Inhaling disease

If he does add something to the environment, it is probably harmful to the entire ecosystem. So it should not surprise us to learn that the Roman practice of simply dumping wastes, including corpses, in trenches outside the city led to outbreaks of viral diseases. As cities grew, so did pollution.

In today’s world, the largest contribution to air pollution is not from factories but from transport.

Both consume huge amounts of fuel, upto billions of tonnes of coal and oil. Burning these fuels produces not just smoke but also by-products like carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, hydrocarbons, lead and sulphur dioxide. Besides these chemicals, dust and ash particles, sometimes lead with toxic chemicals, originating from automobile exhausts, truck and bus fumes, industrial processes, fuel consumption for electrical power generation, burning of wastes and petrochemical reactions released into the atmosphere.

Of all these pollutants, sulphur dioxide is the most-widespread manmade pollutant and is responsible for over 95 per cent of health damage. The American Lung Association has stated that exposure to sulphur dioxide is the third leading cause of lung diseases, after active and passive smoking.

Industry bashing has become so popular that we sometimes neglect to consider the polluting effects of something we cannot do without – vehicles. It might surprise you to learn that studies have shown that the single major cause of air pollution is the internal combustion engine of automobiles.

Heavy traffic on unmetalled roads and construction activities, including road construction, cause the suspension of dust particles of an intensity large enough to cause health damage. In addition to this, just as coal is never completely burned in the furnaces of factories or in domestic chullas, fuel is never completely burned in the engine of a vehicle.

The products of this incomplete combustion, particulate matter such as soot, ash and other solids, are released into the atmosphere along with unburned hydrocarbons, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, various nitrogen dioxides, lead and ozone. In the atmosphere, these pollutants undergo a chemical reaction with sunlight to form smog. Prolonged exposure to smog damages lung tissue.

Because of their small size, these particles have great penetration and get lodged deep in the respiratory tract, causing diseases.

Polyaromatic hydrocarbons, one of the particulate byproducts of diesel fuel consumption, are carcinogens and can be fatal.

In fact, the trend towards marketing diesel vehicles because of their economic running in addition to the increasing use of diesel generators to overcome the discomfort of frequent power cuts may prove fatal to the human race.

Studies have shown that vehicles and machines running on diesel emit the greatest quantity of particulate emissions. Maybe the government should rethink its policy of heavily subsidising diesel.

Asthma, bronchitis, chronic obstructive lung diseases, cardio-vascular diseases, upper and lower respiratory tract diseases, allergies, lung diseases, chest congestion, pulmonary problems, sinus problems, leading to ear and throat problems, even to loss of hearing, eye and skin irritation, diabetes, tuberculosis, emphysema, a disease of the lung’s air sacs and psycho-behavioural problems like insomnia and stress are some of the diseases city dwellers expose themselves to everyday. Although measures have been taken such as shifting some industries to the outskirts of cities and imposing regulations both industries and vehicles meant to reduce pollution, the growing number of both factories and vehicles probably outweigh the reduction in air pollution. These days, the blanket of pollutants is so thick that it keeps the city warmer than the surroundings unpolluted areas.

The fact that a study carried out by the Centre for Science and Environment showed that air pollution is the cause of 66 per cent of total premature deaths in India should send alarm bells ringing not just in the minds of government officials and environmental; activists but in the minds of the ordinary citizens too. After all, since we contribute to air pollution, we should make a serious effort to reduce the pollutants in the air if we want to carry on living.