Post 17 - Air pollution

This post is intended to be my own experience and opinions on London’s air pollution, no more and no less.

Recently, winds which originated in Saharan Africa blew over the UK, bringing with them copious amounts of dust and sand particles, as well as picking up European pollution en route to the UK. This unusual weather system, combined with the higher-than-usual particulate levels in the air, resulted in spiralling pollution levels and extremely poor visibility. So evident was the poor air quality, particularly in London, that it was headline news for a few days, accompanied by images such as the ones below:

 

I’m not a great fan of London, but fortunately I know that I will not be here for anywhere near a lifetime. My main gripe is the poor air quality, and I didn’t need an episode of unprecedentedly high air pollution to indicate to me that London has air quality problems. I figured this out for myself within the first couple of weeks I spent here. It’s immediately obvious that the air in London stinks: a horrible, unnatural, industrial smell. It’s gritty air too, and you can feel particles in your eyes and grime on your skin. You can see clouds of pollution coming from exhaust pipes. London exists in a perpetual harmful haze of pollution, both above ground and on the underground transport system.

I very quickly decided that I was not going to put myself through the torture of taking the tube every day. The crush on the tube is literally inhumane. It’s illegal to transport animals in such a manner. But what really rankles is the revolting experience of getting off the tube, blowing my nose, and blowing out black snot. The air underground is disgusting, and I can’t imagine sitting on a tube for an hour a day, for 20-30 years. The damage to the lungs and respiratory system does not bear thinking about. “You’ll get used to it,” people told me. “Getting used to it” means deciding that having black snot is something that’s OK, acceptable or normal. It means deciding that is acceptable to breathe this terrible air and blacken and poison your lungs. Needless to say, I haven’t yet got used to it, and I never will.

London is also grossly overcrowded, hideously overpriced, inefficient, stressful, frustrating, noisy, lonely, and the worst place I have ever ridden a bike or been for a run. All of these things I can deal with, with the exception of the poor air quality. This is something that is impossible to escape, and seemingly something that people are very unaware of. Also, worryingly, it’s something that the city authorities don’t seem to be taking much action over, given that everything these days seems to come with a health and safety warning: “Don’t eat too much sugar.” “Don’t eat too much fat.” “Mind the gap.” “Hold the handrail when on the stairs.” “Smoking kills.” “Don’t drink more than 3 units of alcohol per day.” “Fasten your seatbelt.” “Don’t drive at more than 30mph.” Or my own favourite example of health and safety gone mad: "Caution, sharp plant, please do not eat."

 

Some of the above examples are good advice, but if a health and safety warning exists instructing people not to eat a plant because it is sharp, then surely there should be a health and safety warning for the more serious and damaging issue of the dreadful London air? It’s a silent, invisible killer, according to the London Evening Standard newspaper:

 

 Where are the warnings that tell us of the risks of breathing the London air? Or do the authorities not want us to know of the extent of the problems? Cigarette packages nowadays feature graphic images of black lungs, tumours and diseased gums. As well as explicitly telling us that smoking is harmful, or that smoking kills, or that it harms kids. A health and safety warning implies that there is a problem, something dangerous, something to be avoided. Generally, it’s possible to choose to do something, or to choose not to do something, in order not to expose oneself to something dangerous or harmful. However, when living or working in London, it’s impossible to choose not to breathe. So fundamental is the problem of air pollution, affecting 100% of the population, that it seems an “ignorance is best” policy has been adopted.

It seems to me that one of the worst air pollution problems is that the roads are congested and so the air is choked with fumes from vehicles, particularly diesel engines. These fumes are a lethal cocktail of harmful carcinogenic substances including benzene, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and other oxides of nitrogen, sulphur dioxide and the "PMs": PM10 and PM2.5 (Particulate Matter up to 10 micrometers in size, and Particulate Matter up to 2.5 micrometers in size).

