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state authority have kept me informed of the progress being made.
Temperature inversion occurs there most days of the year; mist
comes in from the Pacific and is held by the Rocky Mountains surrounding;
dreadful conditions have arisen because of the two million
or so vehicles pouring out fume which is trapped. Three interesting
effects of this smog have been noted there:—
(i) Watering of eyes;
(ii) Plants' normal green changed to a silvery colour;
(iii) New tyres in stock becoming cracked.
Following a thorough investigation during the last three years it
was discovered that a chemical reaction was taking place in the smog;
the fume, nitrites and sunlight all combining in a reaction to form
the complex substance effecting the above three conditions. As a
result, various laws were passed, one of which was to provide that
by a certain date ahead, all vehicles must be fitted with a state
approved exhaust device (either catalytic or flame after-burner, or
some other effective invention) to render fume as innocuous as
possible. This has led to research and competition to win the
approval of the authorities and hence market an effective instrument.
There are hopes that a practical solution will be available for world
use. Reports so far, however, suggest that, generally, the devices
are inefficient when starting from cold, and in slow running. Their
effectiveness is in the region of 12,000 miles.
However, exhaust pipe fume is not the only contaminent from
vehicles; even in a new engine it is thought that "blow by" fume
amounts to about 25 per cent of the total exhaust from the engine.
"Blow by" fume comes out of the engine breather from the sump and
contains, therefore, a high ratio of the mineral oils. This can be
overcome to some extent by connecting the breather pipe to the air
induction near the manifold and burning the fume in the cylinders.
Also spilt oil on a hot engine leads to vaporisation. Worse still, older
engines with the invariable oil leaks and overheating, vaporise much
oil. The two-stroke engine as well, in which oil is placed in the petrol
in definite amounts, presents further unpleasant fume with high
mineral oil content, especially when starting up from cold.
It is through the conventional radiator grill that polluted air,
mostly from vehicles in front in urban areas, passes at great speed
and carries also some of the oil fumes from the engine onwards into
the car since very few cars really have an effectively sealed body from
the engine compartment. This gets worse in time as the various
pedal shaft openings loosen up and the rubber seals disintegrate or
slip off.
The additional contamination from "blow by" oil may be a
serious one in view of the report 3 that certain mineral oils used in