YOUR AIR POLLUTION SURVIVAL GUIDE
TAKE TO THE SIDE STREETS
REDUCE your exposure to exhaust fumes by avoiding main roads. Choose side streets, parks and pedestrianised areas or treelined routes.
If you have to use a busy, potentially polluted street, keep as far from the road as possible. In a study published in 2005, researchers at Imperial College London found that walking on the edge of a pavement exposes you to one-tenth more pollutants than on the building side.
Similarly, stand back if you’re waiting to cross at traffic lights, and avoid getting stuck on a central reservation, especially if traffic is slow — cars and lorries pump out significantly more polluting particles as they accelerate away.
SIT ON THE TOP DECK OF THE BUS
TRAVELLING by bus exposes you to less pollution than driving a car (the air inside the bus comes from the windows and doors; with cars, it comes via the vent near the vehicle in front’s exhaust).
You’ll reach cleaner air still if you climb the stairs (away from the engine fumes). Studies by Imperial College London have shown that sitting on the driver’s side of the bus (nearer the engine) can increase your exposure to pollutants by 10 per cent.
BUY SOME HOUSEPLANTS
STUDIES by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found pollution levels can be two to five times higher indoors than outside.
Cleaning products, air fresheners and objects such as synthetic carpets, TV screens and MDF can emit chemicals called volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which in large quantities have been linked to diseases such as cancer. However, houseplants have been shown to clean the air indoors by absorbing polluting gases, including VOCs.
COOK ON THE BACK OF THE HOB
SWITCH on the extractor fan every time you cook. According to research at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the U.S., using the back rings on the hob cut pollutants by half, as these tend to be better positioned under the extractor fan.
DON’T SIT BY THE PHOTOCOPIER
PHOTOCOPIERS create ozone, which may cause headaches, sore eyes and breathing irritations in people with asthma. The toner in some copiers can also be an irritant.