Comments on: DELHI: Cigarettes aren’t that bad after all! https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all Piggy-back ride with A&Z Wed, 14 Dec 2022 22:03:19 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Sanjiv S Deshpande https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-75900 Sanjiv S Deshpande Tue, 21 Apr 2015 13:13:28 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-75900 I agree that Delhi is worse than Beijing in pollution What AAP and Arvind Kejriwal going to do for this And What Modi planning to do? I agree that Delhi is worse than Beijing in pollution What AAP and Arvind Kejriwal going to do for this And What Modi planning to do?

]]> By: Ashray https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-40643 Ashray Mon, 04 Aug 2014 04:58:11 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-40643 Hi Michael Thanks for sharing this. I came across the post you linked a few months ago as well and the calculations seem to look alright to me. You're right, smoking cigarettes is terribly harmful! Just going by that post about Beijing (remember New Delhi is actually WAY WAY WORSE than Beijing!) Also, Diwali PM 2.5 levels in New Delhi are close to 1000 microgram/meter cube. I know, sounds INSANE but it's true :( So going by that, Diwali would be like 1000x18/1000 = 18/12 = 1.5 CIGARETTES! Average winter PM 2.5 levels hover between 300-450 micrograms per meter cube. So that still works out to 300x18/1000 = 5.4/12 = 0.45 cigarettes per day :( Even now in Summer the levels are close to 100 (right now when I checked it was 90) - you can see them here: http://www.dpccairdata.com/dpccairdata/display/civilLinesView15MinData.php That still works out to 0.135 cigarettes per day. And it's 31 degrees right now in New Delhi.. TERRIBLE! The exceptions are the monsoons when it's raining! Otherwise really it is VERY VERY VERY bad! :( That's infants and elderly people also smoking those many cigarettes per day and also people with lung diseases or compromised heart function... It's actually even worse because the Indian government acknowledges how BAD cigarettes are for you! Smoking in public places is banned, any movie scene with even an unlit cigarette has a BIG BOLD SCARY advisory with it, and much more! Unfortunately, air pollution is fine by them =/ There is barely any awareness, folks in New Delhi cough and cough through the winter and blame the cold. They think that "fog" in the summer is normal even if it's 32 degrees outside. I agree with everything you've said, but if the 20 cigarettes myth is going to cause some action, I'm all for it! Hi Michael

Thanks for sharing this. I came across the post you linked a few months ago as well and the calculations seem to look alright to me. You’re right, smoking cigarettes is terribly harmful!

Just going by that post about Beijing (remember New Delhi is actually WAY WAY WORSE than Beijing!)

Also, Diwali PM 2.5 levels in New Delhi are close to 1000 microgram/meter cube. I know, sounds INSANE but it’s true :( So going by that, Diwali would be like 1000×18/1000 = 18/12 = 1.5 CIGARETTES!

Average winter PM 2.5 levels hover between 300-450 micrograms per meter cube.
So that still works out to 300×18/1000 = 5.4/12 = 0.45 cigarettes per day :(

Even now in Summer the levels are close to 100 (right now when I checked it was 90) – you can see them here:
http://www.dpccairdata.com/dpccairdata/display/civilLinesView15MinData.php

That still works out to 0.135 cigarettes per day. And it’s 31 degrees right now in New Delhi.. TERRIBLE!

The exceptions are the monsoons when it’s raining! Otherwise really it is VERY VERY VERY bad! :(

That’s infants and elderly people also smoking those many cigarettes per day and also people with lung diseases or compromised heart function…

It’s actually even worse because the Indian government acknowledges how BAD cigarettes are for you! Smoking in public places is banned, any movie scene with even an unlit cigarette has a BIG BOLD SCARY advisory with it, and much more! Unfortunately, air pollution is fine by them =/

There is barely any awareness, folks in New Delhi cough and cough through the winter and blame the cold. They think that “fog” in the summer is normal even if it’s 32 degrees outside.

I agree with everything you’ve said, but if the 20 cigarettes myth is going to cause some action, I’m all for it!

]]> By: michael https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-40641 michael Mon, 04 Aug 2014 04:11:31 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-40641 I've been reading a lot about this and wanted to make one point. There is a myth floating around that Delhi's pollution is as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. It's not even close to true. The reality is that it's more like smoking one-fourth of a cigarette. Even the Diwali you are talking about would likely be less than one cigarette's equivalent. (I'll give a couple of links below: one to the study where the math supporting this came from and one from a guy in Beijing who's made it easier to understand.) It's important to understand this for a couple reasons. First, and least importantly, perhaps, is that it is true. But more importantly, the cigarette myth gives the impression that smoking a cigarette a day is no big deal--after all, we're all basically smoking in Delhi. That's wrong: cigarettes are way, way more deadly than pollution. (Much of the reason so many people died in London had to do with the fact that so many of them were smokers, btw.) But this does not mean Delhi air is good! It is probably resulting in 7000-18,000 excess deaths each year! See, if you make 18 million people smoke even a fraction of a cigarette every day, some of them will get cancer from it, some of them will have heart attacks, some of them will die because it pushes them over the edge when they have an acute problem like pneumonia etc. The effects of PM are not linear: you get a lot of the bad effects at relatively low levels! (It would be accurate to say that Delhi air is worse than living with a smoker, if that is any consolation!) Here's the study with the data: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3226505/#r7 Here's the guy who explains it (he uses Beijing numbers, my one-fourth estimate is based on most recent WHO PM2.5 average): http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/china-public-health/a-day-in-beijing-is-like-smoking-only-one-sixth-of-a-cigarette-its-almost-disappointing/ (This post is followed up with several more related ones, including one that includes an interview with author of the study posted above). best, mcihael I’ve been reading a lot about this and wanted to make one point. There is a myth floating around that Delhi’s pollution is as bad as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. It’s not even close to true. The reality is that it’s more like smoking one-fourth of a cigarette. Even the Diwali you are talking about would likely be less than one cigarette’s equivalent. (I’ll give a couple of links below: one to the study where the math supporting this came from and one from a guy in Beijing who’s made it easier to understand.) It’s important to understand this for a couple reasons. First, and least importantly, perhaps, is that it is true. But more importantly, the cigarette myth gives the impression that smoking a cigarette a day is no big deal–after all, we’re all basically smoking in Delhi. That’s wrong: cigarettes are way, way more deadly than pollution. (Much of the reason so many people died in London had to do with the fact that so many of them were smokers, btw.) But this does not mean Delhi air is good! It is probably resulting in 7000-18,000 excess deaths each year! See, if you make 18 million people smoke even a fraction of a cigarette every day, some of them will get cancer from it, some of them will have heart attacks, some of them will die because it pushes them over the edge when they have an acute problem like pneumonia etc. The effects of PM are not linear: you get a lot of the bad effects at relatively low levels! (It would be accurate to say that Delhi air is worse than living with a smoker, if that is any consolation!) Here’s the study with the data: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3226505/#r7
Here’s the guy who explains it (he uses Beijing numbers, my one-fourth estimate is based on most recent WHO PM2.5 average):
http://www.myhealthbeijing.com/china-public-health/a-day-in-beijing-is-like-smoking-only-one-sixth-of-a-cigarette-its-almost-disappointing/
(This post is followed up with several more related ones, including one that includes an interview with author of the study posted above).
best,
mcihael

