Dilip Razdan
Air pollution is one the biggest Global health threats. Air pollution is one of the biggest environmental threats to human health and is a hidden menace. Some studies suggest that the Global toll of premature deaths are attributed to Air Pollution and air pollution kills more people every year than tobacco smoking. India is not exception to this, as in India air pollution is biggest killer after blood pressure. Estimates suggest that air pollution was responsible for 16.7 lakh deaths in India in 2019. This is the largest number of air-pollution related deaths of any country, according to a report published in the Lancet Planetary Health 18.May 2022. So we must take note of the dangerous effect of pollution on our health.
Effective and concrete measures are needed for controlling air pollution or else we may in near future lose our ‘right to breathe’. We can survive without food and shelter but, we cannot survive for a second without air.
Sources and effects
Air Pollution refers to presence of substances in the form of solids or liquids or gases in the air or mixture of all that have harmful or poisonous effects.
There are numerous sources responsible for air pollution. The major sources of air pollution are industries like power plants, steel plants, cement plants ; and from vehicles like cars, buses, planes and trains. There are natural sources also causing air pollution which include ,wildfires, volcanoes, dust storms.. There are even examples of pollutants that originate from other countries.
Air pollution is increasingly getting more dangerous and is having serious effects on health. Exposure to air pollution has serious impacts on different organs of our body. Air pollution increases the risk of respiratory infections, lung cancer and heart disease. Long term exposure to out door air pollution suppresses normal lung function in children, and declines lungs function in adults.
Similarly impurities present in the air within and around buildings and structures refers to ‘ Indoor Air Pollution’. The main causes of indoor air pollution are poor ventilation, fuel burning combustion appliances, newly installed flooring or carpet, central heating and cooling system, excess moisture, products for household cleaning, building materials and furnishing,pestcide, and outdoor air pollution. Experts say that one of the most common indoor air pollutants is cigarette smoke.
We usually discuss and debate about the amount of pollution in our atmosphere and hardly consider the quality of the air that we are breathing when we are inside as most of us spend about 90% of our time inside.
Initiatives by Govt.
India had declared a ‘war against air pollution’ and had launched the National Clean Air Programme (NCAP).Besides, had formally joined the Climate & Clean Air Coalition (CCAC), becoming 65th country to join the partnership. The Members of Climate and Clean Air Coalition had agreed to reduce short-lived climate pollutants by 2030. Besides, the Govt. had taken several steps to combat poor air quality levels in the country which include the followings.
* Setting up the International Solar Alliance, focussing on renewable solar energy.
* Setting up of monitoring network for assessment of ambient air quality.
* Introduction of cleaner/alternate fuels like gaseous fuel (CNG,LPG etc).
* Waste management rules/regulations notified to address problems related to e-waste.
* Promotion of public transport network including metro switching over to electric/battery vehicles and renewable energy.
* Compulsory PUC ( Pollution under control) certification of period driven vehicles which test for carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons.
* Launching Ujjwala Yojana, to connect poor households to green cooking fuels like LPG, which reduces indoor air pollution.
Role of an individual
As we know that major sources of air-pollution are from the activities/actions of human than the natural sources. Thus the role of every individual in prevention of air pollution is of paramount importance. A small effort of an individual at his own place will be rendering visible effect not only at the city, state or country level but also globally as air has no boundaries. The individual can take various preventive measures and a few suggested as follows.
Plantation drive : plant trees around home and in the community and develop gardens that can help to reduce air pollutants.
* Minimise consumption of electricity, save energy at home, workplace and everywhere.
* Use public transport.
* Avoid burning leaves, trash and other materials
* Keep car and other engines properly tuned.
* Use environmentally safe paints and cleaning products.
* No to plastic.
As discussed earlier that indoor air-pollution is also associated with various diseases including, respiratory problems, heart disease, irritation of eyes, nose and throat. As far as indoor air pollution is concerned we can try following simple steps to prevent the same.
* Ensure that there is a proper ventilation in home, offices.
* Use indoor plants that can help in purifying air inside home, offices and absorb toxics present in the air.
* Avoid smoking indoors.
* Remove shoes at the doors.
* Minimize air freshener use.
* Turn off the lights when not in use.
* Use fans instead of Air Conditioner.
* Use filters for Chimneys.
* Ensure that exhaust fans are functioning in bathrooms and kitchens.
* Remove carpeting if possible.
Various studies suggest that Air Pollution, both Indoor and Outdoor is the Single largest environmental risk to human health. It is not only very difficult to breathe in polluted air but causes variety of health problems. And children are more vulnerable than adults. In poor air quality breathing means smoking continuously. We thus need to fight Air Pollution Problem.
Air Pollution is a problem for all of us and fighting air pollution is thus everybody’s responsibility. Govt. and other agencies also need to take stringent action for implementation of rules and guidelines framed from time to time regarding prevention of air pollution.
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