Why you should be really worried about Air Pollution !

Year-2020 proved to be  a disastrous year for humanity and has been claiming lives since its first case was found in December 2019 as reported. 

Pre Covid era was a period when human was less worried about Medical facilities despite facing a danger as detrimental as Covid - "Air Pollution"

Why is Air Pollution a threat ? 

Air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year. WHO data shows that 9 out of 10 people breathe air that exceeds WHO guideline limits containing high levels of pollutants, with low- and middle-income countries suffering from the highest exposures. 

From smog hanging over cities to smoke inside the home, air pollution poses a major threat to health and climate. The combined effects of ambient (outdoor) and household air pollution cause about seven million premature deaths every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.

How does air pollution affect our health?

Respiratory Disease

Air pollution can affect lung development and is implicated in the development of emphysema, asthma, and other respiratory diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

PM and nitrogen oxide are linked to chronic bronchitis.

Cardiovascular Disease

Fine particulate matter can impair blood vessel function and speed up calcification in arteries.

NIEHS researchers established links between short-term daily exposure by post-menopausal women to nitrogen oxides and increased risk of hemorrhagic stroke.

For a cross-section of older Americans, exposure to TRAP can result in lowered levels of high-density lipoprotein, sometimes called good cholesterol, increasing their risk for cardiovascular disease.

According to a National Toxicology Program (NTP) report, TRAP exposure also increases a pregnant woman’s risk for dangerous changes in blood pressure, known as hypertensive disorders, which are a leading cause of pre-term birth, low birth weight, and maternal and fetal illness and death.

Concentration of PM2.5 is a major factor in determining risk of Air Pollution in a particular region.

What is PM2.5?  

Particulate matter (PM) is a term used to describe the mixture of solid particles and liquid droplets in the air.  It can be either human-made or naturally occurring. Some examples include dust, ash and sea-spray. Particulate matter (including soot) is emitted during the combustion of solid and liquid fuels, such as for power generation, domestic heating and in vehicle engines. Particulate matter varies in size (i.e. the diameter or width of the particle). PM2.5 means the mass per cubic metre of air of particles with a size (diameter) generally less than 2.5 micrometres (µm). PM2.5 is also known as fine particulate matter  (2.5 micrometres is one 400th of a millimetre).

Health Effects of PM:

Inhalation of particulate pollution can have adverse health impacts, and there is understood to be no safe threshold below which no adverse effects would be anticipated . The biggest impact of particulate air pollution on public health is understood to be from long-term exposure to PM2.5, which increases the age-specific mortality risk, particularly from cardiovascular causes. Several plausible mechanisms for this effect on mortality have been proposed, although it is not yet clear which is the most important.  Exposure to high concentrations of PM (e.g. during short-term pollution episodes) can also exacerbate lung and heart conditions, significantly affecting quality of life, and increase deaths and hospital admissions. Children, the elderly and those with predisposed respiratory and cardiovascular disease, are known to be more susceptible to the health impacts from air pollution .

So what's the solution ?

It's high time that the world leaders should start talking about the Air Pollution. Air pollution is far dangerous than any pandemic as no vaccine can be prepared to prevent it. For instance in India , In a period of 9 months Covid-19 claimed about 1,31,000  lives while air pollution took 9,80,000 lives in 2019 and about 4.14 million lives worldwide. Data itself suggest the circumstances in which humanity is getting trapped needs transparent plans with solid willpower and correct implementation to prevent this invisible pandemic from claiming many more lives in years to come .

Stay tuned !

Thank you :-)