Pollution in London

[Almondmilk]

Is it that bad?

yah

Nah
I've got mild asthma. I run and cycle in central London. I've trained for 6 marathons in London.
My asthma is no worse than anywhere else in the country
I've been in smoggy cities and can't breathe within minutes of stepping outside

I developed asthma after moving to london. Never had any breathing problems prior to coming here. Never even used to suffer from hayfever.

Planning on moving within the next few years, and pollution is one of the main reasons.

I live here and I don't notice it. Maybe because I do live here.

When I was in China the pollution was so bad my fingernails flaked off.

Last time I visited London I felt light asthma. When I lived there I never had that problem.

Worse than the rest of the UK but much better than many large foreign cities. I'm fine day to day but don't like running in central London, personally.

If you are considering moving here I would recommend checking out sure quality maps online as it can vary a lot within a small area.

Sure = air

Yes! I work based in Victoria and out and about in the borough and I have developed viral induced and pollen/pollution triggered asthma. Tonight I've used my blue inhaler for the first time in ages.

London toxic smog alert issued for next three days in 'public health emergency'

Nowhere in the world should you need to check the air quality

I have to say the "black snot" thing freaked me out when I had an extended period of time there, I mean wtf is that a about

I work central - west end London and my asthma is controlled (on steroid inhaler) and didn't notice anything different today. The roads were actually quieter this morning

kerryob PseudoBadger do you want to stick around anyway?
EmbarrassingBaddie would even not consider running in Hyde Park?

It'd the aircraft dumping fuel while waiting to land at Heathrow you need to worry about. It's constant.

I have never had black snot. Nor has my friends and family and I'm a Londoner born and bred.

It wasn't a "wouldn't", more a "rather not" iyswim. The closest park to my work is St James's and running there at 5pm on a weeknight in summer is quite unpleasant. I've only run in Hyde park for the London half marathon. That was fine but it was a Sunday and lots of roads were shut so difficult to generalise from.

Savage - I don't understand how this works, but ime black snot only happens if you are unused to London air. I remember getting it when I lived in the home counties and came in for a day of shopping. Now I'm in the West end every day my snot is totally normal

I'm from the north and last time I visited London when I blew my nose it was grey

I've recently downloaded an app called CityAir which carries the current warning level and whichs meant to help you pick your way through London by choosing the least polluted routes.

Away from the main roads, it's probably code green. Most main roads, amber. Some hotspots, red.

Immune to London pollution then. Scary!

joys of being a Londoner - knowing the tubes inside out, understanding what the fuck cabbies say through those microphone thingys and the black snot immunity gene.

I'm Yorkshire and always get the snot!

Yep, my nose was always grey too. I used to live in London, though on the outskirts where it wasn't bad. I think it's mainly from the tube (dusty tunnels) that the grey stuff happens. I used to travel through London twice a week for 2 years for uni!

Used to have black snot when I lived in London. Now I'm in the Midlands it's white, can breathe the air so much easier here.

Yes, it is. There are thousands of extra deaths per year because of it, children's lungs are affected, and it is thought to be contributing to the rise in dementia cases, amongst other things. Increased hospital admissions for breathing difficulties on days where pollution is high.

We breach the EU air pollution limits for the whole year by around 8th January every single year. One EU rule our governments have been very happy to ignore, though you won't see the Daily Mail including that in their schtick about how we're the only mugs to follow all the rules.

YY to the black snot when you first move there from elsewhere or if you have been away for a while - but I think it mainly is dust from the Tube more than air pollution...although I do remember being freaked out about how quickly the windows got dirty on the outside and the amount of black dust that would build up on the window bottoms inside in one flat I lived in with old sash windows that was next to a main road...(Earl's court area)...
I think the air pollution you can't see is scarier than what you can...
And when I left I went to live miles away (semi rural and near the coast) I really noticed that for the first few weeks I was ready for bed earlier and slept really deeply -woke up earlier and feeling refreshed, with more energy.
I mentioned it to someone else and they said they experienced the same and they thought it was the clean air ... (fresh and sea air apparently are good for sleep -so there might be some truth in it...)
I am used to it now though ...so don't notice the difference any more.

When I first moved to London I had black snots for the first few weeks, especially after tube travel. Then it went away and I pretty much forgot about it. I don't live in London any more but do get black snots whenever I'm back. It's a weird phenomenon.