Is Air Pollution in Spanish Cities Fueled by Drugs?

[LowlyPion]

Spanish study shows cocaine in the air in 2 cities
May 14, 2009 11:52 AM (5 hrs ago) By CIARAN GILES, AP

MADRID (Map, News) -
Air pollution has long been a fact of life in Spanish cities, but scientists now say it is not just smog that chokes people as they walk to work or stroll through the park. A new study has found the air in Madrid and Barcelona is also laced with at least five drugs - most prominently cocaine.

The Superior Council of Scientific Investigations, a government scientific institute, said on its Web site Thursday that in addition to cocaine, they found trace amounts of amphetamines, opiates, cannabinoids and lysergic acid -a relative of LSD - in two air-quality control stations, one in each city.

http://www.examiner.com/a-2015314~Spanish_study_shows_cocaine_in_the_air_in_2_cities.html

That's getting pretty outre chic. So much pot smoking, cocaine and LSD that it shows up in air quality tests?

 

[russ_watters]

Well, the issue is half that and half air quality testers bragging about the sensitivity of their equipment. There was a similarly useless news story last year about poisons in the drinking water in many US cities...measured in ppb.

 

[mgb_phys]

On a similar 'note'
http://i.livescience.com/images/080805-world-currency-02.jpg

 

[WhoWee]

On a similar 'note'
http://i.livescience.com/images/080805-world-currency-02.jpg

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I've actually observed people licking their money before handing it to a cashier...sadly more than on one occasion.

 

[drankin]

I've actually observed people licking their money before handing it to a cashier...sadly more than on one occasion.

You're kidding right?? That's disgusting. Safer than licking a strangers palm, but not much different.

 

[WhoWee]

I wish I was kidding. Have you ever noticed "rolled up" bills...those are the ones they really want.

 

[junglebeast]

I wish I was kidding. Have you ever noticed "rolled up" bills...those are the ones they really want.

Hahaha...right. Anyway, that's probably the most incomprehensible chart layout I've ever laid eyes on.

 

[signerror]

I think this is more an indication of the sensitivity of mass spectrometers than anything else.

The research found cocaine in concentrations ranging between 29 and 850 picograms per cubic meter of air. A picogram is one-trillionth of a gram.

The density of air is about 1.2 kg/m^3, so the range is 24 - 708 ppq ("parts per quadrillion").

 

[junglebeast]

The density of air is about 1.2 kg/m^3, so the range is 24 - 708 ppq ("parts per quadrillion").

That's interesting. I wonder if our sensors would be powerful enough to hunt down a person in real time based on an electronic nose..well I guess dogs can do it. Hmm. I wonder why this kind of technology hasn't been made.