]]> By: Ashray https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-25802 Ashray Mon, 16 Dec 2013 03:14:00 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-25802 Natalia, I'm sorry to hear about your condition. That is terrible! Unfortunately, it will take something drastic for people to stop and take notice of what is happening around them. The same thing happened in London in the 50s. The London smog was estimated to kill around 10,000 people in a few days. This caused some of the first environmental legislation to come about in Europe. Now, 50+ years down the road, Europeans can breathe fairly clean air and enjoy a greater quality of life. Hopefully, the new government in New Delhi will bring some change to the state of the environment. Natalia, I’m sorry to hear about your condition. That is terrible! Unfortunately, it will take something drastic for people to stop and take notice of what is happening around them. The same thing happened in London in the 50s. The London smog was estimated to kill around 10,000 people in a few days. This caused some of the first environmental legislation to come about in Europe. Now, 50+ years down the road, Europeans can breathe fairly clean air and enjoy a greater quality of life. Hopefully, the new government in New Delhi will bring some change to the state of the environment.

]]> By: Natalia https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-25496 Natalia Mon, 09 Dec 2013 22:06:43 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-25496 Thank you for writing this! I am in Indirapuram as we speak, visiting Delhi for the last few weeks. My eyes are burning and I have basically stopped breathing as deep as I usually do days ago, my chest is heavy ... While I've been slowly figuring out the same cold truth about the air you have spelled out so accurately, everyone around me is starting to think I'm insane. I'm not - they are. As simple as that.. It is truly appalling and disappointing that so many so-called intellgent people can be so utterly and adamantly oblivious, and that too by choice. Thank you for writing this! I am in Indirapuram as we speak, visiting Delhi for the last few weeks. My eyes are burning and I have basically stopped breathing as deep as I usually do days ago, my chest is heavy … While I’ve been slowly figuring out the same cold truth about the air you have spelled out so accurately, everyone around me is starting to think I’m insane. I’m not – they are. As simple as that.. It is truly appalling and disappointing that so many so-called intellgent people can be so utterly and adamantly oblivious, and that too by choice.

]]> By: Ashray https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-24597 Ashray Sat, 16 Nov 2013 05:49:23 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-24597 During Diwali people burst firecrackers (now we have the cheaper Chinese variety that are more affordable, so more crackers for everyone!!), this causes an increase in overall pollution levels, i.e. SO2, NO2, etc. plus all PM levels as well. Diwali leads to a drastic increase for a few days/weeks (depending on wind conditions) but winters in general witness the doubling of PM levels in New Delhi. However, disregarding that, PM levels are extremely high in New Delhi even during the summer (PM10 is rarely below 175 and 2.5 is rarely below 100). During Diwali people burst firecrackers (now we have the cheaper Chinese variety that are more affordable, so more crackers for everyone!!), this causes an increase in overall pollution levels, i.e. SO2, NO2, etc. plus all PM levels as well. Diwali leads to a drastic increase for a few days/weeks (depending on wind conditions) but winters in general witness the doubling of PM levels in New Delhi. However, disregarding that, PM levels are extremely high in New Delhi even during the summer (PM10 is rarely below 175 and 2.5 is rarely below 100).

]]> By: FJ Gallagher https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-24581 FJ Gallagher Fri, 15 Nov 2013 20:34:51 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-24581 Having read the whole piece, I still don't understand why air pollution increases during Diwali. What's the source of the increased PM? Having read the whole piece, I still don’t understand why air pollution increases during Diwali. What’s the source of the increased PM?

]]> By: Anu https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-24284 Anu Wed, 06 Nov 2013 10:36:31 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-24284 Great going son I hope many people read this article and do something about it Great going son I hope many people read this article and do something about it

]]> By: Anita Catita https://bkpk.me/cigarettes-arent-that-bad-after-all/#comment-24254 Anita Catita Tue, 05 Nov 2013 10:07:44 +0000 http://bkpk.me/?p=10092#comment-24254 Powerful post, Ashray! It hurts my heart to think about what we are doing to our planet. This system is all fucked up. Powerful post, Ashray! It hurts my heart to think about what we are doing to our planet. This system is all fucked up.

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