Protect your Health from Air Pollution

Smog and other forms of air pollution damage health considerably

In today's age, the problem of air pollution rose to such great extent that it is affecting each of us. As per WHO report, air pollution is responsible for 1 in every 8 deaths globally. Previously not considered, the gases released by vehicles, industries, power plants and burning of fuels today has become world's largest environmental health risk. Various governments and organisations and working towards reducing the pollution levels in air. Apart from these, by a little of internet research, I discovered the certain probable measures that we, as individuals can take up to protect ourselves from the adverse effects on health due to exposure to polluted air. Lets have a look.



Air may be polluted by a number of pollutants, and it must be noted that the concentration of individual pollutant is different in different places. Quality of air and nature of pollutants may vary in every city, and probably within a city in every locality. There is even a considerable difference in air quality inside and outside our homes.

The most precise preventive measure to health impacts of air pollution is to prevent exposure to these pollutants. Also, there are a few more measures known, which can be taken up by individuals.

1. Prevent exposure to pollutants

Try your best to minimize your visit to polluted areas. If your city has very high levels of air pollution, avoid necessary visit outdoors. This is essential. 

We still can't lock ourselves indoors. When out for some work, (please, go out only if you have some important work) protect yourself using anti-pollution masks, spectacles or goggles, etc. Wear long, full sleeved garment to protect your skin from harmful pollutants. Use of contact lens must be avoided.

Exposure to pollutants

Coming back to exposure to pollutants, we must pay attention to how much we are exposed to a particular pollutant. Time of exposure plays a crucial role for development to diseases. Prolonged exposure has far dangerous effects than short exposure. For example, a mine worker may suffer from a much serious health effect than a person who visited the mine only once. Susceptible persons show certain symptoms like nasal irritation or burning of eye immediately on exposure whereas, certain individuals show serious disorders on prolonged exposure with no short-term effect. So, it must be noted that absence of any symptom must not be interpret as safe or absence of pollution.

The chart depicts the contribution of various sources in release of various air pollutants

The six pollutants in the chart above are very common air pollutants. So, the places near a power plant will have large amount of sulphur dioxide in air, along with a good amount of particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide.

According to World Health Organisation, Indoor air pollution is much more harmful than Ambient (i.e. Outdoor) air pollution. Microbial pollution is the key element of indoor air pollution .

Distribution of air pollutants inside our homes

2. Anti-pollution masks

Anti-pollution masks are extremely important and highly recommended for use against pollutants present in air. The purpose of wearing these masks is to guard against entry of a wide range of pollutants through inhalation. There is a good variety of anti-pollution masks available. Anti-pollution masks are proved to be effective in preventing ill effects on health caused by air pollution. N95 masks, which are widely used block 95% of Particulate Matter(PM) of air. Anti-pollution masks are also used against inhalation of disease-causing pathogens at the time of epidemic.

3. Boost Immunity

As stated by WHO, the key elements in indoor air pollution are disease-causing micro-organisms. The best way to fight with these microbes is to boost your immunity. A weaker immune response makes a person susceptible to almost every sort of disease. I have linked my previous post stating various factors that are responsible for weaker immune response that must be eliminated, and certain tips to strengthen immunity. Must read them.

4. Reduce Particulate matter inside your house

In order to do this, a few suggestions that you must follow :

1. Use exhaust fans and electric chimneys in the kitchen
2. Do not smoke when indoors
3. Prevent accumulation of dust 
4. Affording persons can opt for purchasing good air cleaner or air purifier
5. Practice of Yagna as described in the Vedas is experimentally proved to lower air pollution (Here's the copy of the study)

5. Grow these plants

Yes, the fact that certain plants can reduce air pollution is true. NASA has listed out some plants which have been found to absorb a certain gaseous pollutant present in the air. I have mentioned a few of them here :

• Chrysanthemum or Garden mum (Chrysanthemum morifolium)
• Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum vittatum)
• Dracaena (it must be noted that this plant is toxic to dogs and cats)
• Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)
• Aloe vera 
• Peace lily (Spathiphyllum)
• Snake plant (Sanseviera trifasciata)
• Flamingo lily (Anthurium andraeanum)

More

Other than these, there still exists lot more solutions for this grave issue, some of which I could not find, some more yet to be found by the researchers. Hope you liked this and will implement what I endeavored to mention.