city with a lot of traffic
and exhaust fumes? Researchers from the University of California, Los Angeles
School of Public Health say preliminary results of their statistical study of
children listed in the California Cancer Registry born between 1998 and 2007
found that traffic pollution may be associated with a 5% to 15% increase in the
likelihood of some
cancer. A World Health Organization study also found that
diesel fumes cause an increase in lung cancer.
Exhaust gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such
as natural gas, gasoline, diesel fuel, or coal.
A significant
percentage of this gas consists of nitrogen (N2), water vapor (H2O)
(except with pure-carbon fuels), and carbon dioxide (CO2) (except
for fuels without carbon); these are not toxic or noxious (although carbon
dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming).
A relatively
small part is however toxic, and consists of substances, such as carbon
monoxide (CO) from incomplete combustion, hydrocarbons from unburnt fuel, nitrogen
oxides from excessive combustion temperatures, and particulate matter (mostly soot).
Motor
vehicle emissions contribute to air pollution and result in the creation of smog
(a type of air pollutant) in some large cities.
A 2013 study
by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of
Technology) indicates that 53,000 early deaths occur per year in the
United States alone because of vehicle emissions. According to another study
from the same university, traffic fumes alone cause the death of 5,000 people
every year just in the United Kingdom.
A major study has
linked even 'safe' levels of this air pollution to a raised risk of angina and
heart attacks (blood supply to heart muscles are reduced in both cases).
The seven-year
study was published in the British Medical Journal. It followed the health of
100,000 people with no history of heart disease for an average of 11 and a half
years living in Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Italy.
The researchers
found a greater risk of heart disease and angina even when levels of
particulate pollution were lower than the supposedly safe limit set by the EU.
Particulate matter readings can vary widely, but are generally highest by busy
main roads.
Trees are
nature's answer to diminishing air pollution, as well as reducing respiratory
problems for the human population, according to US Forest Service scientists.
Trees urban forests help to
improve our air quality. Heat from the earth is trapped in the atmosphere due
to high levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other heat-trapping gases that
prohibit it from releasing the heat into space. This creates a phenomenon known
today as the “greenhouse effect.” Therefore, trees help by removing
(sequestering) CO2 from the atmosphere during photosynthesis to form
carbohydrates that are used in plant structure/function and return oxygen back
into the atmosphere as a by product. Roughly half of the greenhouse effect is
caused by CO2.
Help protect your health; plant a tree
and do not cut down trees indiscriminately; they are the only air filters we
have. The cars in the picture are even too much for those trees (lol).
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