There is concern that London’s poor air quality could become a problem as the forecasts predict warmer days to come.
A recent smog in the city, which cleared just in time for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, was the worst ozone episode in six years. Since then, the damp, cool conditions with a fresh Atlantic breeze during the first week of the London Olympics, have help keep ozone levels suppressed. But with a forecast of warmer weather for the latter half of this week, the conditions are right for ground ozone levels to rise again.
“Modern day pollution can’t be seen- it’s invisible- the health effects are not immediate, they are long term, they are chronic” Professor Frank Kelly, Kings College London
If you ever were under any doubt about the effects of Diesel on the nations health, then doubt no longer. Listen to Radio 4’s File on Four’s informative programme as they ask ” Is enough being done to combat diesel pollution which is blamed for thousands of deaths?”
Clean Air for London project monitoring air quality during Games to assess impact of changing traffic patterns on air pollution
Scientists taking part in London’s biggest ever air quality monitoring exercise say they are hoping that improvements in air quality will be a part of the legacy left behind by the Olympic Games.
Meteorologists from Universities including Reading, Manchester, Birmingham, York, Leeds, Hertfordshire, East Anglia, Leicester involved in the three-year Clean Air for London project, are monitoring ozone and particulate levels throughout the Games.
Scientists behind London’s largest ever air quality monitoring programme say they hope that air quality improvements are part of the Olympic Games legacy
As part of the monitoring exercise, which runs until August 17, six shipping containers worth of equipment have been set up in the playground of a North Kensington school to monitor pollutants.
Equipment on the top of the BT Tower is also taking above ground air quality measurements and mapping air flow, moisture and chemistry to see the effect they have on air pollution at street level.
Asthma couldn’t prevent Nikki Guernsey from running the Triple Crown, Louisville’s trifecta of 5K, 10K and 10-mile races, but nothing slows her down like an air quality alert day.
“It feels like a suffocating blanket, despite using my rescue inhaler,” she said of trying to run outside when ozone levels are high.
Instead, she trains indoors on those days.
Guernsey belongs to a group of area residents who have to take special care on air quality alert days like today.
They include people with respiratory conditions and individuals in two age groups, children and the elderly, said Dr. Gerald Lee, an assistant professor in the University of Louisville’s Department of Pediatrics.
While the Olympics Delivery Authority has made a commitment to holding the greenest Olympics ever, the BBC reported in April 2012 that air pollution in London is still the highest in Europe and more than twice the World Health Organisation limits. In addition, on the eve of the opening of the London Olympic Games the UK Government has issued an “air pollution alert”.
Increasing concerns about air quality in cities has sparked a number of recent studies on the detrimental medical effects of pollution on those exercising outdoors.
Respro®, the company which specialises in development of products for personal protection, has created the CiNQRO™ anti-pollution mans to offer a win-win solution; comfort and style underpinned by real technology to filter out the city smog.
Launching this summer the new CiNQRO™ offers the exercise enthusiast a means to breather easy while riding or running through the city.
Respro® MD and mask inventor, Harry Cole comments;
“Air pollution affects health and fitness lovers at all levels, from the cycle commuter to the serious athlete, in many cities around the world. For the vast number of city dwellers who exercise in the city, the consistent daily exposure to urban pollution such as; air-borne particulate matter; including pollen, diesel dust, un-burnt fuel vapours or acid gases, can be enough to cause a respiratory disorder or worse.”
It is well documented that during strenuous activity people breathe up to 10 to 20 times more air, increasing the intake of toxins therefore the health risks are greater during physical activity. Particles can settle deep into an athlete’s lungs and cause irritation and inflammation. Others are so tiny they can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
The new CiNQRO™ mask has an upgraded valve moulding that allows even more heat and water vapour out to enable easier breathing during strenuous activity. The masks are constructed from a neoprene shell with an overlaid metallic skin in four colours with limited edition red, white and blue designs.
