Cover In-Pram Children from Car Exhaust Emissions

Children are particularly vulnerable to even low levels of pollution. Psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents are linked to traffic pollution. (source) Air pollution generally demands sacrifices in lives and economic costs. (source) Pollution from combustion (diesel) vehicles/ motors, fires (back-burning) and wood heaters are just a few that shorten lives prematurely.

Now parents are advised to use covers on their prams during toxic school runs to protect their infants from air pollution:

 “Fine particles show larger health impacts compared to their larger counterparts and at the young age children are more susceptible to particulate pollution, suggesting a clear need for precautionary measures to limit their exposure during their transport along the busy roadsides…Children could be at risk of breathing in some nasty and harmful chemical species…One of the simplest ways to combat this is to use a barrier between the in-pram children and the exhaust emissions, especially at pollution hotspots such as traffic intersections, so parents should use pram covers if at all possible.” (Source)

Links:
Use buggy covers to combat air pollution danger, parents warned, The Guardian, 10.03.2017
Exposure of in-pram babies to airborne particles during morning drop-in and afternoon pick-up of school children, Environmental Pollution 06.03.2017

Top tips to avoid getting metal pollution in your brain, New Scientist, 5 September 2016

NICU treatments for improving neurodevelopmental outcomes rely heavily on touch. On the somatosensory scaffolding of later perceptual, cognitive, and social development. Touch is a cornerstone of interpersonal interactions and sensory-cognitive development. Current Biology, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2017.02.036

Update:
Air quality concerns spur anti-idling push at schools. Parents who leave their cars idling in school pick-up zones urged to switch off.  abc 12.04.2017



Images:
Mother and child getting poisoned by cars, Street art EU
Plastic covered prams of North Shore jogging mums, Sydney
Tyre Adventure Playground, Bellingen

Hazard reduction burning kills

Particle matter pollution (PM2.5 & PM10) from 'unavoidable' burning is killing and hospitalising people every year. All beings that breathe are affected but those who are vulnerable, such as children, the elderly and sick people are more affected. Not only do they kill people who are already not in perfect adult health but they also cause illnesses including coughs, asthma and other lung conditions. They may also trigger heart attacks.

"Particles smaller than 10 micrometres (µm) in diameter (PM10) are consistently associated with increased mortality and hospital admissions for people with both heart and lung disease."

"Because of their smaller size, these particles can be inhaled more deeply into the lungs where the irritation can cause coughs, asthma and other lung conditions. Some are small enough to pass into the bloodstream through the finest blood vessels of the lungs where they can trigger heart attacks in people with existing lung or heart conditions and impact more severely on children and the elderly."
Harmful ozone causing further respiratory damage is also promoted by burning. "Hazard reduction burns are potentially significant sources of ozone precursors".

"Emissions from human activities are sufficient to cause regular exceedances of the AAQ NEPM standards."

When compared, it would appear that hazard reduction burning is more dangerous to human life than bushfires are, but that bushfires are more hazardous to property. Especially heap fires which are not 'unavoidable' could immediately be stopped to protect the air quality in rural areas. But perhaps hazard reduction burning might also be minimised to save lives with property as collateral.


Source:
http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/soe2012/chapter2/chp_2.1.htm#2.1.9

More on the rendering of large parts of the earth uninhabitable:
Many fires in New South Wales, Australia, NASA's Aqua satellite, July 11

Hazard reduction in Bongil Bongil National Park.

Local residents welcome new vegetation clearing laws with open arms.

Scientists show a drier Australia is primarily caused by greenhouse gases, thinning in ozone layer

Rainfall decline in south-west Australia linked to climate change 


Updates:
Mark Z. Jacobson. Effects of biomass burning on climate, accounting for heat and moisture fluxes, black and brown carbon, and cloud absorption effects. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 2014; DOI: 10.1002/2014JD021861

Sydneysiders choking on the air they breathe, SMH 082014

Hazard Reduction burns rescheduled due to health warnings about smoke, rfs. NSW, 0814

Increased air pollution from bushfires is among the rising threats facing NSW residents as global warming makes blazes more likely, according to a new report by the Climate Council. SMH 1014

Smoke from agricultural land-clearing fires linked to tornado intensity, 022015

P. E. Saide, S. N. Spak, R. B. Pierce, J. A. Otkin, T. K. Schaack, A. K. Heidinger, A. M. da Silva, M. Kacenelenbogen, J. Redemann, G. R. Carmichael. Central American biomass burning smoke can increase tornado severity in the U.S. Geophysical Research Letters, 2015; DOI: 10.1002/2014GL062826

"There is nothing left of an emu-wren after a fire, not even a pile of ash" inappropriate fires  abc

Fire hazard reduction strategy in Tasmania targets private land for first time. Asthma sufferers have been warned to expect more smoke."You may be killed by flame, but you can just as easily be killed by smoke and you're just as dead," Mr Dow-Sainter said. abc 23.03.2015

Bellingen weather and air quality monitoring

Distributed systems for measuring air quality provide data which complements that collected by government agencies. They monitor the air in places the government can't reach.

A non-profit open source system Air Quality Egg sells sensors to participating smart citizens and networks the information. The funding to start the Air Quality Egg project was crowd-sourced and the necessary capital was quickly raised.

Another citizen-based atmospheric monitoring system is available in a commercial form. Netatmo sells sensors measuring weather and air quality to interested participants and publishes the information as a map. Although the sensors provide information to the user about air quality, including CO2, PM10, PM2.5 and ozone, this information is unfortunately not shared on the map, just the temperatures and rainfall.

Sound is also monitored providing information about ambient noise from machinery such as logging, lawn mowers, chain saws or amplified music nearby. This information can be viewed with an app on a hand held device to determine if noise levels are tolerable. If you had to leave home because of noise, this can tell you from a distance when it is safe to return.

Ubiquitous pile fires of slash and burn culture

Publicly-collected weather information is more localised than mainstream weather forecasting and in places where larger numbers of weather stations are in operation, more information can be compared. Unlike official weather reports which are professionally produced, distributed information may be unreliable if monitors are not properly installed. The advantage however is that locations are monitored which official systems are unable to reach. There is one weather station in Bellingen (now relocated to Coffs Harbour) so far which shows truly local weather on this map.