“Cut Air Pollution in Half by Taking Road Less Travelled.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 07 Sept. 2014. Web. 07 Sept. 2014.
Commuters in big cities could cut their pollution intake down by fifty percent simply by avoiding main streets on their commutes. Inhaling air pollution in big cities can be as harmful to one’s lungs as smoking half a cigarette per day. This doesn’t appear to be a significant number, however cummitively this would have a large effect on the lungs of these commuters, especially if they are children. Public Health England states that 5.3 percent of all deaths in people of 25 years of age occur because of pollution, however this number skyrockets to 8.3 percent in inner London. The author believes these rates can be cut down by simply taking alternative, non-mainstream routes while commuting.
This article suggested that air pollution intake could be severely cut down by everyday commuters in England simply by avoiding the main streets. There is an easy alternative in taking side streets which in most cases can even be quicker than the congested streets of a downtown. I was shocked to hear that commuting to work is often times as harmful to the lungs as smoking a cigarette. Taking side streets is an easy alternative that can cut down around 50 percent of ones air pollution intake.