The fine particle pollution alert fell on Airparif on Monday on one of the sunniest afternoons. “Average to poor air quality. Episode of #pollution in #PM10 is planned”. That is to say a Valentine’s Day placed under the sign of fine particles, the famous PM10 (particles in suspension, noted PM in English for particulate matter, with a diameter of less than 10 µm) having exceeded the alert threshold and for which the Île-de-France Regional Health Agency requests that moderate activities be favored and intense physical and sports activities outdoors be avoided . Unfortunate coincidence: we had planned to put on the sneakers for a run end of the day, let’s go !
20 minutes has therefore taken the opportunity to meet amateur sportsmen, who run or cycle along the banks of the Ourcq canal or organize a session of breakdance or street work outdespite this Airparif alert, triggered on Monday.
Sporting activity and pollution peak compatible?
” An alert ? Oh no, but I have the half of Paris in less than three weeks, and the marathon a month later”, explains Marco, camelback screwed on the back and t-shirt close to the mop, in full stretching after a course of 1h30. Similar response from Lola and her two friends, about to start an outdoor break session: “We are young and the weather is finally nice. “Impossible to move a session, adds Marco with a smile. And is this episode of pollution so serious? »
Serious perhaps not, but the thresholds are exceeded and the prevention messages are multiplying. Is physical activity then compatible with pollution peaks? “Yes, because even in the event of pollution, physical activity remains beneficial in the long term. The risk-benefit ratio remains in favor of regular sports practice”, asks Doctor Jean-Philippe Santoni, pulmonologist and prevention referent at the Breath Foundation.
“We don’t feel the difference with usual in terms of breathing”
“We are not high-level athletes, launch Simon and Nassim in the middle of a muscle strengthening session at the edge of the water, near self-service weight machines. But it does us a lot of good, it relaxes and sculpts. Frankly, the weather is nice, we don’t feel the difference with usual in terms of breathing. For Doctor Jean-Philippe Santoni, there is no question of stopping his practice under the pretext of exceeding the alert thresholds but of adapting it and monitoring any symptoms. “We are not equal when it comes to particulate and ozone pollution. Certain categories are more sensitive to it. And to mention young children up to about 7 years old, pregnant women, the elderly over 70-75 years old and people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases, mainly asthma and obstructive pulmonary disease which is a tobacco disease. Lola and her two acolytes who set up their enclosure a few steps from the lawn of La Villette, can therefore dance in peace: without asthma attacks or increased breathing difficulties, they can satisfy their passion without constraint.
Salima, also encountered during her run weekly, saw in it an explanation for his lack of motivation for the day. Before admitting: “The peak of pollution has nothing to do with it. For a month, I had trouble motivating myself. “She easily admits not paying attention to it, she who defines herself as a “Sunday sportswoman”. However, the pulmonologist affirms: “We are paying more and more attention to air quality. He continues: “It has frankly improved in Paris and its region for 70 years”.
Prefer moderate physical activity
Doctor Jean-Philippe Santoni also adds that “pollution peaks have negative effects on respiratory health but are less on that of daily life”. He thus advises moderate physical activity, rather outdoors, “because indoor pollution is generally five to eight times higher, in particular if the place is not equipped with a VMC with particle filter”. “Since the Covid, I have worn my mask in summer and winter, says Gilles, stopped on the cycle path which runs along the canal. That way, I’m protected against the Covid, pollution and even the cold. »
“The mask can be a solution, concedes Doctor Santoni. But you need an FFP2 or FFP3, not the surgical mask which is generally there to protect others and not the wearer, and if possible with an activated carbon cartridge. The only limit: when you play sports, wearing a mask is not always easy, knowing that it is “important to change it as soon as it is wet and that it does not filter ultra-fine particles” , specifies the pulmonologist. No time to tell Gilles, who is already heading for Bondy, when it’s time to go home, and check off 50 minutes of moderate activity out of the 150 to 300 weekly recommended by the WHO.