Vandana Narang, a transformation coach and artist from Delhi, was pleasantly surprised by her children’s improved health during a recent extended vacation in Mussoorie. Her 11-year-old daughter experienced relief from scalp irritation and dandruff that had troubled her back home, while her 13-year-old son no longer coughed during outdoor activities like tennis. Clearly, the pollution in Delhi had been affecting both children, and the cleaner air in Mussoorie had a rejuvenating effect.
In Delhi, pollutants like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and particulate matter can accumulate on the scalp, leading to dandruff. Additionally, pollutants such as sulfur dioxide, ozone, and nitrous oxide, prevalent in polluted air, are associated with increased respiratory issues like coughing and chest tightness.
The impact of air pollution on public health in Delhi is profound, ranging from respiratory disorders to disrupted schooling. A recent study published in Lancet Planetary Health on July 4 revealed a significant link between PM2.5 exposure and approximately 3.6 million daily deaths across 10 Indian cities from 2008 to 2019. Dr. Poornima Prabhakaran from Ashoka University’s Trivedi School of Biosciences, one of the study’s authors, emphasized that this is the first multi-city study to examine short-term air pollution exposure and daily mortality in India. Delhi alone recorded about 12,000 pollution-related deaths annually, while Shimla reported the lowest at 59 deaths per year during the same period.
Diagnosing illnesses related to air pollution poses challenges because standard tests cannot always distinguish pollution-related conditions from other lung disorders. Dr. Prabhakaran noted that pollution can exacerbate existing diseases, and recent severe pollution levels in Delhi have led more people to directly link poor air quality with worsening symptoms like coughing and eye and throat irritation.
Children are especially vulnerable to air pollution due to their ongoing physical and immune system development. Dr. Barnali Bhattacharya, a pediatrician and asthma consultant in Pune, advocates preventive measures such as avoiding polluted areas, wearing masks in high-risk environments like construction sites, and refraining from burning incense sticks, which can trigger severe reactions in sensitive individuals like 10-year-old Raunaq, who required hospitalization after exposure during a religious ceremony.
Dr. Arvind Kumar, chairman of the Chest Surgery and Lung Transplantation Center at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram, highlighted a disturbing trend of lung cancer cases among non-smokers, particularly women in their 40s, attributing this rise to prolonged exposure to PM2.5 particles in polluted air. He likened inhaling high levels of PM2.5 to smoking cigarettes and emphasized the detrimental impact on lung health, noting visible black deposits on the lungs of young patients exposed to severe pollution.
These insights underscore the urgent need for effective measures to mitigate air pollution’s health impacts, particularly among vulnerable populations like children and non-smokers.
