Paris pollution

theLocal.fr is a website with news that I read daily. They had a couple of articles about it this and last week. Apparently it has been extremely bad. So bad that for a couple days all public transportation in Paris was free... to discourage people from driving cars.

While I have only been to Paris in the summertime, I have never experienced any pollution that would give me any worries. I did have a friend who was in Paris last year at the same time you are going and he didn't experience any pollution. Any city can have an inversion layer which could make the type of pollution you describe, but I would be very surprised if you encounter anything anywhere near the pollution that you have worried about.

Having lived in both Beijing and Paris, I want to ease your mind and say --while the pollution is a problem, I am extremely thankful that the French gouvernement is trying to get it under control. Part of living in Beijing was waking up and checking the air quality index to see if I should wear a mask outside that day. This is not the case in Paris. There might be some smog in the air, and pollution is never good for your lungs - but it shouldn't hurt your trip at all. I, too, will be flying into Paris next week - maybe we'll bump into each other.

Why is it that some people cannot resist, they even enjoy, putting a damper on a friend's travel plans? The people in Paris hate Americans, Paris is dangerous and liable to have terrorist attacks while you are there, the pickpockets are everywhere, even on the tarmac awaiting your plane, the pollution will kill you ....... geez Louise. A SARS mask? Yes, certainly, if you want to look like a total idiot. Good thing you have asked on this forum so you can counter the negativity with a dismissive laugh and a few facts.

I get really strange comments from co-workers about every trip I take, and sometimes they take me by surprise, so I understand your concern! Sometimes I get a question like, "Why would you want to go to Death Valley" and I just say that is the next place on my list. Before going to Europe I can usually expect to get the snarky comment, "There are so many places I want to see in the U.S. before I leave the country."

I went to Scandinavia earlier this year and I got a lot of comments from one of my co-workers about the migrant crisis and the supposed resulting increase in violent crime in Sweden. I went to Scandinavia and had a fabulous trip, felt safe the entire time, and learned about how proud many Swedes are to be able to help so many people in desperate need.

Anyway, try not to let anyone ruin the excitement for your trip. I hope you have a great time!

I agree with Norma... they're just jealous.
As I noted above, it has been an issue recently but I'm going to Paris soon and am not the least bit concerned.

Amen to the two posts above. Why just today someone said to me "I hope there's no terrorist attacks while you're there.".

I should add that I am going to Paris for a week in February for my 15 year anniversary and I'm not letting ANYBODY ruin my excitement!!

I'm here in Paris right now, flew in from the US this week. The pollution is not a problem at all. Today was a fine sunny day and I spent hours walking the streets of Paris, with my toddler in tow, breathing perfectly well. It is typical city congestion with cars, motorbikes, & trucks zipping about but I didn't notice any unusual smog. Enjoy your trip!

I don't mean to sound like the chamber of commerce or tourist board or whatever, AND I'm not sensitive to airborne pollution, but to be honest I've found it a bit strange the past couple of weeks with all these pollution peaks, driving restrictions, free public transport (again yesterday/Friday) . . . And I can't tell it's polluted AT ALL.

But they keep showing the crowds in the pediatric urgent care for kids having asthma exacerbated , etc. But honestly I can't see it, smell it, feel it. Very strange.

Rather than anecdotal stories, look at the numbers.

Paris' Air Quality Index (AQI) over the past 6 months seems to be showing December to be the worst month for PM2.5 pollutants, but in general not too bad: http://aqicn.org/city/france/paris/paris-18eme/

But that said, Arlington, TX (between Dallas & Ft. Worth) reports better air quality than Paris: http://aqicn.org/city/texas/dallas/fort-worth/arlington-municipal-airport/

And Bejing during coal burning season is considered unhealthy: http://aqicn.org/city/beijing/

Adding:
What is the AQI: https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=aqi_brochure.index

The AQI is an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how
clean or unhealthy your air is, and what associated health effects
might be a concern. The AQI focuses on health effects you may
experience within a few hours or days after breathing unhealthy air.
The AQI is calculated for four major air pollutants regulated by the
Clean Air Act: ground level ozone, particle pollution, carbon
monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. For each of these pollutants, EPA has
established national air quality standards to protect public health.
EPA is currently reviewing the national air quality standard for
nitrogen dioxide.

What is the EPA: https://www.epa.gov/history

Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution,
EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a
variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and
enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its
inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment
for the American people.

Thanks for all the helpful responses. I'm not going to let the hysterics around me, spoil my trip.

One of our traveling companions had undergone radiation in July, and that person is looking into having a mask "just in case," but still planning on going out and about in Paris.

Glad to read the comments of those who are in Paris at the moment.

Born in the wake of elevated concern about environmental pollution,
EPA was established on December 2, 1970 to consolidate in one agency a
variety of federal research, monitoring, standard-setting and
enforcement activities to ensure environmental protection. Since its
inception, EPA has been working for a cleaner, healthier environment
for the American people.

EPA: Born December 2, 1970. Died: January 20, 2017. RIP.

Robert... exactly right. Along with many other things.

