Am I over reacting. Please tell me I’m wrong.

[bonsaibilly]

That'll be the diesel fumes making you light-headed and giving you an asphyxiation high.

It'll be the additives.

 

[Drago]

Is this thread still going.

You're still wrong

 

[jefmcg]

[QUOTE 4867638, member: 9609"]I think you are right to be worried about taking exercise in a big polluted city, I certainly wouldn't.[/QUOTE]
Seriously, the OP has one of the nicest city commutes I could imagine. As mentioned he could go through Richmond Park. He could cross the river at Kingston and come up through mostly quiet roads to Twickenham, then follow the river past Marble Hill, Orleans House and on through Syon House (how many people get to pass a recently restored Capability Brown garden twice a day?) He could follow the Thames path along the river and through gardens and a field of cows and around the outside of Kew Gardens, joining the road at Kew Bridge and then following the reasonably quiet roads along the river or he could continue past the rowing clubs to Chiswick Bridge and on to his destination. If it was me, I'd mix it up and take different options each day.

Or he could come on to CC, complain about how dirty and dangerous it is, and stomp off.

 

[mjr]

[QUOTE 4868005, member: 9609"]you have to wonder if regular exercise anywhere in London outside air conditioned gyms is remotely wise. The writing is on the wall, this type of pollution is having major long term affects on our health.[/QUOTE]
And that writing must surely say that switching from cycling to motorised transport (even electric, which moves the pollution to power stations outside the city) doesn't help reduce this type of pollution overall? So, for that reason as well as your own personal health, exercising while travelling around London is better than not exercising while travelling.

 

[tablatom]

Wear a pollution mask.

When i was a courier riding 10 hours a day in London i wore it only on the busy streets.
In the 1990's pollution was worse as the diesel engine's then belched out much more smoke.
After a days riding with the mask, when i took it off the part of my face that wasn't covered by it was dirtier than the part that was.

When i left London after 11 years of cycling there i moved to the country side, i coughed up loads of stuff from my lungs with black spots on it and my wife used to comment that i smelt of metal, i could smell it too, chemicals from the pollution no doubt.

 

[swee'pea99]

[QUOTE 4867638, member: 9609"]When in town keep all movement to a minimum[/QUOTE]
Words to live by.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Sorry if this was already mentioned, but actually sitting in a car or truck or bus is worse because usually the air intake is positioned at the front of the cabin, right where the exhaust of the motor infront belches out.

When you cycle, the micro particles are free to disperse, in a cabin they are likely trapped in with you.

 

[confusedcyclist]

Wear a pollution mask.

When i was a courier riding 10 hours a day in London i wore it only on the busy streets.
In the 1990's pollution was worse as the diesel engine's then belched out much more smoke.
After a days riding with the mask, when i took it off the part of my face that wasn't covered by it was dirtier than the part that was.

When i left London after 11 years of cycling there i moved to the country side, i coughed up loads of stuff from my lungs with black spots on it and my wife used to comment that i smelt of metal, i could smell it too, chemicals from the pollution no doubt.

Probably the Lead. It's virtually non-problematic now. FYI face masks are not effective against micro particulates that cause the problems with disel fumes. They pass right through.

 

[classic33]

Probably the Lead. It's virtually non-problematic now. FYI face masks are not effective against micro particulates that cause the problems with disel fumes. They pass right through.

There are face masks that will filter the particles out.

 

[nickr]

I recall seeing a Top Gear episode where they tested the amount of fume levels people inhaled in London either in a car, as a pedestrian, on public transport or cycling (I know it had car and cycles). Cycling came out lower than car driving interestingly which I believe they accredited it to being sat behind lorries and busses with the AC on sucking in the fumes. Not sure if that episode is still on iPlayer but it had interesting results none the less.

I simply don't believe that the air in a car equipped with a carbon activated filter is more polluted than the air outside the vehicle.
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/b...abin-air-filters-do-they-live-up-to-the-hype/

 

[mjr]

I simply don't believe that the air in a car equipped with a carbon activated filter is more polluted than the air outside the vehicle.
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/b...abin-air-filters-do-they-live-up-to-the-hype/

I believe independent scientists more than I believe a Toyota fan site.

 

[jefmcg]

I believe independent scientists more than I believe a Toyota fan site.

I would agree with that.

But then the actual source quoted here is

I recall seeing a Top Gear episode

But here's a scientist

 

[mjr]

But then the actual source quoted here is


But here's a scientist

Or the ones I mentioned earlier at https://www.cyclechat.net/posts/4829639 - no idea why there was a temporary downgrade to Top Gear.

 

[jefmcg]

Or the ones I mentioned earlier at https://www.cyclechat.net/posts/4829639 - no idea why there was a temporary downgrade to Top Gear.

Eight pages I'll stick with what's quoted.

Either way, it's irrelevant as the OP is going to use the train.

And it's also irrelevant because - again - there are more than one fairly direct routes between Kingston and Chiswick that are almost entirely away from heavy traffic.

 

[nickr]

Eight pages I'll stick with what's quoted.

Either way, it's irrelevant as the OP is going to use the train.

And it's also irrelevant because - again - there are more than one fairly direct routes between Kingston and Chiswick that are almost entirely away from heavy traffic.

Please describe such a route. I have been doing this commute for 5 year and have obviously searched for the best route. None of the routes given are any better than mine.

Also please note "exposure" to pollution is not the same as the amount actually breathed in. I would be very surprised if the pollution levels in a car with a carbon activated filter were as high as that outside the car. However, even if this were true, the volume of air passed through a cyclists lungs on a similar commute would be vastly greater than that of a motorist/bus or rail passenger on the same journey. The cyclist is also far more likely to be hit than those using other transport methods.