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Air pollution worse for drivers than cyclists on same Bath road

Car’s air intakes are generally at the level of the exhaust pipe of the car in front

Recent research, reported as part of the BBC's So I Can Breathe series, has found that exposure to fine particulate matter on Bath’s London Road is greater for a taxi driver than for a cyclist. The full report is currently available on the iPlayer.

For ten days, a cyclist and a taxi driver were asked to carry air quality monitors while travelling around the city.

While high nitrogen dioxide levels were experienced by the cyclist, levels of small particulate matter from diesel fumes – associated with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions – were consistently higher for the taxi driver.

During one journey, the pollution in the taxi was as high as in Beijing.

For six of the ten days, the taxi driver involved in the experiment was exposed to pollution in excess of World Health Organisation’s (WHO) recommended limits. In contrast, the cyclist’s exposure always remained below.

Professor Gavin Shaddick of the University of Bath explained: “Being in a car is not like being in a sealed box.

“Winding up your windows may give you the perception that the air isn’t coming through the windows and that you might have reduced your exposure to air pollution, but the intakes for the car’s air system are at the front of the car. And the problem is, they’re generally at the level of the exhaust pipe of the car in front of you.”

He added: "The advantages of cycling, of course, are that you are getting health benefits from actually having exercise and it’s been shown that that would outweigh the harm that would be caused by breathing in bad air.”

Last year scientists at the University of Cambridge and the University of East Anglia modelled the risks and benefits of walking and cycling in varying levels of air pollution around the world. They found that only in the worst one per cent of polluted cities would the ill effects of poor air quality outweigh the benefits of exercise.

The exception was bike messengers where the health benefits of cycling could be cancelled out by the long periods spent in areas of poor air quality.

Also last year, a team of 50 cycle couriers from London same-day courier service Gophr were equipped with carbon monoxide monitors to map the capital's pollution. The project, run by former Labour minister Paul Drayson's firm Drayson Technologies, aims to create "the world's most advanced air pollution map".

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13 comments

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RMurphy195 | 7 years ago
1 like

Looking at the ventilation inlet on many of the cars I have owned, it does often sit behind or to one side of the radiator. Moreover with the fan on, its actively sucking in the fumes from an exhaust pipe which may be only a very short istance away from it. One of te reasons why I leave lots of room in front when stuck in traffic.

I was almost gassed, howver, by a truck at the side of me in a traffic jam. I was in a sports car, his exhaust went crossways under his front bumper - about level with my ear! When he revved up, black sooty smoke went into my window, across the car, and (mostly) out of the passenger window while I was desperatley trying to close the windows!

Avatar
burtthebike | 7 years ago
2 likes

One of the biggest problems is that the media wilfully ignore one of the biggest answers to the pollution from vehicles problem: Active Travel, cycling and walking, with the BBC to the fore as always with anything to do with utility cycling.

The BBC article quoted at the start is typical "Is there a way to tackle air pollution?" http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39132679 with only two solutions offered: making the engines cleaner and scrapping the most polluting vehicles, no mention of the much more efficient and effective transfer of short, more polluting trips to walking and cycling.

BBC R4, to which I listen frequently, has been featuring air pollution from vehicles a great deal over the past three weeks, but how many times have they mentioned Active Travel?  I'll give you a clue; it's a round number, very round.

And when I say "wilfully ignore" I mean deliberately, knowingly ignoring Active Travel.  I have sent R4 news programmes quite a few messages over the past few weeks pointing out that they are ignoring one of the biggest solutions to this problem, but the response has been to carry on ignoring it.

We need the media to recognise that Active Travel is a large part of the solution to motor vehicle pollution, but what to do when they won't listen?

Avatar
cyclisto | 7 years ago
1 like

Well the problem is that a cyclist will inhale maybe twice the air volume a driver is breathing.

The environmental crime of keep selling diesel cars that most of their mileage is urban, must stop. Otherwise many of us will pay the cost that diesel cars are supposed to reduce

Avatar
Rich_cb replied to cyclisto | 7 years ago
0 likes
cyclisto wrote:

Well the problem is that a cyclist will inhale maybe twice the air volume a driver is breathing.

The environmental crime of keep selling diesel cars that most of their mileage is urban, must stop. Otherwise many of us will pay the cost that diesel cars are supposed to reduce

It depends how long you're on the road for.

If you're breathing twice as fast as a driver but only spend a quarter of the time on the road you'll only breathe in half the pollution.

Also once the car leaves the polluted road there is still pollution trapped inside it.

Whereas on the bike once you're out of the high pollution area your exposure drops instantly.

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HLaB | 7 years ago
0 likes

Is that not a rehash on old research  7

 

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Mystery Machine | 7 years ago
4 likes

Suck it up, you cager twats.

Problem is, the bastards will probably try to sort matters out by improving filters on the air intakes, rather than cleaning up the exhaust or (heaven forbid!) stop driving.

That's the kind of selfish mentality you get with drivers.

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kitsunegari | 7 years ago
3 likes

It beggars belief that we're still stuck with the attitude that car is king. How much more evidence does our stupid government need that road traffic is killing us?

Mean while the governement races to bribe Nissan to stay in the country, and with who knows what the fallout will be from the recent announcement from PSA that they'll be closing some factories they are yet again focusing on areas of industry that need to die.

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Paul_C | 7 years ago
1 like

even worse if you get stuck behind any Diesel that belches smoke when pulling away...

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Rod Marton | 7 years ago
1 like

Obviously the solution to this is for cars to be sealed and carry their own air supply.

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tritecommentbot replied to Rod Marton | 7 years ago
6 likes

Rod Marton wrote:

Obviously the solution to this is for cars to be sealed and carry their own air supply.

 

Circulating from their own exhaust pipe.

 

Pretty sure manufacturers would get their act together on emissions then.

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Bikebikebike replied to Rod Marton | 7 years ago
3 likes

Rod Marton wrote:

Obviously the solution to this is for cars to be sealed and carry their own air supply.

Or just sealed.  Would quickly solve a lot of problems.

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LarryDavidJr | 7 years ago
5 likes

Cyclists were, however more affected by higher levels of airborne SMIDSY particles.

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davel | 7 years ago
10 likes

Something might get done now there's proof it affects drivers.

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