@Norma -- I can look like an idiot without a SARS mask!

@Ginger -- Have a wonderful trip and don't worry about air pollution. Or pickpockets (but use common sense), or rude people (but say Bonjour and Merci and Au Revoir), or terrorists, or bad food (there isn't any).

Oh, Dick, surely that is not true!

So are taxis and busses running as usual? A friend was going to drive through Paris to Morbihan and he was advised to avoid Paris altogether because of more traffic congestion than usual.

Morbihan is in Brittany, so presumably your friend was driving there from somewhere in eastern France -- ? Driving through Paris for such a trip would make no sense any time because of city traffic. You'd want to avoid the whole metropolitan area if possible. Whether Paris traffic was especially bad on a particular day would have no bearing on that choice.

Ginger, if your friend wasn't planning to actually stop and visit Paris, there should be no reason to route through there. Regardless of where they are coming from I'm sure they can find a route to Morbihan that doesn't go through Paris. I agree with Dick that I would avoid that if at all possible - any time.

I agree, and have passed on the wisdom to him. He is not on this board, which he should be!

Found out he was trying to say that I would be better off with the metro and not taxi/bus from airport because he "heard" there is more traffic congestion because of the "pollution!"

I wouldn't expect it to be worse than usual, being a city.

Traffic was heavy earlier in the week because Uber was on strike. Our taxi driver yesterday said the traffic has been enjoyably light with the driving ban in place.

Also, FYI, driving bans to fight pollution are fairly common in Europe. They usually apply more to commercial trucks than passenger cars, but do not indicate some sort of unusual crisis or emergency.

sounds like a jealous co-worker. always good not to tell them anything about your personal life

A SARS mask? Yes, certainly, if you want to look like a total idiot.

Wearing a mask is quite common in parts of Asia to combat the effects of pollution and prevent the spread of illness.

I have seen some people wearing masks on my trips, but they are usually tourists from places where pollution is worse than anywhere in Europe. Places where the masks they wear are almost useless and a respirator would probably be more appropriate.

See this article for more info. It does seem like there are many people in the market for fear and that they can find many places to buy it. Then they want to sell it to others.

We were just there over Thanksgiving break and are from an especially pristine air quality place in the mountains of Colorado. We noticed no issues with pollution (or rats for that matter, and I know rats from living in Boston during the big dig). The only people we saw with masks were a few Chinese tourists, who I assumed wore them in their home cities.

Actually, he heard right about the traffic being affected by the pollution. In addition to the authorities making public transport free on high-pollution days, they often instate alternate-plate-only driving (i.e. on Mondays, license plates whose numbers end in an even number can be on the roads, on Tuesday, license plates with an odd number, or however it works out).

I don't understand as it would seem to halve the number of vehicles on the roads, but somehow it makes it more of a mess.

For quite a few days last week, Uber drivers were protesting as well due to Uber's having increased its rates while decreasing or holding steady the drivers' commissions, so it WAS taking people a long time to get to/from the airports on the road. That's not related to pollution restrictions, of course, but may have played into what he was hearing about.

I lived in Paris for several weeks and the only SARS masks I saw were on conservative Muslim women. Covering your face is illegal in France and they used the masks instead of wearing a full burkha.

I liked Normas post.. sick of those negative nellys that delight in raining on other peoples parades.

We were in Paris this past June ( so some time ago ) and noticed no air pollution issue that affected us at all. Still.. on occasion you see masked people, invariably Asian tourists. Heck I live in a small clean city on an island off the west coast of Canada and sometimes see Asians wearing those masks here. My hubby says they are useless as they don't help with emmisions like carbon monoixide from cars etc.

If friend still has an iffy immune system be sure to carry a package of those antibacterial wipes for her hands.. menus are notoriously dirty ( every where not just paris) so wipe hands after ordering and picking up a piece of bread with your hands.

For the record I have not seen Muslim women walking around with SARS masks in Paris.

If you happen to suffer from severe asthma, you should bring extra medecine. Some days, there is a low-hanging funky brown fog that doesn't dissipate. French respiratory specialists say that masks are basically useless and the best thing is to stay indoors and limit activity until pollution levels diminish.

Just got back. Beautiful sunsets. Metro was free. It was great. Have a wonderful trip.

Regarding Asian travelers wearing surgical masks out in public, it's most likely that those individuals have a cold or a cough and they are being considerate about not spreading their germs to others. I believe this practice began in Japan and has carried over to China and Korea. Since the outbreak of SARS in 2002 and later the bird flu epidemic, the wearing of masks by Asian immigrants in North America has become quite common.

All was perfect!

No issues whatsoever. The jealous ones who tried to put the fear of God into me, did not win.

Paris was beautiful :-)

Ginger thanks for coming back and updating us.. its so true people try to scare people off enjoying things .. with no real experience either.. just to be negative nellys.
Glad you have a good trip.

Ginger, so glad you had a wonderful time! Thanks for coming back to report !

You can exhale now, Ginger! ;-)

Good for you, Ginger. Be sure to tell all the negativity folks what a wonderful place .Paris is, and that you can't wait to go back.