Health Impacts of Gaseous Air Pollution

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STUDENT NAME:
TITLE: Health Impacts of Gaseous Air Pollution in New Delhi
WORD COUNT: 1509
Introduction
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants to the earth’s surrounding leading to the interference with
the life quality and the ecosystem’s natural functioning. There is difficulty in determining the one
particular form of pollution causing maximum health risk, however, water and air pollution are majorly
responsible for the health problems relating to pollution CITATION Edg19 \l 1033 (Edginton, O’Sullivan,
King, & Lougheed, 2019).
Looking at India, as identified in figure 1, it is one of the countries with the list of cities having the worst
quality of air in the globe, contrary to the Chinese cities which are continuing to improve from their
previous years of high pollution level CITATION Zha191 \l 1033 (Zhao, et al., 2019). Of late, air pollution
within New Delhi has been creating quite the menace and the situation is getting worse. What cushions
the pollution that is soaring in New Delhi? This paper gives the evidence-based notations in regards to the
New Delhi air pollution as well as its health effects.
Figure 1 - India's bad air quality CITATION Shy19 \l 1033 (Shyamsundar, et al., 2019)

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Ranges of Air Pollutants
Looking at these kinds of studies, the ranges of air pollution usually include CITATION Raj19 \l 1033
(Rajak & Chattopadhyay, 2019);
Particulate Matter (PM).
Ozone (O3).
Black carbon.
Nitrogen oxides (NOx).
Carbon monoxide.
Nitrogen dioxides (NO2).
Sulfur dioxide (SO2).
In all these pollutants, one common feature is that they come from similar sources, whereby, burning any
substance can produce one or all of these pollutants (additionally, implementing controls for one of these
pollutants is likely to curb other pollutants in the end – this technique defines the co-benefits analysis
concept). Also, sources differently add to the pollution level, meaning an attribution source due to
emissions of NOx is not similar to attributions due o CO2 or PM CITATION Edg19 \l 1033 (Edginton,
O’Sullivan, King, & Lougheed, 2019).
Sources of Air Pollution
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One major reason leading to increased air pollution in New Delhi is the release of particulate matter
which is categorized with a 2.5-micrometre size (PM2.5), like aerosols, dust and soot. These particulate
matters are released through methods such as crop burning by New Delhi farmers. Burning rice stubbles
in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab are estimated to be approximately 35 million tonnes of stubble set
ablaze every season CITATION Shy19 \l 1033 (Shyamsundar, et al., 2019). As a result, the wind picks up
all the dust particles and pollutants which get locked in the atmosphere.
Additionally, the traffic menace in New Delhi leads to pollution, one more source of smog formation. In
the end, 'severe' air quality is reached. Industrial and vehicular emissions for these machines increase air
pollution (smog) hazardous effects. The National Environmental Engineering Research Institute as well
as the Central Pollution Control Board have declared emissions from the industry the main contributor to
New Delhi's increased air pollution.
Setting in of the winter season makes the air pollutants stagnant within the atmosphere since the winds
stop blowing. Thereby, locking the air pollutants within New Delhi, affecting its weather condition such
as the development of smog. Moreover, New Delhi’s rise in population has led to the pollution of air due
to congestion that brings the noise.
General Health Impacts
In regards to health, air pollution is one determinant. Several epidemiological studies are finding a
relation between a variety of adverse health impacts and air pollution within the population. These
general health impacts range from subtle subclinical needs to the adverse premature death impact as
shown in figure 3.
Figure 2 - Sources of air pollution CITATION Edg19 \l 1033 (Edginton, O’Sullivan,
King, & Lougheed, 2019)
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Figure 3 - General Air Pollution Health Impacts CITATION Raj19 \l 1033 (Rajak & Chattopadhyay, 2019)
Healthy people are not exempted from the air pollution health impacts shown in figure 3. The risk with
regards to adverse effects depends on the individual's current health status, pollutant concentration and
type as well as the exposure length to the polluted atmosphere.
High levels of air pollution can lead to immediate health problems such as:
Damaging respiratory system cells.
Aggravating respiratory and cardiovascular illness.
Addition of lungs and heart stress, which is due to harder work required for supplying the body
tissues with oxygen.
Long-term exposure to air pollution may lead to permanent health effects that include CITATION Raj19 \l
1033 (Rajak & Chattopadhyay, 2019);
Reduced life span.
Lungs ageing faster.
Reduce lung function and lung capacity.
Disease development such as emphysema, bronchitis, asthma and cancer.

