Question about air conditioning + auto exhaust and diesel fumes in traffic, help?
To get to work, I have to drive through a heavy traffic area, that is densely populated with eighteen wheelers that constantly spew copious and profuse amounts of diesel exhaust into the air. Hoping to avoid inhaling such fumes and nanoparticles (the kind that lodge into your brain forever after inhalation), I keep my windows rolled down and set my A/C to recirculate. I realize that the cab of my truck is not hermetically sealed, however, since when I switch back to A/C it causes my ears to pop as though in an airplane, is this an indication that no outside air is penetrating into the interior of my vehicle?
You mean windows "up" obviously. Yes, popping ears denotes that the air flow in the passenger compartment is restricted with the windows up and A/C set to recirculate. It probably isn’t hermetically sealed, there has to be a little air exchange.
From an acute health perspective, the big issue with Diesel exhaust is particulates. By restricting airflow as you are, most of the particulates are likely being filtered out by something called inertial deposition as the air squeezes through small openings. So even though some air is getting into your car (which is a good thing, by the way), a lot of the nastier particulates are not.
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Not exactly following your question but here goes…
Keep your windows up with the AC set to recirculate to avoid bringing in outside air/fumes/smells
Having your windows down regardless of the AC settings will invite outside air.
When the windows are up, and you switch the AC from recirculate to ‘outside’ air you do increase the air pressure in the cab as new air is being blown in with no place for the existing air to go. The pressure goes down when you switch back to recirculate. The thing is the increased pressure you get by going from recirculate to outside air will be quicker and more likely to make your ears pop than the decreased pressure of going from outside air to recirculate. Bottom line - it’s not whether your ears have popped, it is where the air is coming from.
References :
You mean windows "up" obviously. Yes, popping ears denotes that the air flow in the passenger compartment is restricted with the windows up and A/C set to recirculate. It probably isn’t hermetically sealed, there has to be a little air exchange.
From an acute health perspective, the big issue with Diesel exhaust is particulates. By restricting airflow as you are, most of the particulates are likely being filtered out by something called inertial deposition as the air squeezes through small openings. So even though some air is getting into your car (which is a good thing, by the way), a lot of the nastier particulates are not.
References :