Air Pollution and Its Impact on Health (With Statistics)

After reading this article you will learn about air pollution and its impact on health.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) defines air pollution, as “substances put into the air by the activity of mankind into concentrations sufficient to cause harmful effects to health, property, crop yield or to interfere with the enjoyment of prop­erty”.

Air pollution is a major environmental health problem affecting the country. The pollutants con­sist of gaseous pollutants and suspended particu­late matter, such as dust, fumes, mist and smoke (Table 18.1).

Some of the most important air pol­lutants are suspended particulate matter (SPM), nitrogen oxides (NO_X), carbon monoxide (CO), lead and sulphur dioxide (SO₂) (Table 18.4). The rate at which urban air pollution has grown across India in the last decade is alarming.

The main fac­tors which accounts for urban air quality deterio­ration are growing industrialisation and increasing vehicular pollution, industrial emissions, automo­bile exhaust and the burning of fossil fuels which kills thousands and leaves many more to suffer mainly from respiratory damage, heart and lung diseases.

With population growth, increased energy generation, industrialisation and increased vehicle use, outdoor air pollution has worsened in most metro cities in India.

According to pollution related studies con­ducted in the community and among patients of the KEM Hospital, Mumbai over the last twenty years have evaluated the full extent of the correla­tion and damage to human health.

It is found that the area around RSP village, Jharia ranks fifth and FCI (Fertiliser Corporation of India) Hospital, Sindri ranks eighth among the top ten locations with highest annual mean concentrations of Nitrogen Oxides (NO_X), having 54 and 46 micro grams per cubic meters respectively.

Apart from this, the suspended par­ticulate matter (SPM) level in RSP College, Jharia is the fourth highest in India.

A study conducted by Center for Science and Environment from 1987 to 1998, to understand the trend of air pollution in Delhi based on three major pollut­ants: sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and SPM. It shows an increasing trend, though fluctuations are noticed in terms of annual maximum levels.

Ac­cording to the studies conducted by Center for Science and Environment, total SPM levels are not only always above the standard but there are days when they have reached nearly seventeen times the standard.

A World Bank study conducted in 1995 revealed that if the air pollution is controlled in Calcutta according to the guidelines of World Health Organisation (WHO), lives of 5726 per­sons may be saved from premature death and of 30 lakhs people may also be saved from being ad­mitted to hospital.

The World Health Organisa­tion (WHO) defines health as a state of complete physical, social and mental well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health is one of the fundamental rights of every citizen in the country.

The main factors accounts to urban air quality deterioration and health are growing industrialisation and increasing vehicular pollution, industrial emissions, automobile exhaust and the burning of fossil fuels kills thousands and live many more to suffer mainly from respiratory damage, heart and lung diseases.

An automobile exhaust accounts a sizable part of pollution. Their effect on human health is particularly of concern. There is a strong correlation between average blood lead levels and the lead content in gasoline. Hydrocarbons present in the exhaust, particularly, in vehicles with poor combustion cause respira­tory problems.

Table 6 shows estimated annual epi­sodes of illness and premature deaths due to am­bient suspended particulate matter (SPM) in the air in mega cities of Calcutta, Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai have risen significantly in less than five years.

In the countryside, nitrates from animal waste and chemical fertilisers pollute the soil and water, and in the cities, the air is contaminated with lead from vehicle exhaust. In India’s largest cities— Mumbai and Delhi about one-half of children under age 3 show signs of harmful exposure to lead, defined as to or more micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood.

The indoor air pollution may pose an even greater hazard for human health. Cooking and heating with wood, crop residues, animal dung, and low-quality coal produce smoke that contains dan­gerous particles and gases. When fuels such as these are burned indoors, using inefficient stoves and poor ventilation, they can cause tuberculosis, other serious respiratory diseases, and blindness.

About 15 to 18 million children in developing countries are affected by high levels of lead in their blood, which could be the result of emissions from vehicle ex­haust and are likely to suffer from related illness.

The WHO estimates that 84,000 deaths were directly attributable to outdoor air pollution in Indian cities. Table 18.5. At the same time, indoor air pollution accounted for 496,000 deaths in villages and 93,000 deaths in cities. The health links to air pollution are consid­erable.

In fact, indoor air pollution from cooking and heating with unsafe fuels has been designated by the World Bank as one of the four most critical environmental problems in developing countries. Central Statistical Organisation shows that urban air pollution has grown across India in the last decade is alarming (Table 18.6).