AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA
Lung Screening for Children and Everyone in India on IndiaShakti.org
Hi All, Please share about air pollution with your family and friends which should also help to make things better or else your conditions might also keep worsening. I share details below from different sources but can't say for their correctness.
If you know anyone working to make our conditions better like selling anti-pollution masks, air cleaning machines or doing anything else related to health and fitness then they can also register free on:
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17th February 2016: As per the article, "34.5 per cent of non-smokers in Delhi have impaired lungs: Study. The longer you stay in Delhi, the unhealthier your lungs are."
I do think that there's a significant difference between rarely / minimally smoking and continuously taking in harmful to severely harmful air for the long-term. If you smoke then also you should be highly concerned about air pollution.
14th December 2015: Potential physiologic effects of in-vehicle, roadside, and ambient PM2.5 were investigated in young, healthy, non-smoking, male North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers.
The observations in these healthy young men suggest that in-vehicle exposure to PM2.5 may cause pathophysiologic changes that involve inflammation, coagulation, and cardiac rhythm.
The associations of these health endpoints with ambient and roadside PM2.5 were smaller and less significant.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3261090/
Diesel fumes cause lung cancer, the World Health Organization declared. Many studies have suggested links between diesel and lung cancer, but Dr. Silverman said hers was the first to measure with precision how much diesel exhaust each group of mineworkers was exposed to. Her study clearly established that the more a miner was exposed to diesel, the greater his cancer risk, she said.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/13/health/diesel-fumes-cause-lung-cancer-who-says.html
30th May 2015: Heat & dust raise Delhi’s air toxins to critical levels
In Delhi, toxins in the air rose alarmingly due to a cloud cover trapping pollutants. The capital's air quality index (AQI) breached the 'severe' level, going from 219 (poor) on Wednesday to 410 in one of the sharpest single-day spikes in recent months.
Fine particle pollution (PM2.5) that AQI measures wasn't the only threat lurking in the capital's air. Over the past week, when torrid weather made headlines, levels of the highly toxic ozone (O3) gas were also very high, often double the safe standard of 50 parts per billion.
Read the full article with a lot more details on http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Heat-dust-raise-Delhis-air-toxins-to-critical-levels/articleshow/47463174.cms
5th May 2015: Of the affected children, lung health of 9% affected kids has been termed 'poor' and the remaining 26% was dubbed 'bad'. While the findings have left doctors and green activists shocked, Kolkata has actually fared better than Delhi, where 40% have poor lung health, and Bengaluru, where the figure was pegged at 36%. Mumbai, with 27%, fared the best among the four metros.
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/Air-pollution-takes-toll-on-GenY/articleshow/47155135.cms
16th April 2015: "Pollution turns Lotus Temple marble yellow" And what about lungs? I can perhaps understand about jiski maa Indian sadak ki kutiya in that area, however, what about children of humans there? Do you know? Do you stay or go much to Delhi area? What about children in Delhi area schools? I read about some of the embassy schools that they're trying to do much against pollution for their students. Do you wonder the hierarchy like of pigs, tigers and humans?
15th April 2015: In almost half of the 28 locations, there wasn’t enough air pollution data to record pollution levels, including 5 out of 11 locations in Delhi – the highly-polluted ITO, Shahdara areas and the industrial zone around the Delhi College of Engineering in north Delhi’s Bawana.
The air quality was indicated to be “moderate” in certain other areas though in real-time monitoring by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) as well as the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) showed high toxicity levels.
The Air Quality Index failed even in other places including Agra, Faridabad, Ahemdabad and Hyderabad, while a partial report was generated in Lucknow, Chennai and Bengaluru.
6th April 2015: The German school (in Delhi, India), backed by that country’s embassy, doesn’t let children play outside if RSPM levels top the 300 µg/m3 mark (the average figure for Delhi is 316 this year, over 16 times the permissible limit).
Lycee Francais de Delhi, a school supported by France’s embassy, plans to install 60 air purifiers.
Since 2014, student athletes at the American Embassy School wear masks while training outdoors. Twice every school day, staff measure air quality and then decide if children can go outdoors.
5th April 2015: Air quality of Delhi and Mumbai will be "very poor" in the next few days, particularly on Tuesday and Wednesday, due to a dust storm which originated in the Gulf region last week.
PM2.5 was just 70 microgram/m3 (mgpmc) (moderate) on April 2 which is 144 mgpmc today (Poor) and will go up by 210 mgpmc (Very Poor) by Tuesday (April 7).
