Want to smoke without cigarettes? Just take a walk in Budapest

Summer vacation in major European cities may result in health issues due to the heavy air pollution and breaches in the air pollution standards. As Pénzcentrum.hu writes, tourists and locals might as well start worrying in Budapest, too.

Do you also think that there is nothing better than taking a quiet walk and just relax in a calm park in Budapest? Walking around the Parliament, getting to know one of the main attractions of the city sounds like an ideal program, right? We have a good and a bad piece of news for you: on the one hand, fortunately, we have some great recommendations on how to spend your time in Budapest.

On the other hand, it may not be so good for your health, as a day of walking in the streets of Budapest is equal to smoking 3 cigarettes due to heavy air pollution, as research shows.

According to the results of the European Federation for Transport and Environment’s latest study, air pollution harmfully affects health and can be compared to the effects of smoking. The aim of the research has been to inform tourists about the risks they face on their vacation in the most popular European cities. The parallel is based on the amount of fine particulate (PM2.5), which is the most common indicator of air pollution.

Tourists “smoke” 3 cigarettes in London, 2 in Paris, 4 in Prague simply by walking in the city during their holiday.

Why your summer city break is as bad as smoking?

“Cars are the worst cause of #AirPollution in cities during the summer.
Cheating carmakers should be given a deadline to truly clean up the mess they created.”

By @paola_tamma for @POLITICOEurope
https://t.co/leVrP3xWE9 pic.twitter.com/prVQ8Jp6jH

— Transport & Environment (@transenv) August 11, 2018

Jeans Müller, Coordinator of the Air quality and Diesel group claims, “when air pollution is bad, we are told to avoid eating or exercising outside. But walking around cities and eating on restaurant terraces is what city breaks are all about.”

“Right now, tourists, including kids, are more or less forced to smoke, in terms of the health impacts.”

Health impacts of city air pollution are heart damage and other serious health issues. As T&E claims, the actual level of pollution can even be worse than reflected in this study: authorities wanting to hide bad results place the monitoring tools in parks, where the air is much cleaner.

In Hungary, the level of air pollution is critical due to which we might face serious consequences and billions of fines, among other countries. The European Commission has initiated infringement procedure against the six member states who failed to meet the agreed standards.

Source: Pénzcentrum.hu