effects of air pollution in kanpur
Answers
Answered by
0
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the effect of outdoor air pollution on respiratory disease in Kanpur, India, based on data from 2006. Exposure to air pollution is represented by annual emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 11 source categories, established as a geographic information system (GIS)-based emission inventory in 2 km × 2 km grid. Respiratory disease is represented by number of patients who visited specialist pulmonary hospital with symptoms of respiratory disease. The results showed that (1) the main sources of air pollution are industries, domestic fuel burning, and vehicles; (2) the emissions of PM per grid are strongly correlated to the emissions of SO2 and NOx; and (3) there is a strong correlation between visits to a hospital due to respiratory disease and emission strength in the area of residence. These results clearly indicate that appropriate health and environmental monitoring, actions to reduce emissions to air, and further studies that would allow assessing the development in health status are necessary.
[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health for material on emission of SO2, PM, NOx from various sources, and total number of inhabitants, total number of patients in grid squares covering the Kanpur city.]
Keywords: emission, outdoor air pollution, patients, respiratory disease
It is well known that air pollution causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.1–3Economic development, urbanization, energy consumption, transportation, and rapid population growth are major driving forces of air pollution in large cities, especially in megacities.4 Air pollution levels in developed countries have been decreasing dramatically in recent decades. However, in other countries, air pollution levels are still relatively high, although the levels have been gradually decreasing or have remained stable despite rapid economic development.4,5 In recent years, several hundred epidemiological studies, time-series studies in particular, have been conducted in developed countries, on short-and long-term effects of air pollution on human health covering different age groups, including children and young and old adults.6–8 Research has shown that long-term exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of respiratory illnesses such as allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.9,10 Children and elderly persons are particularly vulnerable to health effects of ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM), and other airborne toxicants.11,12 Hospital admissions have been recognized as a more sensitive marker than mortality for assessment of the air pollution effects on human health.13,14 A literature review on outdoor air pollution and health in Asia identified over 400 studies of health effects of air pollution in 13 countries during the period 1980 to 2007.15 Over 80 time-series studies conducted in Asian cities also showed similar spectrum of adverse health effects from acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and changes in pulmonary function to increased mortality from cardiovascular or respiratory diseases or lung cancer, associated with exposure to PM, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and O3, to those explored in Europe and North America.15–17
This paper examines the effect of outdoor air pollution on respiratory disease in Kanpur, India, based on data from 2006. Exposure to air pollution is represented by annual emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), particulate matter (PM), and nitrogen oxides (NOx) from 11 source categories, established as a geographic information system (GIS)-based emission inventory in 2 km × 2 km grid. Respiratory disease is represented by number of patients who visited specialist pulmonary hospital with symptoms of respiratory disease. The results showed that (1) the main sources of air pollution are industries, domestic fuel burning, and vehicles; (2) the emissions of PM per grid are strongly correlated to the emissions of SO2 and NOx; and (3) there is a strong correlation between visits to a hospital due to respiratory disease and emission strength in the area of residence. These results clearly indicate that appropriate health and environmental monitoring, actions to reduce emissions to air, and further studies that would allow assessing the development in health status are necessary.
[Supplementary materials are available for this article. Go to the publisher's online edition of Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health for material on emission of SO2, PM, NOx from various sources, and total number of inhabitants, total number of patients in grid squares covering the Kanpur city.]
Keywords: emission, outdoor air pollution, patients, respiratory disease
It is well known that air pollution causes respiratory and cardiovascular diseases.1–3Economic development, urbanization, energy consumption, transportation, and rapid population growth are major driving forces of air pollution in large cities, especially in megacities.4 Air pollution levels in developed countries have been decreasing dramatically in recent decades. However, in other countries, air pollution levels are still relatively high, although the levels have been gradually decreasing or have remained stable despite rapid economic development.4,5 In recent years, several hundred epidemiological studies, time-series studies in particular, have been conducted in developed countries, on short-and long-term effects of air pollution on human health covering different age groups, including children and young and old adults.6–8 Research has shown that long-term exposure to air pollutants increases the risk of respiratory illnesses such as allergies, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer.9,10 Children and elderly persons are particularly vulnerable to health effects of ozone (O3), particulate matter (PM), and other airborne toxicants.11,12 Hospital admissions have been recognized as a more sensitive marker than mortality for assessment of the air pollution effects on human health.13,14 A literature review on outdoor air pollution and health in Asia identified over 400 studies of health effects of air pollution in 13 countries during the period 1980 to 2007.15 Over 80 time-series studies conducted in Asian cities also showed similar spectrum of adverse health effects from acute and chronic respiratory symptoms and changes in pulmonary function to increased mortality from cardiovascular or respiratory diseases or lung cancer, associated with exposure to PM, sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and O3, to those explored in Europe and North America.15–17
Similar questions