Our Daily Dose Of Air Pollution

We all know where India stands for its pollution level. We are among the most polluted cities in the world with a range higher 17 times the safe WHO limit. Our country has some major pollution policy loopholes in our system, sometimes we don't have the technology or system or mind or can be all of them at once. 

So, what makes our cities so polluted? and how deadly they are. If we talk about the pollution we cannot ignore Delhi, but do you know its not the most polluted city in India according to WHO 2019 it's Ghaziabad(U.P.) although both cities share the same geographical region. Delhi being the capital city is always given some special attention. The major factors for pollution in this region are- vehicle emission, industrial pollution, burning of crops, thermal power plants, bad wind flow, infrastructure, firecrackers, and overpollution.

Air pollution results from a complex mixture of thousands of pollutants. This includes carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NO2 and NOx ), sulfur dioxide, ozone, volatile organic compounds, and particulate matter. According to CEEW, road dust contributes to the major portion of particulate matters (30-60%) followed by transport and industries. But, these atmospheric aerosols do not contribute to climate change instead these pollutants reduce the radiative flux of the sun. Insofar as NOx and sulfur dioxide are concerned industries are the major contributors to their emission. And, for hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide vehicles contributes most. 

If we talk about the effects of air pollution we know it can cause diseases like- cancer, asthma, bronchitis, and many more. But can we estimate its effect on a daily basis? A team of The Guardian monitored the exposure of PM2.5 on auto-rickshaw in Delhi for the duration of 12 hours and tested the lungs of the driver, which gave some shocking results. The instrument measured PM2.5 which exceeds 400 in some areas which is extremely hazardous. 

If you want to check how much pollution you are inhaling in terms of the number of cigarettes then there is an app "Shit, I smoke" which takes data of your nearest station and using the mathematical model deduce how many cigarettes you been smoking. Although the calculation may not be very accurate but gives the idea for a layman. So, if you are living in a high pollution area even a small walk to the park or grocery store means smoking an average of 35 cigarettes daily in the winter season.

I also tried this app on my phone, I checked for my location, Delhi, and Mumbai. The results show that people in Mumbai are smoking more cigarettes than Delhi which is contradictory to real AQI of the areas, location inaccuracy should also blame for this. The improved numbers are due to national lockdown in the country.

You can also try this app on your phone and check for pollution estimates in your area and share it with me.