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The Forum > General Discussion > unsafe air

unsafe air

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If you live in Brisbane and commute by bus chances are that you are being exposed to very unsafe air.

Recently there has been considerable public debate about air pollution and how it is damaging our health.

In a television debate on air pollution (SBS program ‘Insight’ called ‘Carlovers’) Dr Ray Kearney, a retired Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney, had this to say,

“Well, the problem is that the combustion of fossil fuel, particularly diesel, generates toxic end products. Among them you have noxious gases and you have particles, and the very fine particles can be inhaled and be carried all the way down to the gas exchange units, where they dissolve and offload their cancer-causing cargo. But the fact of the matter is that our current national standards are not appropriate for health risk.”

The internet link to the transcript is here

=> http://news.sbs.com.au/insight/episode/index/id/24#transcript

Brisbane's bus network includes subterranean bus-stations and tunnels.

"Where other Australian cities in earlier decades invested in underground rail, Brisbane, Queensland, in an attempt to clear up city streets, invested in tunnels for its bus system.

Passengers wait for their buses behind automatic doors in an air-conditioned environment with advanced information displays."

(Source => http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street_Bus_Station,_Brisbane)

Opened in 1988 the Queen Street Bus Station was built underneath of the Myer shopping complex situated in the Queen Street Mall.

Since 1988 the frequency of bus services from QSBS has increased considerably. Coupled with the added traffic passing through the bus station to service the newly opened underground King George Square Bus Station, the levels of diesel air pollution have soared.

The only upgrade to existing air-conditioning at the Queen Street station is the recent introduction of two air-extraction fans on the ceiling. Fans which are not operated sufficiently by Translink to extract air.

My research has revealed that there is no monitoring of SPM levels in these underground stations. The extraction fans are operated by staff when they get round to it.

We rely on government to protect our health and environment but in this instance they have clearly failed us.
Posted by sintch, Tuesday, 9 December 2008 7:54:02 AM
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Many yanks during the war thought Brisbane was little more than a large country town...and for quite a few decades after WW2 it wasnt much other.
When we crossed the border (we lived in Ballina NSW as kids) it seems such a grotty state.
They even lit up fags in the picture theatres.

When I started going to Brisbane from country QLD in the early 1980's it was still quite primitive in many aspects, though in recent years things appear to have improved.

The Queens Street Mall seems to have had a facelift and there are modern buildings all over the place.

The main unclean and scrappy looking area, I found, was down around the Roman Street Transit Centre.

QLD Government has always seemed to me to be a bit 3rd world though if you keep pushing they will, Im sure, eventually get to those polluted bus tunnels.

*A warning to southern residents about moving to QLD...there arent as many jobs in QLD as people think; and many people have found that they have had to move back south after a while.

DO YOUR RESEARCH WELL...dont just pack up and lob up there.
Posted by Gibo, Thursday, 11 December 2008 7:21:13 AM
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Gibo,

I would have no desire to move to Queenland for most of the reasons you mention. Good place for a visit and nice climate, but so backward.

You comment on people smoking in picture theatres. Didn't that happen everywhere? I remember in the early 70's people smoking in theatres (there were designated smoking areas) in Sydney. Not only that, but Sydney trains had smoking carraiges, the top deck on double decker buses was for smokers and the back of single deck buses was for the smokers.

Cigarettes were advertised on TV. (Remember Paul Hogan's Winfield ads)and Cigarette billboards were everywhere. When a smoker went into the home of a non smoker, they thought nothing of lighting up in their home, and most non smokers had ashtrays for visitors.

I don't think I've gon too far off topic. This thread is "unsafe Air".

One good thing about Brisbane, their trains are cleaner and more reliable than in Sydney. (I seem to remember that no eating or drinking is allowed).
Posted by Steel Mann, Thursday, 11 December 2008 7:45:16 AM
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Steel Mann.
Actually the pollution problem is much to do, I think, at certain times of the year with the climate...hot and steamy with air trapped at sea level.

Over all Its become a pleasant, smallish city.

Its got all of those high-set houses like in Darcy Doyle paintings.

Darcy did QLD a good service.

You can feel the 'past times' of his works even down as far as northern NSW.

They never smoked fags in the Ballina, NSW picture theatre when I was a kid.
Posted by Gibo, Thursday, 11 December 2008 8:10:24 AM
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I am living in New York City since quite a long time now. I do know a lot about unsafe air and i definitely don't want to poison my future kids. My husband and I are now thinking of moving to Hawaii.
We are looking for homes for sale on the Big Island: http://www.hawaiis.com/big-island/
because I want a safe future for us.
I guess we'll be safe there for a bit!
Posted by daltong2005, Friday, 12 December 2008 1:49:13 AM
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