Job Discussion Forums

MO39 · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:56 pm Post subject:

Ah, pollution! I remember the good old days in Mexico City when, after an hour outside in the fetid air, I would return home and find that the under part of my fingernails were black! I don't like to think about what color my lungs were...

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

MO, you've been coming and going to DF for some time. Do you see improvements in air quality over the long haul? I know you were here decades ago (70's was it?).

Sometimes I think it hard to gauge. I see a big difference from when I first got here in 2000, but sometimes I wonder if I've just become accustomed to it, especially reading corporatehuman's posts as a newcomer.

I don't recall the last hoy doble no circula smog alert...some time in 2004 I think. They were more common back in 2001.

justin032 · Joined: 22 Jul 2006 Posts: 28

I think I read something in Wikipedia about how in the 80s there was this day when the pollution was so bad thousands of birds dropped dead from the sky...yeesh! I guess that's when they decided they had to do something about it.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

They still had leaded gasoline in the 80's, which was one of the biggest problems. They switched to unleaded like the US and Canada at some point in the 90's.

MO39 · Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2007 4:12 pm Post subject:

Guy, I'd be happy to give everyone my completely subjective opinion on the topic. Apart from the the fact that my fingernails are now squeaky clean most of the time (even after a stroll downtown), I can use my very sensitive eyes as a barometer of pollution levels in the D.F. I have very bad allergies, which these days mostly affect my eyes, making them water and itch. When I stroll outside, they don't bother me any more than they did in Madrid or Philadelphia, and many days they feel just fine! So I would say that the pollution is definitely better than it was several years ago! Of course, it's been years since I've been here in the cold days of January and February, with its dreaded thermal inversions and horribly high level of pollution. I don't know how my eyes will react to that!

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

Jan and Feb weren't too bad last year. Still no smog alerts. I find late March or April to be the worst when the winds come in from the north and kick up all the dry dust up there.