 

Buses and taxis seem to be the worst offenders. The stop-start nature of the roads enhances the problem, with traffic stopping, sitting idling, then accelerating. Then stopping, idling and accelerating. Then stopping, idling and accelerating again and again, over and over. At Kings Cross in London, there was a sign saying, “DIESEL FUMES KILL”, in an effort to educate drivers to drive sensibly and switch off engines while idling. I used to pass this sign and be horrified. Who do diesel fumes kill? People like me, that’s who… I’m not sure if the sign is still there.

I love to exercise and keep fit, I love to be outdoors, and I love to cycle. I have exercised, kept fit and cycled on every continent bar Antarctica. Without doubt, London is the worst place I have ever been on a bike, and I have made the decision that I will never again ride a bike on London’s overcrowded, polluted roads. Statistics exist that tell us how many cyclists are killed by traffic on London’s roads every year (an average of around 15 per year over the last 20 years), but it is impossible to quantify the effects of air pollution on cyclists, and indeed on pedestrians and members of the public. It is possible for cyclists to take steps to protect themselves from the dangers associated with traffic by riding assertively, visibly, and with common sense. But, for cyclists, pedestrians and members of the public, it’s more difficult to protect against air pollution, as it is inescapable.

Before I made the decision to stop cycling in London, I used to commute to work by bike. Each way, the trip took about 45 minutes, perhaps a distance of around 10 miles. Cycling to work, for me, is a complete no-brainer. It’s free, and in theory I should get some fresh air, exercise, enjoy a few miles on the road, “me time”, busting stress, getting the endorphins and adrenalin flowing, and feeling good. In theory I would arrive to work feeling on top of the world, and that I’d achieved something and in some small way had escaped the rat race. I’d happily cycle 20-30 miles to work in lashing rain and cold. But it turned out that despite what the authorities would have you believe, cycling in London is horrible, dangerous and stressful, as well as damaging.

There is a bike rental scheme in London, and I have seen the following poster advertise it:

 

I can’t say that cycling in London feels like “freedom”…

Within a week of cycling to work, I was coughing and spluttering alarmingly, and my throat was permanently irritated. "You'll get used to it", people said. But I haven't, and I won't. I live a healthy lifestyle and I would never dream of smoking or doing anything detrimental to my health. The act of cycling is one of the best ways to exercise and be healthy, yet cycling in London has been detrimental to my health. I absolutely couldn’t stand for this, so I got on the internet and did some research. I read up on anti-pollution masks, and it appeared that the best and most effective face mask for cycling was a Totobobo mask, as shown and modelled below:

 

I’ve never seen a pedestrian or a runner or a tube passenger wearing a face mask in London, but I have seen some cyclists wearing them. I would say that of all cyclists in London, less than 10% wear any sort of anti-pollution mask. It’s reasonable to assume that the mask-wearers know a little bit about the harm that air pollution can do. Of the 90% that don’t, it’s also probably reasonable to assume that they don’t know much if anything about the harmful effects of air pollution, or they choose to ignore them. I have seen cyclists wearing a few different kinds of face masks, but I had never seen a Totobobo mask before. These Totobobo masks come with changeable particulate filters, which are designed to trap harmful particulates before they get into the lungs.

So I started cycling with my Totobobo mask, drawing funny looks from drivers and pedestrians alike. Perhaps they thought I was a crazed surgeon running late for an operation. The mask was sweaty and uncomfortable to wear, and didn’t seal perfectly around my face, so not all of the air was being filtered. It also made breathing difficult, but I took solace in the fact that I was doing something proactive to protect myself from the harmful air.

Cycling home in my Totobobo mask on the second day I used it, I happened to be at a junction waiting for the traffic lights to turn green. Buses growled and taxis chugged behind me. A fellow cyclist pulled up alongside. He was unmasked and maybe about 40 years old. He asked me if I thought my mask was any good. I replied that it wasn’t bad, but didn’t seal perfectly. I asked him if he was a regular cyclist. He said that he was, and that he commuted 14 miles each way by bike. He had been doing this for “years”, he said. I was somewhat incredulous that someone could cycle in such a filthy environment for so long, and I asked him if the pollution bothered him. He said, “Not now mate, but I’m going to be in trouble when I’m older!” And with that, the lights turned green and off we pedalled.

