Yeah, this isn't much of a surprise, but it does steel my reserve to get the hell out of this cesspool of a city as soon as possible. Seoul was recently found to have the worst air quality of any OECD city. I shudder to think of the crap that must be circling around my bag of blood.
In a study led by Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, in collaboration with the Environmental Working Group and Commonweal, researchers at two major laboratories found an average of 91 industrial compounds, pollutants, and other chemicals in the blood and urine of nine volunteers, with a total of 167 chemicals found in the group. Like most of us, the people tested do not work with chemicals on the job and do not live near an industrial facility.
Scientists refer to this contamination as a personââ¬â¢s body burden. Of the 167 chemicals found, 76 cause cancer in humans or animals, 94 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 79 cause birth defects or abnormal development. The dangers of exposure to these chemicals in combination has never been studied.
[more...]
[via Mefi]
You can also subscribe to the 
Booze Glorious Booze
Emergency
Links
Metablogging
Me|dia
Musical Interludes
People Say Stuff Sometimes
Politics Chafe My Scrote
Random Silliness
Reminiscences
Thoughts That, If Not Deep, Are At Least Wide
Trippy Visuals, Man
Uncategorizable Crap
Uncrappy
non compos mentis
Burningbird said
Have a beer. After all, it couldn't hurt, could it.
May 27, 2003 6:39 PM
stavrosthewonderchicken said
Beer good! Chock full o' vitamins.
*waits for Friday*
May 27, 2003 7:23 PM
Jack Cluth said
Hey, if you're looking to detox slowly, you could always move to Houston. Our air may not be as bad as Seoul's but we're not exactly the EPA's poster child for success, either....
May 28, 2003 3:51 AM
Andrew said
erk! it took me some years to connect seemingly random attacks of blinding headaches and associated vagueness with days of high air pollution. but this is melbourne, aus. and we're talking a few days a year. so how do you fare when it's like that every day? are you permanently affected by it?
the only real hope for you is that perhaps there are active compounds in the beer that bind to all the nasties? gotta be worth a few years' research.
May 28, 2003 4:08 AM
Magyar said
And then there's this from today's LA Times: "Seoul's Vulnerability Is Key to War Scenarios." Good luck.
May 29, 2003 1:55 PM
dg said
And you are surprised about this because...?
May 30, 2003 10:24 PM
dg said
Of course, you did say you were not surprised, didn't you? *smacks self on forehead*
May 30, 2003 10:34 PM