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Health Impacts to the Vulnerable
Premature mortality and air pollution relationship are mainly investigated using the time-series analysis
through daily observations of pollution levels and death numbers. Such studies get a grip of the short-term
air pollution exposure on the dying probability. The studies have an underlying assumption whereby
susceptibility to air pollution effects is distributed within a population. Numerous studies have shown that
individuals with lower socioeconomic status together with the minority population become
disproportionately exposed to the polluted air in New Delhi and are intensely vulnerable to adverse health
impacts. Some of these individuals susceptible to air pollution are CITATION Sim19 \l 1033 (Simkovich, et
al., 2019):
People with heart diseases, congestive heart failure or coronary artery disease.
The scientists at Harvard University observed 48 heart patients once discharged from hospitals
and tested their heart functioning once exposed to polluted air for weeks. They realized there was
a changed heart conductivity known as ST-segment depression. This condition is described as the
reduction in the ability of the heart to conduct electricity.
Not only black carbon, a term generally used to describe traffic exhaust, but also particulates
were discovered to correlate with ST-segment depression and the higher the level of pollution the
increase in ST-segment depression in test subjects. Hence, high levels of air pollution in New
Delhi increase the susceptibility to heart conditions.
People with lung diseases like emphysema, asthma or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
(COPD).
Polluting the air leads to increased pollutants inhalation. This results in higher airways problem
incidences, in particular, the individuals with sensitive airways as those with COPD and Asthma.
The air pollutants’ toxicity damage both the airway mucosa and the eye by the activation of the
inflammatory-cell activity through the cytokine-mediated mechanism. Such air pollutants also
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lead to irritations or allergic reactions that cause breathing difficulties among COPD and asthma
patients.
Pregnant women
During pregnancy, air pollution increases ones risk of low birth weight and premature birth. Low
birth weight refers to a baby born with a weight lower than 5 pounds, 8 ounces while premature
birth refers to a birth happening too soon before the 37 pregnancy weeks. Besides, air pollution
can lead to an increased risk of stillbirth. Stillbirth refers to the death of babies in wombs after 20
weeks of pregnancies CITATION Sun19 \l 1033 (Sunyer & Dadvand, 2019).
Additionally, exposing a pregnant lady to polluted air can affect the health of the child (especially
breathing) as well as the learning skills later in life.
Outdoor workers.
a wide spectrum of chronic and acute illnesses are associated with outdoor pollution. Air
pollution can lead to COPD, asthma together with impaired lung functioning, stroke, heart attack
and lung cancer. There exists evidence that exposing one to ambient air pollution could cause
adverse birth outcomes. Adults and children with pre-existing respiratory conditions and
individuals with a high risk of cerebrovascular and cardio diseases are in particular at risk from
increasing allergens sensitivity and susceptibility to infections.
The elderly and older adults
Some individuals may experience only clinically irrelevant changes or no symptoms while a
similar exposure can trigger serious health problems in frail subjects. Moreover, the lung function
reduces naturally due to ageing and there exists scientific pieces of evidence where the elderly
become largely affected due to increasing impairment coming from polluted air apart from the
elderly becoming more likely to contract chronic lung diseases and the circulatory or heart
conditions begin to worsen following exposure to air pollutants in New Delhi CITATION Yap19 \l
1033 (Yap, et al., 2019).
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Children under 14 years
The special risk that children face due to air pollution is due to their lungs require growth other
than children being very active, in the end breathing big volumes of air CITATION Mel19 \l 1033
(Melody, Ford, Wills, Venn, & Johnston, 2019).
Similar to the legs and arms, children’s largest lung portion gets to grow long after birth. 80% of
air sacs called alveoli will develop after birth and are places where oxygen is transferred to the
blood. The alveoli become fully developed once the child becomes an adult. Hence, throughout
childhood, the child’s immunity against infections is minimal compared to adulthood, making
children prone to respiratory infections from air pollution CITATION Sim19 \l 1033 (Simkovich, et
al., 2019).
Furthermore, unlike adults, children are more active outdoors for long durations. Consequently,
making them vulnerable to infections since they take in more pollution typically found in the air.
The individuals listed as vulnerable in this section could experience mild health impacts even at reduced
air pollution level, or the impacts on their health may intensify greater in minimal exposure.
Conclusion
The outdoor air is deteriorating rapidly in most of India’s major cities such as the New Delhi, mainly
affecting the middle and low-income class in the society. The increased growth level of traffic in both
India and China has outpaced the tighter standards in vehicle emissions and other particulate matter and
gaseous emissions. This report henceforth shows the increase in mortality risk for respiratory diseases
from the polluted air within the general population. Besides, care is required, particularly for the
vulnerable in society to prevent exposure to air pollution whether indoor or outdoor. There are
correlations between respiratory disease occurrence and exposure to polluted air. Respiratory diseases
such as COPD develop bit by bit.

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References
Edginton, S., O’Sullivan, D. E., King, W., & Lougheed, M. D. (2019). Effect of outdoor particulate air
pollution on FEV1 in healthy adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Occupational and
environmental medicine, 583-591.
Melody, S. M., Ford, J., Wills, K., Venn, A., & Johnston, F. H. (2019). Maternal exposure to short-to
medium-term outdoor air pollution and obstetric and neonatal outcomes: A systematic review.
Environmental Pollution, 915-925.
Rajak, R., & Chattopadhyay, A. (2019). Short and long-term exposure to ambient air pollution and impact
on health in India: a systematic review. International journal of environmental health research,
1-25.
Shyamsundar, P., Springer, N. P., Tallis, H., Polasky, S., Jat, M. L., Sidhu, H. S. ... & Cummins, J.
(2019). Fields on fire: Alternatives to crop residue burning in India. Science, 536-538.
Simkovich, S. M., Goodman, D., Roa, C., Crocker, M. E., Gianella, G. E., Kirenga, B. J., ... & Checkley,
W. (2019). The health and social implications of household air pollution and respiratory diseases.
NPJ primary care respiratory medicine, 1-17.
Sunyer, J., & Dadvand, P. (2019). Pre‐natal brain development as a target for urban air pollution. Basic &
clinical pharmacology & toxicology, 81-88.
Yap, J., Ng, Y., Yeo, K. K., Sahlén, A., Lam, C. S., Lee, V., & Ma, S. (2019). Particulate air pollution on
cardiovascular mortality in the tropics: impact on the elderly. Environmental Health, 34.
Zhao, H., Geng, G., Zhang, Q., Davis, S. J., Li, X., Liu, Y., ... & Zhang, L. (2019). Inequality of
household consumption and air pollution-related deaths in China. Nature communications, 1-9.
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