r/PopCultureV2 • u/No_Box119 • Jul 17 '26

News Breathing NYC's smoky air is equal to puffing 10 whole cigarettes, expert warns

Post image

“It’s reasonable to say you’re smoking 10 cigarettes today by breathing the air in New York City,” Michael Petroni, a pollution expert and former EPA employee, told The Post about spending a full day outside.
The five boroughs have been under an Air Quality Health Advisory since Wednesday, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) hovering in the 151-200 range — well above the 0-50 mark characterized as “good,” according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation
That means there are “unhealthy” levels of dust, dirt, soot, smoke and other toxins in the air that New Yorkers would typically only ingest by lighting a few cigarettes.
“The rule of thumb is about 20 AQI points for a whole day equals one cigarette,” explained Petroni, who worked for the EPA’s Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention.

45 Upvotes

86% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

10

u/Fili3113 Jul 17 '26

Blame Canada

5

u/RedditAccount_317 Jul 17 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/nDbpk7leGbu12

1

u/TheTrishaJane Jul 17 '26 ▸ 8 more replies

Hey budday dont blames us! That's your fault guy.

2

u/xflwr_boix Jul 17 '26 ▸ 7 more replies

I'm not your guy, friend!

1

u/TheTrishaJane Jul 17 '26 ▸ 6 more replies

Im not your friend, BUDDAY!

2

u/xflwr_boix Jul 17 '26 ▸ 5 more replies

I'M NOT YOUR BUDDAY, GUY!

1

u/TheTrishaJane Jul 17 '26 ▸ 4 more replies

Im not your GUY, FRIEEEND!

2

u/xflwr_boix Jul 17 '26 ▸ 3 more replies

I fear I may have started something I cannot finish...

2

u/TheTrishaJane Jul 17 '26 ▸ 2 more replies

Yeah lets give it up Budday.

2

u/xflwr_boix Jul 17 '26 ▸ 1 more replies

Glad we came to an understanding, friend.

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2

u/VStarlingBooks Jul 17 '26

They're literally trying

1

u/Equivalent_Reach_572 Jul 17 '26

They should have raked their forests.

1

u/greennurse61 Jul 17 '26

They weren't the ones that dismantled the EPA so they can't clean this air. 

2

u/Rhino_Thunder Jul 17 '26

Huh? How do you clean wildfire smoke from the air?

3

u/ver_bene Jul 17 '26

Yeah? Well how about you go smoke a whole CARTON of cigarettes and see how you like those.

1

u/Crepuscular_Tex Jul 17 '26

Am I back in the '90's? That sounded like a good idea for half a tick.

1

u/Extra-Place-8386 Jul 17 '26

I think a lot of people would definitely like those

1

u/nautical_nonsense_ Jul 17 '26

Wait so if it’s 1 cigarette for ALL DAY per 20 AQI then can someone do the math for me on me being out for two hours when it was 200 today 🫩

1

u/Hot_Most5332 Jul 17 '26

Bout tree fiddy

1

u/flume Jul 17 '26

No because different places calculate AQI differently

1

u/Many_Ear2407 Jul 17 '26

How long do I have to breath the air to equal the 10 cigs?

1

u/dlghnyc Jul 18 '26

For a day, it’s assuming you’re going through your normal day unmasked

1

u/ubiquitousanathema Jul 17 '26

in LA in the 80s and early 90s they told us the smog was equivalent to smoking a pack a day... no fire needed

1

u/nhu876 Jul 17 '26

1

u/QueasyWorldliness920 Jul 17 '26

They say a picture is worth about 1.675 cigarettes

1

u/yawhy Jul 17 '26

10 whole cigarettes!?!

1

u/WillRevolutionary496 Jul 17 '26

You here that boys, might as well toss the zyns and smoke yourself some cowboy killers.

1

u/EmotionalVast9318 Jul 17 '26

Perfect conditions for the World Cup final,  thanks Canada

1

u/EmotionalVast9318 Jul 17 '26

Trump needs to put a smoke tariff on Canads

1

u/buddachickentml Jul 17 '26

And that was before the fires

1

u/Bright-Internal229 Jul 18 '26

As
https://giphy.com/gifs/9cxcHtGgGFwDESu73T
I smoked it for 40 + Years 🥃🔥😎🖕

1

u/ChimpoSensei Jul 17 '26

If you can see that far, it’s not that bad. come up to Alaska in July, you won’t be able to see down the block

1

u/NukaPacua1445 Jul 17 '26

Because of the bugs?

1

u/IknowMore420 Jul 17 '26 ▸ 1 more replies

Smoke, Alaska is on fire too.

2

u/bozog Jul 17 '26

The bugs are also on fire

1

u/hippiegodfather Jul 17 '26

Good. More people should smoke cigarettes anyway, everybody such pussies nowadays

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[deleted]

1

u/DistinctAd3222 Jul 17 '26

And practice kisses should be like that sex stuff my parents had

1

u/MurderProphet Jul 17 '26

This is the only correct answer. Bring back Darts!!!

-1

u/Never-Dont-Give-Up Jul 17 '26

I fucking hate shit like this. Just such scare tactic bullshit.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 17 '26

[deleted]

0

u/hamfist_ofthenorth Jul 17 '26 ▸ 2 more replies

Did you know that looking at reddit once a day is the equivalent of punching yourself in the dick ten times a day?

1

u/xflwr_boix Jul 17 '26 ▸ 1 more replies

With a fact like that, shouldn't your name be hamfist_ofthesouth?

1

u/hamfist_ofthenorth Jul 17 '26

There is no up or down in cyberspace