26 Oct How Bad is the Air, Exactly?
Scientific research concludes that it’s bad deadly.
One thousand particles per cubic centimeter is the upper acceptable limit for healthy air quality.
When cruise ships are berthed in port cities, the German environmental group Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Union (NABU) has recorded air pollution up to 400,000 particles per cubic centimeter—which means the air is 400 times more toxic than what is considered healthy.
See this John Hopkins University study that also measured particulate matters around cruise ships. Pages 13 – 14 look at Holland America Cruise Lines, a likely cruise company that will be berthed at Pier 46. In the report, it recorded particulate matters that is up to 33 times more toxic than what’s considered healthy.
“Ship engine emissions are important with regard to lung and cardiovascular diseases especially in coastal regions worldwide … Epidemiological studies attribute up to 60,000 annual deaths from lung and cardiovascular disease to ship engine [particulate matter].”
– Oeder S, et al. (2015) Particulate Matter from Both Heavy Fuel Oil and Diesel Fuel Shipping Emissions Show Strong Biological Effects on Human Lung Cells at Realistic and Comparable In Vitro Exposure Conditions. PLoS ONE 10(6): e0126536.
People in Seattle will not want to wear N95 face masks when they go outside.
Image: “Breathe ! სუნთქვა !” by Demipoulpe is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0