PM2.5 is considered to be very dangerous as it affects lungs and enters the blood stream.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46816313.cms
For the record, the PM2.5 limit prescribed by WHO (World Health Organization) is 10 microgrammes per cubic metre and the Indian limit is 40 microgrammes per cubic metre.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-air-pollution-weather-greenpeace-world-health-organisation/1/419297.html
In 2013, a study involving 312,944 people in nine European countries revealed that there was no safe level of particulates and that for every increase of 10 μg/m3 in PM10, the lung cancer rate rose 22%. The smaller PM2.5 were particularly deadly, with a 36% increase in lung cancer per 10 μg/m3 as it can penetrate deeper into the lungs.
Particulates are the deadliest form of air pollution due to their ability to penetrate deep into the lungs and blood streams unfiltered, causing permanent DNA mutations, heart attacks and premature death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates
17th March 2015: What makes Indian like this?
Someone wrote to me:
Hi Shakti,
I"t seems, you love to awake in Night :)
If you really wanna get fresh air, wake up early morning.
My comment:
Hi PERSON,
That's a highly unfortunate comment if you think about it. Did your parents you teach you that if I can ask that? If so then did they teach you that air should be clean enough at all times if I can ask that? What if someone works at different times of the day? Do you know the pollution level around you? Do you have any children and if so then do they wear anti-pollution mask when Bangalore air in general is so harmful based on leading newspapers?
26th February 2015: EU asks its diplomats to install air purifiers at homes, offices in Delhi. When I read comments in news websites by users who don't share their details and talk bad about others who might even be trying to do something good then I also sometimes wonder that how weak and highly unfortunate are the Indian street dogs. Not only others can't really understand their barking due to the issues that they face because of the harmful to very harmful chemicals in air, water, food, land and things that affect them but also that they aren't able like humans to think and do about the issues. Also, do you wonder about how your mothers and children and future generations are getting affected and also you? http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/EU-asks-its-diplomats-to-install-air-purifiers-at-homes-offices-in-Delhi/articleshow/46372547.cms
24th February 2015: Jab doodh pilaye Indian to capital bane kitna sadiyal? "Badarpur among most polluting and wasteful power plants: Study" Is this the reality and if so then how bad? http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/environment/pollution/Badarpur-among-most-polluting-and-wasteful-power-plants-Study/articleshow/46328561.cms
Do you wonder what happens to girls and women in India who breathe in a lot of harmful air and then what quality of babies they produce and what quality of milk they produce for the babies who're the future of our their society and environment including our capital? I wish us best!
17th February 2015: Delhi kids exposed to very unhealthy air in schools
The air-quality monitoring survey carried out by Greenpeace inside five prominent schools across Delhi found the particulate matter (PM) 2.5 levels to be four times the Indian safety limits and 10 times that of the World Health Organisation, said a statement by the NGO.
5th February 2015: Every Bengalurean (person in Bangalore) smokes 6 cigarettes a day!
Do you wonder what harmful chemicals in air, water, food, land and products do to girls who'll produce and feed their milk to babies?
I've also shared it in my article Bangalore rotting, killing, dying?
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/bangalore-rotting-killing-dying-shakti-saran
12th January 2015: Even an educated enough Indian might not be well aware about how they might be getting severely harmed.
One professional working for me in Delhi said that according to recent news it's not cars but its dust that pollutes Delhi most. I shared about this article with the person. (I don't know about the correctness of the articles. I'm sharing what a highly-reputed newspaper has shared so that more and more people can get better aware.):
The ministry of environment and forest (MoEF) had told the court that dust was responsible for 52.2% of the pollution load in the capital while vehicles contributed only 6.6%. But a paper by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology, which started maintaining Delhi's air quality data since the 2010 Commonwealth Games, says vehicles contributed to 32% of the total particulate matter of size 2.5 micron and less (PM 2.5) in 2010. The figure has since risen to 36%. Other sources of pollution, including unpaved roads and construction activity, contributed 28% in 2010, which came down to 26% in 2013.
Sources pointed out that the MoEF report talks about PM in general, not drawing a difference between PM 10 and PM 2.5. The latter is universally considered to be the more harmful of the two, and its levels are considered when drawing up policy.
People working in India should feel like human when they travel on roads because their mothers aren't like Indian street pigs, dogs or any other animals. How do you feel?
Indian sadak ke suar, kutte and other animals could create and feel badboo (bad smell) on the roads but humans in general should feel khushboo (nice smell) on the roads including due to having greenery and below the limit pollution as per the best safest levels for human.
11th January 2015: According to data with Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the PM2.5 level for the past three years - 2012, 2013, 2014 - during January 25 to 27 (the period when Obama will be here) was between 130 to 170 microgram per cubic metre, which is at least five times the WHO standard, eight times the US Environment Protection Agency (USEPA) standard and twice the Indian safe standard.
