For years, a #copper#smelter at Rouyn Noranda, #Quebec # 600 km northwest of #Montreal has been spewing a cocktail of #HeavyMetals into the air. W5 discovers that some of the town's residents are no longer willing to pay the financial benefits from heavy #industry.
The Rich Are Different: They Have Clean Air https://newrepublic.com/article/178452/clean-air-rich-luxury-good
excerpts:
"The air in each unit isn’t shared with any other. Outside air is brought in, filtered, treated with an ultraviolet-C light that kills 99.9 percent of pathogens, and completely changed out once per hour. Circulation can be boosted or slowed....
"A September 2023 study found that wildfires have erased 25 percent of air-quality improvements made since 2000. By mid-2023, the average American’s smoke exposure was worse than their total cumulative exposure every year since 2006....
"The notion that smoke could be a democratizing force, afflicting everyone equally and perhaps motivating them to take action to mitigate worsening climate conditions, is already colliding with the reality of an emerging luxury air market, yet another example of how, as the environment becomes less habitable, the wealthy will continue to insulate themselves from its worst aspects—even as their lifestyles disproportionately fuel emissions...."
Full readings from my time at the PCP this week. Not good - especially in a known COVID surge in MA - better ventilation, HEPA (merv 13) filters, and masking would go miles in protecting your staff and patients from acquired illness at your facilities.
**Outdoors, CO2 levels are 400-475 ppm. Above 800 ppm, at least 1% of your air is “shared” - meaning you're breathing in exhaled air. CO2 levels above 1,000 ppm is a sign there are elevated risks of potential virus transmission for everyone in the room. Spaces with multiple occupants should aim for 600 ppm to prevent cross-infection.
Air quality across the globe continues to deteriorate due to increasing emissions, threatening human health and contributing to the triple planetary crisis.