Assessment of the Status of Urban Air pollution And Its Impact on Human Health in the City of Kolkata

Abstract

Air pollution has significant effects on exacerbation of asthma, allergy and other respiratory diseases. Like many other magacities in the world the ambient air quality of Kolkata is also being deteriorated day by day. Automobile exhausts and certain industrial pollutants produce O(3) by photochemical reactions. The particulate matter, particularly less than 10 microm in size, can pass through the natural protective mechanism of human respiratory system and plays an important role in genesis and augmentation of allergic disorders. Sources of air pollution in the area and the unique problem arising out of the emission from the vehicles, industries, etc. have been described. Ambient air quality was monitored along with micrometeorological data and the results are discussed. The status of air pollution in the area has been evaluated and a questionnaire survey was conducted to estimate the allergic symptoms and exposure to assess the respiratory disorders. The data are analysed to evaluate the critical situation arising out of the emission of air pollutants and the impact on human health due to respirable diseases (RDs) to middle class sub-population (activity-wise) in the area are assessed. A strategic air quality management plan has been proposed. For the mitigation of air pollution problems in the city, the different measures to be adopted to maintain the balance between sustainable development and environmental management have been discussed.

Composição elementar do material particulado presente no aerossol atmosférico do município de Sete Lagoas, Minas Gerais

“…Ao contrário, muitos países estão identificando os aerossóis presentes em suas atmosferas e relacionando a concen-tração de seus constituintes com os casos de saúde registrados e com as fontes de emissão local. Várias pesquisas [11][12][13][14] relacionam o tamanho, a área de superfície, assim como a composição química como fatores importantes na determinação dos efeitos à saúde quando associados ao material particulado.…”

Assessment of City Level Human Health Impact and Corresponding Monetary Cost Burden due to Air Pollution in India Taking Agra as a Model City

“…Epidemiological time series studies of air quality health impacts had been carried out in different cities in the world namely Tehran in Iran (Naddafi et al, 2012); Beijing (Zhang et al, 2007), Taiyuan, Shanxi (Zhang et al, 2010a), Shanghai (Kan and Chen, 2004) and Lanzhou (Tao et al, 2014) in China; ten Canadian cities (Vanos et al, 2013); Bangkok in Thailand (Vichit-Vadakan et al, 2008); Alabama, Philadelphia and Pennsylvania in United States (Smoyer et al, 2000;Caiazzo et al, 2013). Similar studies have also been carried out in different cities of India as: Kolkata (Ghose et al, 2005;Gurjar et al, 2016), Delhi (Alberini et al, 1997;Gurjar et al, 2010;HEI, 2011;Rizwan et al, 2013;Nagpure et al, 2014), Mumbai (Joseph et al, 2003;Maji et al, 2016), Chandigarh (Gupta et al, 2001) and Chennai (Jayanthi and Krishnamoorthy, 2006;HEI, 2011).…”

Concentrations of toxic heavy metals in ambient particulate matter in an industrial area of northeastern China

“…Epidemiological investigations show that the morbidity of lung cancer in human beings was related to the pollution level of the total suspended particles in the urban atmosphere [1,2]. Acute and chronic exposures to ambient particulate matter (PM) were also closely associated with the aggravation of asthma, decrease in lung function and high incidence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) [3][4][5][6]. Atmospheric PM is a pollutant containing complex components and is very harmful to human body.…”