The packaging accommodates a spare Techno™ filter so the user has the choice of two types of filtration – the sports filter being suited to air-borne particulate filtration (e.g. diesel, dust and pollen) and the Techno™ being suited to both particulate filtration AND filtration of chemical gases.
Harry Cole describes the new CiNQRO™ mask as a product of our time;
“The Respro® range of anti-pollution masks have been developed to answer a specific health question surrounding urban pollution. The proximity to a potential airborne threat while exercising in a urban environment exists, and has done for at least twenty years. Exposure levels of primary pollutants consistently exceed EU limits with successive governments failing to bring the pollution problem under control.”
“As olympic fever grips the nation people will be inspired and encouraged to exercise more. The Respro® CiNQRO™ anti-pollution mask is designed for comfort, style and above all to provide protection and insurance for the lungs.”
The RRP of the CiNQRO™ sports face mask wis £45.99 and is available from September. All other models in the range of Respro® masks are available now in Evans Cyles, Cycle Surgery or online at www.respro.com
Scientists from The University of Reading are taking part in the biggest investigation into air quality during the Olympic Games which could create a legacy of cleaner air in the capital.
The three-year ClearFlo (Clean Air for London) project team led by the National Centre for Atmospheric Science (NCAS) is looking at how weather, chemistry and traffic affect air pollution.
Participants in the project are hopeful that the Games will provide crucial data which could help planners to cut pollution across the city in the future.
During the week leading up to the Olympic Games, London experienced its worst ozone episode for six years. Fortunately fresh westerly winds began to clear Londons air pollution just before the opening ceremony.On 21 July high pressure moved over the UK and air began to slowly circulate over southern England and the near continent, one of the most densely populated and industrial areas of Europe. Ground-level ozone slowly built up due to the action of sunlight and high temperatures on pollution emitted from vehicles and industry.
There is a tiny town in Ethiopia, several hours or several days from the capital, Addis Ababa, depending on how one travels. It is a place where legends are born, generation after generation, through a combination of a remarkable old coach and a freakish climate that produces air quality perfect for distance runners.
Tariku Bekele’s performance in finishing third in the men’s 10,000 meters came 24 hours after Tirunesh Dibaba won the gold in the women’s equivalent. She also won two gold medals in Beijing.
But despite the incredible achievement of developing a conveyor belt of success from a town of just a few thousand people, Eshetu refuses to take credit. There is the air, you see, pure and clean, but so thin that it makes visitors gasp.
When Eshetu pushes his athletes, most of them teenagers, up the hills that surround Bekoji for yet another round of training, the air consistency sometimes makes them ill to the point of vomiting. However, it also builds an aerobic capacity in their lungs that would not be possible under other conditions.
“If you can run in Bekoji, you can run anywhere,” Eshetu said. “Even the ones that left here when they were young, the early training they did here still helps them. It builds their lungs and their muscles. And it makes their minds strong. You learn to master the pain and how to control your breathing. The weather here teaches you to take in exactly how much oxygen you need, no more, no less.”
The altitude of Bekoji is more than 10,000 feet and its most of its people have little in the way of material possessions. Local children help their parents tend crops and cattle and get around town on foot. Only a handful of residents own a car.
And they run.
Tariku Bekele’s bronze was his first Olympic medal and came at the end of a fiercely contested race over 25 laps. Great Britain’s Mo Farah took gold with a ferocious sprint over the final lap, and his training partner Galen Rupp of the United States came in second.
But a small town in Ethiopia still had cause for pride, and it waits for the next crop of champions to emerge through that rare air, under the guidance of a wise old coach.
Pollution Masks since 1993 - The 'Original' and still the best - Made in the UK - respro.com
THE AIR WE BREATHE
The Respro® Bulletin Board is designed to keep you up to date with current views and issues relating to Air Pollution and its health implications in our daily lives.
Respro® Masks are reusable 
