--- title: How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute description: Walking on quieter side streets is one way to lower air pollution exposure, rather than walking on main streets, a new study suggests. canonical: https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-28T14:28:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:04:54.463Z article:section: Health og:title: How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute og:description: A new study argues for taking a quieter route og:url: https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5532a35596b4115/698865c13c16395e2f459f5a/cars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5187 og:image:height: 2918 og:image:alt: BC7379-001 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute twitter:description: A new study argues for taking a quieter route twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5532a35596b4115/698865c13c16395e2f459f5a/cars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ## Video: Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change [Watch (HLS stream): Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8) (0:48)  _Published 2013-05-09. Climate Change_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 28, 2015 2:28 PM UTC  Car exhaust emitting grey smoke, close-up Car exhaust emitting grey smoke, close-up Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Sep 28, 2015 2:28 PM UTC To lower your exposure to air pollution, walk on quieter side streets rather than busy main streets, [a new study](http://www.erscongress.org/about-ers2015/media-center/press-releases/83-press-releases-2015/338-walking-quieter-routes-to-work-can-avoid-peaks-in-air-pollution.html) suggests. In the study, presented at the European Respiratory Society’s International Congress, a researcher used a handheld monitor that measured black carbon particulate matter—which is a byproduct of incomplete diesel combustion, released by vehicles—and compared levels on separate routes around London. Long-term exposure to black carbon can lead to respiratory problems, including asthma. Researcher Lee Koh of the Blizard Institute at Queen Mary University of London walked from one point in the city to another using busy streets and main roads, and then walked to the same places using quieter routes. She did each route six times and found that the less busy routes had significantly less black carbon exposure during the peak moments when pollution levels are highest, such as when standing at an intersection waiting to cross a street. The study needs to be replicated in other cities, but offers early guidance for people who spend a lot of time walking, like commuters. “We found in this small study that people could avoid peaks in black carbon if they choose to walk a quieter route,” Koh said[ in a statement](http://Lowering the drinking age to 18 increases dropout rates http://ti.me/1LWoCP2). ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/"},"headline":"How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute","datePublished":"2015-09-28T14:28:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T08:04:54.463Z","description":"A new study argues for taking a quieter route","url":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/","keywords":["Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5532a35596b4115/698865c13c16395e2f459f5a/cars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta5532a35596b4115/698865c13c16395e2f459f5a/cars.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BC7379-001","caption":"BC7379-001","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/public-health/","name":"Public Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/","name":"How to Avoid Air Pollution on Your Commute"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Watch: A Timelapse of Climate Change","description":"Climate Change","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ywHiuC83/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2013-05-09T17:46:05.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ywHiuC83.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/","duration":"PT48S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4051896/air-pollution-commute/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```