Note that safe standard in India is much weaker than that of World Health Organization and of US Environment Protection Agency and even then the Indian safe limits are also crossed.
24th November 2014: Exercising in intense air pollution? I've been sharing about this for a long while from common sense and today I read this:
"While environmental regulators in the United States recommend against exercising in intense air pollution, they presume such pollution levels are rare, which they are in the United States."
Please don't get used to such severely harmful pollution.
How do you feel about children studying, playing or doing anything in such severely harmful pollution who generally don't realize well about the harm and even if they do realize well then what can they really do against the harm than to mostly do what their parents provide for them?
Sadak ka suar gand mein rahe, used to bhi ho jaaye aur phir usko aur badhaye. Hum to insaan hai. Maa ke doodh ke bare mein bhi soche harmful chemicals related.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/24/sports/in-delhi-pushing-through-the-wall-of-air-pollution-.html
5th November 2014: Air pollution reduced wheat yield by 50 per cent, says study
A study that has analysed data for the last 30 years has revealed that , arising out of smog and other pollutants, drastically reduced wheat yields in densely populated states in the country by nearly 50 per cent, making it significantly lower than what they could have been in 2010.
According to the assessment, up to 90 per cent of the decrease in potential food production seems linked to smog, made up of black carbon and other pollutants.
http://businesstoday.intoday.in/story/air-pollution-wheat-yield-agriculture-farmers/1/212012.html
2nd November 2014: Odour, Odour: what artificial air-fresheners could be doing
Phthalates tend to suppress androgenic hormones, alter growth and development and cause neuro-endocrine disturbance; we call them gender-benders. Growing kids happen to be the most susceptible group.
But that is just the tip of the iceberg. One way to keep the fragrance float in air is to add small amounts of terpene, acetone, toluene and dicholoro-benzene. They reliably do their job, keeping your olfactory nerves happy — but they do something more.
Terpenes react to ozone and create pungent formaldehyde, which notoriously causes broncho-spasm (ask any medical student going to the anatomy dissection hall), acetone is toxic to blood and heart (read the warning on the nail polish remover container) while toluene targets the central nervous system. 1-4 dichloro-benzene is known to cause bronchial asthma and decreased lung function. The very fact that these molecules remain suspended for long after you press that nozzle makes the toxicity more profound for the poor consumer.
From the office to the car, from home to restaurant, waiting halls to rest rooms, the fragrance, tagged by the phthalates and company, follow you wherever you go, in effect forcing you to inhale the chemicals for far longer than you can imagine or your kids can tolerate.
31st October 2014: Kitne padhe likhe Indians aise honge...Kya inki maa ne inko sadaya hoga...Kya ye doosri maaon ko sada rahe honge...Kya phir aur log bhi sadenge...
A while ago, some seemingly educated person having children told me that what's the use of trees when people are staying on the higher floors...
Suar, sher aur doosre janwar to har jagah ek jaise hi hai, lekin insaano mein itna difference kyun hai woh bhi most critical things mein...
From Delhi’s air very unhealthy: US embassy monitor article:
According to US standards, readings in the 201-300 range are termed 'very unhealthy', which could lead to "significant aggravation of heart or lung disease and... significant increase in respiratory effects". The advisory for this level asks people with heart or lung disease, older adults and children to "avoid all physical activity outdoors".
25th October 2014: Kisi ki maa ko suarni bolna ek verbal gaali hai aur jis par log ladne bhi lag sakte hai.
To phir log kya karenge jab unko pata chalega ki unki maa aur family aise pollution mein saans le rahe hai. I wish us best in fighting against pollution!
"The 24-hours average of PM10 was recorded at 427 mg per cubic metre and PM2.5 was at 278 mpcm, almost five times higher than the prescribed standard of 100 mpcm and 60 mpcm respectively," said senior scientist Dr Gufran Beig at SAFAR, which is jointly run by the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology and India Meteorological Department.
"These pollutants can harm the heart and brain as well. People with existing heart or lung diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart disease, or ischemic heart disease are at increased risk of admission to hospitals based on the severity of already existing problem," he said.
10th October 2014: Lung cancer 'can hide for 20 years'
www.webmd.boots.com/lung-cancer/news/20141010/lung-cancer-can-hide-20-years
Do you live in a highly polluted environment?
Do you know that diesel smoke is cancerous according to WHO.
Jab maa suarni to health kaisi bhi. Achcha hai ki hum insaan hai. I wish us best !!!
