Reduce urban stress in two easy steps (okay…maybe not so easy)

Here’s something you probably haven’t asked yourself lately. Or ever…

“Am I getting enough carbon monoxide exposure?”

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, tasteless, colorless toxic gas. It’s known as a “silent killer” because it’s often not noticed when it builds up in enclosed spaces.

But in open spaces it’s a different story.

When Tel Aviv University researchers set out to evaluate the effects of urban stress, CO exposure was one of the factors they measured, along with excessive noise, exposure to crowds of people, and temperature extremes.

Results showed that noise pollution was the most abrasive factor in creating urban stress.

What researchers didn’t expect — in fact it was completely surprising — was that CO exposure (which was lower than expected) appeared to have a slight narcotic effect — enough to make the excess noise and large crowds less stressful for subjects in the study.

Needless to say, it’s impossible to regulate your outdoor CO exposure in any city. And needless to say, you wouldn’t want to take steps to increase CO exposure.

But the Tel Aviv team did recommend that urban living would be much less stressful if concerted efforts were made to curb noise pollution.

Hmmm… Good luck asking city slickers if they could just keep it down a little.

Sources:
“Carbon Monoxide — The Silent Calmer?” American Friends / Tel Aviv University, 11/8/11, aftau.org