It would be interesting to do some detailed research into respiratory system disease rates in London when compared with other parts of Britain. I would speculate that the London air contributes to higher disease rates, poorer quality of life, shortening of life expectancies, and longer, more painful deaths. I’m keen to live into my 90s in good health, not to be coughing, spluttering and dying a slow death in my 60s and 70s.

A new Totobobo filter is pristine white, and looks like this:

After only three days of wearing the Totobobo mask to commute to work, for a total distance of about 60 miles and a total riding time of around four and a half hours, the filters looked like this:

 

Needless to say, I find this absolutely and thoroughly appalling. If this is what a filter looks like after three days of cycling on London’s roads, what does a lung look like after three days? Or worse, after a year? Or ten years? Based on how quickly these filters turned black, it’s difficult to argue that the London air doesn’t cause damage. Clearly, significant and life-shortening harm is being done, and so many people are totally unaware of this.


Note that these filters were not blackened by an episode of high air pollution, but during a period of "normal" air quality. I say "normal" in inverted commas because I cannot accept that London's air is "normal."

Air pollution doesn’t just affect cyclists. It affects everyone, whatever they are doing. Oxford Street is London’s most famous shopping street, and it is one of the UK’s most polluted roads. It’s obvious really, given that it is permanently clogged with buses and taxis (like so many of London’s other roads). I’ve no doubt that wearing a Totobobo mask for a few hours on Oxford Street (or any other main thoroughfare in London) would turn the filters from white to black. Simply walking down Oxford Street should come with a health warning.

We’re only touching the tip of the iceberg here. What about all the schools within a stone’s throw of a busy road? What about the flats, houses and businesses situated on busy roads? Or situated close to polluting factories? What about waiting for a bus on a polluted street? What about taking a bus down a polluted street? What about people living with asthma? What about babies and children? What about people who work in shops with their doors 3 metres from the roads? What about bus and taxi drivers forced to drive on these roads for 40 hours a week?

So, after having turned my Totobobo filters black after a mere four-and-a-half hours of cycling, I decided that there would be no more cycling for me on busy London roads. Wearing the mask was better than nothing, but it didn’t seal perfectly and given the extent of the air pollution, I concluded that stopping cycling was the only effective way to protect myself. How ridiculous it is that the dirty air has forced me off my bike.

I resorted to taking the bus for a few weeks, which meant my commute went from a free 40-minute cycle to an 80-minute bus ride costing about £14 per week.  This in itself was bad enough but I was still going along the same horrible polluted roads, so I decided that taking the bus wasn’t really an option either. Cycling was out, the tube was out, walking was certainly out, so this left the train. Fortunately there was a National Rail line close by, and I started taking it. However, although the route started above ground, it finished underground, and the black snot problem started again.

To try to eliminate this problem, I debated wearing my Totobobo mask on the underground section of the train journey. In Asia, people wouldn’t give this a second glance, as many people wear face masks on public transport. I decided that in the UK, people would wonder if I had an infectious disease, or if I was a total crackpot. So I bought a snood/neckwarmer-type garment, and wore it over the face mask. In winter this didn’t look too out of place, but as winter turned to summer it became completely ludicrous, especially on a hot underground train. But the only other option was the black snot and dirty lungs. The image below shows a clean Totobobo mask filter on the left, and on the right is the filter after three days of cycling to work. In the middle is the filter after a week spent commuting to work on the underground train. Each day, I spent maybe 20 minutes underground. 

