When I was in Edinburgh I attended an event related to electrification of cab fleets. I discovered that aggressive UK air quality standards were one of the core reasons for the shift and have since started to notice that air quality concerns are one of the chief motivators of shifts towards active mobility, transit and pedestrianization in cities like Oslo and Paris. I read article after article that includes at least an offhand reference to this, if not giving it priority billing.
We’ve been hearing about how air quality is better as people drive less during covid — whether the data supports this is not something I know. It’s bringing this issue to the attention of many for the first time.
In our day to day lives we inhale a lot of toxins from car exhaust and I think our places would be better if we didn’t let that happen. Knowing just what all those fine particles are doing to you isn’t great.
A recent Sierra Club report looks at gas stoves and indoor air quality in California and finds that pollutants including carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, and formaldehyde are present in many homes, especially apartment with gas appliances. Many of these are also present in outdoor air pollution. For example
Inhaling NO2 is extremely dangerous, especially for the elderly, who are more susceptible to lung disease, and children. Children exposed to elevated levels of NO2 are more susceptible to lung infections and allergies, and are at increased risk of lowered IQ, learning deficits, and asthma. In fact, a 2013 study found that children who grow up in a home with a gas stove are 42 percent more likely to develop asthma than those who don’t. But it’s not just kids who are at risk -- across all age groups, breathing in elevated levels of NO2 inflames the lining of the lungs and can cause wheezing, coughing, colds, flu, and bronchitis
Indoor and outdoor air quality issues also make us less resilient
Air pollution from gas-fired furnaces, water heaters, and stoves increases rates of respiratory illness, cardiovascular diseases, and premature death. Pollution from gas appliances also makes us more vulnerable to novel viruses like the one we’re now facing
In this moment where we are really concerned about health and willing to make disruptive changes to prevent death and illness maybe we need to extend that to more everyday things we ignore like the threat of tiny toxic molecules in the air we breathe.