How the air quality worsens in Winters
What pollutants are to blame for poor air quality?
- PM 10 and PM 2.5, or smaller particles in the atmosphere, as well as lead, ozone, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, and sulphur dioxide.
- In addition, cancer may result from fumes from wildfires that contain formaldehyde and benzene.
- Another air contaminant is cadmium, which is mostly found in cigarette smoke.
- Particles in the air that are smaller than 2.5 microns are referred to as “fine particulate pollution.”
- Concern over “ultra-fine particles,” which have a diameter of less than 0.1 microns and can enter the bloodstream without becoming stuck in the lungs, is growing.
Evaluation of the air quality:
- India’s national air quality guidelines are not as strict as those set by the WHO.
- India has a limit of 40 microns for PM 2.5, but the WHO specifies a maximum of 5 microns.
- India’s Air Quality Index (AQI) is divided into six categories: reasonably polluted, good, highly polluted, poor, and severe.
- “Severe” denotes an AQI of 401–500, whereas “good” is defined as an AQI of 0–50.
- Delhi is currently ranked as “poor” (201-300), and when crop burning starts, things are expected to go worse.
India’s current state of air quality:
- Delhi is ranked among the most polluted cities in the world, or very close to the top.
- 39 Indian cities are included in IQAir’s 2022 list of the 50 most polluted cities, which is published by the Swiss air quality information network.
- Even rural places are not immune to pollution, as fossil fuel emissions from approaching modernity’s automobile invasions mix with smoke from burned biomass fuels and dust from unpaved roads.
- At the moment, 15 states do not meet the national AQI standards, while 22 do. None satisfy the impeccable WHO requirements.
Reasons behind the low quality of the air:
- Gangetic plains geography is landlocked.
- Winter’s cold, thick air keeps pollutants from dispersing.
- Burning garbage and stubble throughout the winter.
Pollution sources:
- The sources of household (indoor) and ambient (outdoor) air pollution are widely known.
Sources of particulate matter:
- sources in queue (cars)
- point sources, such factories and power plants
- local sources (sewage treatment facilities, waste dumps) and
- natural sources, such as volcanic eruptions and forest fires.
- The year-round major sources include road and construction dust, diesel fuel pollutants, and stubble burning.
- The use of biomass fuels and open fire cooking stoves is the primary source of air pollution in homes.
- The sources of emissions varies across urban and rural areas in India as well as between different regions.
- For context-relevant control measures, population exposure evaluations and the allocation of emission sources are crucial.
Air pollution’s effects on human health:
- Extensive research undertaken both in India and beyond has demonstrated the detrimental effects of many contaminants on human health.
- Acute symptoms such as burning eyes, sore throat and nose, coughing, and shortness of breath are annoying, but heart attacks and strokes can cause life-threatening damage because they are caused by pollutants that disrupt atherosclerotic plaques in blood vessels, which in turn causes blood clots.
- In addition to the well-known risks of chronic lung disease and asthma, prolonged exposure to air pollution is now known to increase blood pressure (hypertension), cause cancer, lead to cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and peripheral vascular disease, and increase the risk of diabetes, dementia, and cataracts.
- Air pollution-induced inflammation has the potential to harm numerous organs and reduce resistance to infections. Mother placentas and foetuses’ brains have been discovered to contain particulate matter (PM 2.5).
- Pregnancy-related exposure to air pollution raises the risk of low birth weight newborns, birth abnormalities, stillbirths, and neonatal mortality.
- Children who are exposed to air pollution on a regular basis are more likely to get respiratory infections again, be more vulnerable to asthma episodes, have slower learning curves, and have slower physical growth.
Actions to be done to lessen the negative effects of air pollution on health:
- Using an air purifier can help with personal safety.
- For masks to provide protection against a variety of contaminants, they must be of the highest calibre (N95).
- When it’s cloudy outside, stay inside or spend less time outside.
- Exercises for breathing support lung health.
- use of environmentally friendly transportation (such as electric automobiles)
- increased substitution of public transportation for private vehicles,
- quick switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources,
- Giving up on burning waste and growing stubble
- Effective demolition techniques and construction site management.
- Better kitchen ventilation and the replacement of biomass with natural gas are two ways that household air pollution is being addressed.
Way Forward:
- To cleanse the air, clean our lungs, and relax our blood vessels, proactive public policy, efficient enforcement, attentive observation, and adaptive solutions responsive to consistent and dependable data flows are required.