Again, look at how black this filter is, indicating how bad the underground air is. Again, if this is what happens to a filter within a week, what must happen to the lungs after years spent commuting by tube? Again, they must end up black and poisoned. What damage is being done to health? What about tube drivers? Should they be informed that they are working in a hazardous area? Should they be issued with protective respirators? What about the young and elderly? Should commuters not be informed of the dangers? Warned off the tube? Warned off cycling? Or is it cheaper to pay an expert to do a study which “proves” that there is no risk? Can we sue the authorities for negligence or misinformation if/when we contract a respiratory disease? What sort of precedent would this set? I find it impossible to look at a photograph of a blackened Totobobo mask filter and believe that the air quality is acceptable.

I have read that the authorities spray the worst roads with adhesives in an effort to trap the exhaust particulates and mask the scale of the problem, particularly in areas close to pollution monitoring sensors. I have read that London’s air quality is so bad that it is actually illegal, and fails EU requirements. I’ll repeat that: London’s air is so dangerous that it’s illegal. I have read that the EU is taking legal action against London because of this.

I ultimately ended up moving out of central London, and one day I will leave London for good, forever. I now am forced to pay a fortune on train fares and endure a horrible commute. When I get into central London, I still have a couple of miles to get to work, and rather than use the tubes or buses, I walk and sometimes cycle on the back streets, which have less traffic than the main thoroughfares.

I use SouthEastern Railways, who recently came bottom of a UK-wide rail customer satisfaction survey. They explained this low customer satisfaction by saying it was “because we charge people money they don’t want to pay, to travel on trains they don’t want to be on, to take them somewhere they don’t want to be.” Unbelievable. The customer relations department at SouthEastern Railways have clearly been dubiously trained (pun not intended). (OK, maybe slightly intended).

But this is the price I pay for being able to take an overground train the whole way into London. Although far from ideal, this is the best I can do to minimise the dangerous “silent killer” air that I am exposed to. This is also why I do most of my cycling on a turbo trainer in my room, rather than out on the roads in busy traffic. (Admittedly the turbo trainer is a more time-efficient method of training, and between working long hours and enduring a total commuting time of about 2 hours and 20 minutes per day, I need to be as time-efficient as possible).

Clearly London has got problems, and clearly radical, urgent action needs to be taken. If everyone was aware of the extent of the problem, and if everyone demanded change, and demanded the fundamental right to breathe clean, safe air, then perhaps action would be taken faster.

For this reason, I dislike London immensely. End of rant.

Training this week was as follows:

Monday 7^th April 2014: Rest
Tuesday 8^th April 2014: Swim 3km (12 x 250m, pull buoy, paddles, band drills)
Wed 9^th April 2014: 90 minute run
Thurs 10^th April 2014: 30 minute turbo, 20 minute run
Friday 11^th April 2014: Swim 3.6km
Sat 12^th April 2014: Rest
Sunday 13^th April 2014: Rest

Totals: Swim 6.6km, Bike 10 miles, Run 16 miles

The last few weeks have been a bit “disrupted” because of travelling to Northern Ireland and Flanders, and it has been difficult to keep to my regular, consistent training routine. As of next week I’m hoping to get back into my normal training routine until mid-May when I will ride in the North Norfolk 100 mile time trial. An ideal, normal, disruption-free training week looks like this:

Monday: Rest/cook for the week
Tuesday: Hard tempo ride (1 hour), 4 mile run
Wednesday: Fartlek run
Thursday: Hard bike intervals, 4 mile run
Friday: Swim intervals, Single leg bike drills, cook for the weekend
Saturday: Long bike, 5 mile run
Sunday: Swim drills, long run/interval run

This training plan is built around 4 bikes per week, 2 key runs per week (Wednesday and Sunday), and 2 key swims per week. This is in addition to my regular core strength work, stretching and weights. I’m also hoping to start seeing a good osteopath once every week or two, to ensure that my joints and back are as free and loose as they can be. I’m just over three months out from race day and from now, I will be “tightening the screw”, the training intensity will go up, the diet will become even more meticulous and everything will become even more tightly controlled. It’s going to be “challenging” to be diplomatic about it (i.e. damn hard to be blunt) but it has to be done to achieve what I want to achieve. No regrets...