75% Of Children In Delhi Experience Breathlessness, Suffocation Due To Toxic Air, Says Study

New Delhi, the capital city has the worst air quality worldwide. The air quality index (AQI), calculated using the data from CPCB’s 37 monitoring stations in Delhi, on October 12 stood at 179, which is in the ‘moderate’ category.

An AQI that is ‘moderate,’ ranging from 101 to 200, indicates that it could have possible impacts, including breathing difficulties for people with lung and heart diseases.?But, moderate is not good enough, neither for children nor for adults.

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What does the study say?

A new conducted by The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) has revealed that climate change has left more than 75% of the children feeling suffocated.?Delhi has a high concentration of major pollutant PM 2.5 which is causing respiratory and heart diseases.

The TERI institute conducted the health survey on 413 children, out of which 75.4% complained of breathlessness, 24.2% complained of itchy eyes, 22.3% complained of regular sneezing or runny nose and 20.9% of children complained of coughing in the morning.The children surveyed were aged between 14-17 years.

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Which are the metals found in the air?

The researchers noted that heavy metals were one of the major components of PM 2.5 that which may result in potential side effects. As per the study, the concentration of zinc content in Delhi's air increased to 615 ng/m3 (nanograms per cubic meter of air) in September 2020 from 379 ng/m3 (nanograms per cubic meter of air) in October 2019. Similarly, the lead content stood at 406 ng/m3 (nanograms per cubic meter of air) in 2020 from 233 ng/m3 (nanograms per cubic meter of air) in 2019.

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What can those metals do to humans?

According to experts, some of these metals are extremely hazardous to human health and regular exposure to them could lead to some fatal health consequences. The increased amount of cadmium and arsenic in the air also put the locals at higher risk of cancer, kidney problems and high blood pressure, diabetes and heart diseases.

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"PM 2.5 level - less than 60 ug/m3 - is considered an acceptable norm, but if there is a high concentration of toxic metals in the air, then it may lead to your health is at risk," the Live Hindustan quoted TERI Associate Fellow (Environment and Health), Kanhaiya Lal, as saying.

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