Atletas do asfalto

Uma boa pauta para quem escreve sobre saúde ou esportes, em época de Pan: qual o efeito da poluição nas pessoas que praticam esportes nas ruas? Sempre achei um pouco estranho esse pessoal que faz cooper no meio de avenidas movimentadas de São Paulo, respirando a fumaça dos escapamentos. A repórter Gretchen Reynolds, do The New York Times, escreveu sobre o assunto nesta matéria. Um trecho: "(...) they suggested that exercisers should keep their distance from exhaust-spewing cars and check air-quality forecasts before venturing out. That said, a 2004 review of pollution studies worldwide conducted by the University of Brisbane, Australia, found that during exercise, low concentrations of pollutants caused lung damage similar to that caused by high concentrations in people not working out. Given what can be in the air, “people who exercise outdoors should probably be more worried” than many are, said Morton Lippmann, a professor of environmental medicine at the New Yprk University School of Medicine."