Manger dans les transports urbains : un comportement à déconseiller pour la santé et l’hygiène ?

Abstract

Regular commuters of public transportation are chronically exposed to sanitary issues and pollution particles that can get into the body through three main ways: breathing, eating and skin pores. While it is hardly conceivable to completely stop particulate matters to get into the body via respiration and skin pores-one cannot stop to breathe or to close his body pores in public transports -it is fully possible to reduce inhalable doses of pollutants by avoiding food consumption in urban mass transit systems that usually serve short and endurable distances in local municipalities. Recommending against eating food on public transports should produce positive outcomes for the sanitary conditions of the transportation means itself and for the health of passengers. Transports en commun et vie moderneLes progrès scientifiques et technologiques ont bouleversé nos modes de vie, nos comportements et nos façons de manger, de boire et de se déplacer. Ils nous imposent parfois le type de nourriture à consommer, le moment et le lieu de se nourrir. L'un des aspects les plus marquants de ces progrès est le développement et l'ancrage solide des moyens de transport en commun dans la vie économique et sociale d'une société moderne et industrialisée. L'Observatoire de la mobilité en Île-de-France (Omnil), un fédérateur des acteurs fournisseurs de données et d'expertises sur la mobilité en Île-de-France, a estimé le nombre de voyageurs en Île-de-France en 2015, tous modes confondus (bus, métro, tramway, train) à environ 4,5 milliards (4,500,000,000) de personnes 2 dont un milliard et demi (1,500,000,000) dans le métro parisien avec ses 303 stations et 14 lignes parcourant une distance de 205 km 3 . Le nombre de voyageurs en Île-de-France par an dépasse ainsi le nombre de la population de la Chine (1,4

Environmental and Health Effects of Ventilation in Subway Stations: A Literature Review

“…First, according to genera comparisons, subway microbes are closely associated with the human body and activity [190,200,201]. Foods and garbage produced by passengers also pollute indoor microbial environments [203]. Next, continuous and efficient air exchanges maintain healthy microbial concentrations and make microbial species in subways similar to outside air [201].…”

Lessons to Learn from COVID-19

“…Another public health concern raised by the COVID-19 pandemic should be the question of food consumption on urban public transportation that might need to be reconsidered to reduce potential contaminations with food/airborne pathogens in mass transportation, particularly in urban subways. 5 It also highlights the importance of sustaining food production systems locally to feed the population with healthy foods when imports-exports are stopped or reduced, as is currently the case. This would also reduce potential infections with foodstuffs imported from overseas.…”

Make good use of big data: A home for everyone

“…At a health level, the pandemic emphasizes the importance of self-sufficiency in terms of basic health needs and equipment (such as masks, respirators and ventilators). At an environmental level, it emphasizes the need for annual and regular “industrial breaks” ( Moustafa, 2017 ) to reduce pollution levels and to reconsider the question of food consumption on urban public transportation to reduce potential infections with food/airborne pathogens ( Moustafa, 2018 ). At human levels, it emphasizes the need for human cohesion and support for each other at individual, collective and state levels.…”