Pollution peak: four tips to apply to limit health risks

Alexandre Dalifard 5:21 p.m., February 20, 2023

The time for solutions against the deterioration of air quality.

France has just gone through a pollution peak, a very high concentration of fine particles.

With a diameter 20 times thinner than a hair, these are not without danger to health.

These tiny particles infiltrate everywhere in the tissues and can cause cardiovascular, pulmonary diseases or even cancers according to the WHO.

This massive concentration causes 40,000 deaths per year.

So, faced with this, what are the right actions to adopt?

In the program

, the environmental columnist Perrine Brami details the good reflexes to have to limit the consequences of a pollution peak.

On the road, reduce speed by 20 km/h

In times of energy crisis, reducing the speed of your vehicle on the road does not simply save fuel.

"In traffic, it is necessary to reduce its speed by 20 km / h, this allows a 20% reduction in fine particles, which is not negligible", underlines Perrine Brami at the microphone of Julia Vignali and Mélanie Gomez.

In order to further limit the concentration of particles, the columnist specifies the importance of applying this gesture while practicing carpooling for travel.

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Avoid chimney fires

Every day, a person breathes an average of 15,000 liters of air.

Contrary to popular belief, even at peak pollution, the air in homes is 8 to 15 times more polluted than the air outside.

Quite disturbing information knowing that a person spends on average 80% of their time indoors.

Faced with this, to limit the concentration of fine particles in one's living space, it is necessary to avoid chimney fires and to heat oneself differently.

"A small outbreak of two hours is the equivalent of a journey of 2,000 kilometers with an old diesel car. So it consumes and pollutes enormously", details Perrine Brami.

Ventilate even during pollution peaks

This can be surprising during a pollution peak, and yet the good reflex to have to limit the health risks is to ventilate.

Some counter-intuitive advice given by Bérénice Jenneson of the Atmo France association.

"The danger is to believe that in times of pollution you should not open the windows when it is possible to do so. You just have to change your behavior. In this case, you should rather open on the courtyard side than on the road side For example. In terms of schedules, it is important to avoid the morning when the road traffic is heavy and the concentration of fine particles is high. The middle of the day will be the best time to open the windows", explains- She.

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Depolluting plants, a misleading name

If some people talk about depolluting plants to deal with the pollution peak and the concentration of fine particles, Perrine Brami makes it clear that this is a "completely misleading" name.

"Behind this term, there is for example chlorophytum, the small spider plant. It is supposed to eliminate a lot of pollutants such as formaldehyde, carbon monoxide or benzene", indicates the columnist.

For Elisabeth Chesnais of the consumer association

, we must be wary of the effectiveness of these plants.

"Terror plants have been proven to be very effective under experimental conditions. The whole problem is that in houses or apartments, it's real life. And there, it doesn't There is no proof of their effectiveness. Obviously, there have been studies indoors and it does not work. On the other hand, it can cause allergies by molds in the earth, "she warns.