Is A Secondary Effect Of London’s Air Pollution Making Me Ill?
There is no doubt, that i am suffering from a vitamin D deficiency, as it has been measured and I have several of the classic symptoms. Several of my friends seem to be suffering too!
As a coeliac, I get no or little vitamin D from my food, as vitamin D is not added to gluten-free food, so I rely on the sun for my vitamin D.
And there has been very little of that over the last few years in London and the South East of England.
I take vitamin D supplements and these help, but if say I get half an hour in strong sunlight, I feel a lift and a lot better.
I got to wondering, if London’s pollution is cutting out the UVB radiation that I need to generate vitamin D in my skin.
I can’t find any scientific paper, which shows the effect of airpollution on UVB radiation.
Now my health has got worse over the l;ast decade or so, which is a time that corresponds to more diesel cars polluting the atmosphere.
I may be talking sabsolute claptrap, but if I could find a scientific paper, I might be able to be proven wrong.
But I can’t get iot out of my head, that all these diesels are producing pollution, that is cutting the UVB radiation. As my health was appalling in the 1950s, during the legendary London smogs, I wonder if there is a connection.
Unfortunately, to many UVB radiation is an evil as it causes skin cancer. So anything that cuts UVB radiation levels is to be welcomed.
How To Catch Polluting Vehicles
I’ve just read about the EDAR pollution sensor in the Sunday Times.
Read more above the device on this page of the Hager Environmental and Atmospheric Technoogies web site.
I think they’ll sell a lot of these and in some ways it’s the best way to cut pollution caused by vehicles in cities.
Most drivers will make sure they;re legal!
How Long Before I Get A Message About The Jokeswagen Scandal?
Now that the PPI calls seem to have run their course, Jokeswagen have presented the cold calling merchants with manna from heaven.
How long before they start targeting the owners of Jokeswagen diesels to offer to sue the company at no expense to you for compensation?
They might also decide to phone and contact everybody, as Jokeswagen could surely be considered responsible for all the pollution in our cities and the increaee in asthma.
The Great Car Con
Tomorrow night on Despatches on Channel Four are showing a program called The Great Car Con. They say this in summary about the program.
Motorists were promised diesel would be the cheap, green fuel of the future, but it turns out that’s not the case. Why did politicians encourage the ‘dash for diesel’?
All of today’s generation of politicians, won’t know much about air pollution, like my generation suffered from before the Clean Air Act of 1956, cleaned up our major cities. Unless of course they have been on a freebie to Beijing.
In my view we need to agree an objective function, where the amount of everything we emit into the air is balanced in a scientifically-correctly weighted way.
I would want a strict limit for CO2 and all the other pollutants. And there should be a firm cut-off date when after which vehicles that do not meet the limits are banned. I should also be Europe-wide.
In London we should start with buses, taxis and trucks, which would be controversial. But lots of legislation is opposed, but if it is sensible and well thought out, after a brief time, no-one would want to give up the improvements to their lives.
Does anybody want to allow smoking on buses, trains and in public houses?
I used to love my cars, but I haven’t driven for nearly five years now. Do I miss it?
Of course not!
I do wonder if people choose to give up driving voluntarily or not bother to learn, then they should be entitled to a discount on public transport.
London’s Proposed Ultra Low Emission Zone
London is proposing to have an Ultra Low Emission Zone. Here’s the summary of the proposal.
Air pollution affects the quality of life of a large number of Londoners, especially those with respiratory and cardiovascular conditions. It is estimated in 2008 more than 4,000 deaths in London were brought forward due to long term exposure to air pollution.
I’m all for this, as not only will improved air quality help my breathing, but also it will hopefully get some of the older and larger vehicles off the roads.
As a pedestrian, I’ve nearly been hit a couple of times, when something like an older 5-series BMW has been driven far too fast across lights turning red. Strangely, these near misses have never occurred with a vehicle less than a couple of years old. I think people tend to look after new vehicles better, or is it that as they are fully-taxed and insured, they are traceable. Usually, the drivers have the look of someone, I wouldn’t want as a friend.
But not everybody wants it, as this article on ITV shows.
The Pollution Didn’t Seem To Be Too Bad!
To check on the forecast pollution, I took some pictures this morning and early afternoon.
I started by taking a 56 bus, which is one of the Dalston omnibuses, to St. Paul’s, where I mounted on One New Change.
I then took the DLR from Bank to Royal Victoria, from where I took the cable car to North Greenwich.
I finished the journey by taking the Underground to Chalk Farm from where I walked to the top of Primrose Hill.
I also found this page on the DEFRA web site, which gives a pollution forecast.
British Coal In A British Grate
This phrase was quoted in an article in The Times today by David Aaronovitch, where he likens the arguments of those who don’t believe in climate change, global warming and renewable energy, with those who were against the Clean Air Act of 1956. The MP for Bromsgrove, Michael Higgs was the opponent of the Act, who Aaronovitch quoted.
I can remember the smogs of that time and they weren’t pleasant. The only good thing was that we got sent home early from my primary school; de Bohun in Southgate. Teachers would organise us into groups and put a responsible ten or eleven year old in charge. Our parents didn’t know we were coming home, but then most mothers didn’t work in the 1950s.
I don’t think they’d do that now!
The Anonymous Widower 