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Nick Laham / Getty Images file
Feeling relaxed? We thought so.
Exhaust fumes may do more than pollute the air -- in very small amounts, they could be relieving stress in city dwellers.
An Israeli researcher has suggested that breathing in small quantities of carbon monoxide helps relax the frazzled nerves of city folk, making it easier for them to handle the hustle and bustle of urban living.
A study led by Itzhak Schnell, a professor of geography and human environment at Tel Aviv University, found that low levels of the poisonous gas can have a "narcotic effect" on city residents, says a news release. Although breathing in high levels of this colorless and odorless gas has been described as a "silent killer," extremely low levels of it may act as a "silent calmer," the news release claims.
This new study appears in the journal Environmental Monitoring and Assessment.
Schnell and his team tracked 36 young, healthy students who carried micro-sensors as they moved around Tel Aviv, Israel's busiest city. It measured participants' exposure to the typical hassles of city life. Scientists wanted to find out how four environmental stressors -- noise levels, air pollution (carbon monoxide concentrations), crowds and weather (temperature and humidity) -- affected the urbanites aged 20 to 40.
The sensors captured data from participants in indoor and outdoor locations as they walked along busy streets, rode public transportation or shopped. Measurements were taken over a two-day period in all four seasons. Students also completed questionnaires rating their levels of personal discomfort in their surroundings.
Researchers found that urbanite's biggest source of environmental stress was noise pollution from other people, mainly human voices. Participants also reported feeling the most stress in shopping malls, open markets and on main streets, likely because of the hordes of other people in these crowded locations.
According to Schnell, the study's most surprising finding was that participants inhaled much lower levels of carbon monoxide than scientists had predicted. Even though the students took in very low concentrations of the gas, Schnell says it appeared to counteract the stress of the noise and crowds.
The scientists suggest their findings show that for young, healthy people, the daily grind of city life might have fewer negative consequences on health as they had anticipated. Next, they plan to study how these same pressures of urban living affect more high-risk groups, such as babies, older people, and those with medical conditions like asthma.
Perhaps taking several deep breaths of polluted city air several times a day isn't that bad an idea, and may turn out to be a new form of urban Zen.
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Well, this study would go along with the whys of cigarrette smokers going out to get a smoke during times of stress and coming back calmer after that smoke. Smokers get a small dose of carbon monoxide with every puff. Unfortunately, the rest of the stuff will kill you over time.
Dead brain cells do seem to calm you down, I think I read that you get a little euphoric when you are suffocating.
How can a writer even put this to print? What corporation, lobbyist or special interest group is this article trying to protect?
Next, lowering the rules and regulations for pollution.
For the last 2 weeks I have observed stupid articles along this vein designed to let us all know just how great things are and how grateful we should be. Touchy feely good BS. I feel it is a propaganda effort at lulling the populace while OWS is going on. Distract , disinform , discredit, manipulate , infiltrate, derail , disband and dismantle. Seems like a tactical response by a threatened group in power.
No, it is true. Carbon monoxide does have a calming effect in small levels. How harmful it is on the other hand in the long term, is another question. In large amounts it can either kill you or cause severe brain damage in survivors.
The same can be said about hydrogen sulfide. That gas can kill you and stinks to high heaven. But, in small amounts it can induce a kind of suspended animation in a hospital setting. It makes mice go into hibernation.
As with everything, there is good and bad.
Well sex is only good there is no bad side........oh i forgot about stds and unplanned pregnancies, silly me.
It sounds as though we are not only being "dumbed down" but also "calmed down". It's not good to be nervous or anxious, but it's possible to be too complacent. The CO may not have been "put" there originally for this purpose, but it may be very useful to some to keep it there.
I tried sitting in my garage with the door closed and my car engine running. Not only did I feel more calm but it also made me very,very,very,very s l e e p y and frihtttstjusssh
I was frihtttstjusssh once.
It'll calm you down alright. It'll also put you into a deeper sleep than Snow White. Try this one at your own risk, folks.
Umm as far as i know carbon monoxide only does one thing to humans-kill cells.
Most things can kill you if you overdose on them.
Yes, lets not mention all the brain cells that are being killed from breathing in the carbon monoxide. By the way, studies also show that FRESH CLEAN air also has the same effect.
I don't know for sure but people appear to get real calm when they die. You'd have to ask them though.
A bullet to the head proves it will relax you as if you were in a deep sleep some people have experienced a taste of heaven. In reality you might be dead, but tests are not conclusive.
This guys never been to New York City. It would totally blow his theory.
Perhaps this helps explain something I have never understood: People who are otherwise very health-conscious, don't smoke, eat healthy, etc., claim that they get a good feeling by running excessive distances next to, or in, heavy traffic. Perhaps it is the carbon monoxide, not the running, that is giving them their 'high.'
i see aircraft going back and forth all day long until the blue sky is gone, is that what they keep spraying. i though it was barium,arsenic, and other chemicals ,that pollute the air we breath.
Thanks MSNBC - yes less oxygen to our brains is a good thing - then viewers might start coming back to your dying platform of brainwash fiction you call news.
I hope some people don't think this is a valid excuse to permit cities to remain polluted.
mmmm poison. makes me want to move to the big city just to get away from all this stressful clean air, peace and quiet.