11th September 2014: Children living in polluted cities have higher chances of developing brain inflammation and neurodegenerative changes that raise the risk of diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, according to researchers.
When air particulate matter and heir components such as metals and toxins (like carbon and sulphur) are inhaled and swallowed, they pass through damaged cell barriers — including in the brain, lungs and gastro-intestinal tract — and cause long-lasting damage, found researchers at the University of Montana.
Jab Indian ki maa sadak ki suarni ya aur koi janwar to woh to kaise bhi jeete jayenge. Lekin hum to humans hai. Please take best care. Best!!!
17th May 2014: Dr Sanjay Kulshresthra, the Agra-based petitioner, quotes a number of scientific studies indicating an increasing trend of low birth weight, pre-term deliveries and physical anomalies among babies in Indian cities.
Apart from the recent WHO air quality database that shows Delhi has the highest PM 2.5 (fine particle) levels, Kulshreshtra quotes a study from Newcastle University saying pregnant women in India exposed to vehicular pollution are significantly more likely to have smaller babies. "The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) added air pollution to Group 1 carcinogens, the same category under which tobacco, UV radiation and plutonium fall," the petition states.
10th May 2014: It is not just Delhi, but 25 other Indian cities have higher air pollution levels than Beijing — formerly thought to be the city with the worst air in the world — a 2014-version of the Ambient Air Pollution (AAP) Database released by WHO has shown.
10th May 2014: A WHO study released earlier this week confirmed that the air quality in India’s capital is among the worst in the world — indeed, it found Delhi’s air to have the highest concentration of fine particulate matter, PM 2.5, which can deeply penetrate the lungs and contribute to asthma, cancer and heart trouble. Other Indian urban centres also throng the list; 13 of the dirtiest 20 cities are Indian. This follows on the heels of the annual Yale Environmental Performance Index, which ranked India 174 out of 178 countries in air quality in January. Before that, a 2013 World Bank report surveyed 132 countries and rated India worst on air pollution. Clearly, India’s air pollution problem has hit crisis levels.
http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/editorials/choking-on-air/
8th May 2014: Thirteen of the dirtiest 20 cities were Indian, with New Delhi, Patna, Gwalior and Raipur in the top four spots. The Indian capital had an annual average of 153 micrograms of small particulates, known as PM2.5, per cubic metre.
7th April 2014:
Indians losing over years of their life
due to high pollution levels: study
15th April 2014: Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Professor of Environmental Economics, Michael Greenstone speaking on ‘Shorter lives due to air pollution and some potential solutions for India’ at a lecture organised by PHFI earlier this week noted: “There is new evidence on people’s exposure to ambient concentrations of airborne Particulate Matter the most dangerous form of air pollution in India, China, and other countries. For much of India’s population, these concentrations greatly exceed India's National Ambient Air Quality Standards and levels that the World Health Organisation consider safe.”
16th March 2014: A very senior person in Delhi who has contributed to security of India at top level is now having serious respiratory issues. What kind of an end is he going to have? What kind of a beginning are the many new born having given the severely harmful pollution? What are you doing? I wish us best.
Jiski maa sadak ki kutiya uski hawa holi ke din kaisi? Jaisi insaan wahan hawa rakhe waisi. (Whose mother is street dog, how's their air on day of Holi? It's like how human keeps the air there.) Janwar to kuch nahin kar sakte aur isiliye itne buri halat mein dikhte hai aur isiliye inko shahar mein hona bhi nahin chahiye. (Animals can't do anything and hence they look in such bad condition and hence they shouldn't even be in the cities.)
Lekin insaan ne apne liye bhi hawa aisi bana di hai. (However, human has also made air like this for self.) Kya sone ki chidiya ke bare mein holi ke din sochne se environment improve ho sakta hai? (Can the environment improve by thinking of golden bird on the day of holi?)
Soche ki sone ki chidiya kaisi hawa mein rehna chahegi. (Think that golden bird would want to stay in what kind of air.)
Harmful chemicals in colors will also affect the air around. Are you sure about how safe are your colors and what others would put on you?
"Toxic colours are freely being sold everywhere. These colours contain harmful substances such as zinc, chromium, mercury, lead, mercury, asbestos etc."
"Delhi has turned into a pollution zone so deadly that children in the Capital have the lungs of chain-smokers, and all the associated respiratory ailments." (article link below)
13th March 2014: A very senior person who has retired from armed forces said pollution and then global warming when I asked him how would the summer be like and what's going on with weather in general. Jab sone ki chidiya kehlati thi ye jagah to kitne sadak pe kutte kutiya the. Jab bhokte hue dekho to kabhi sochte ho ki ye severely harmful pollution se to nahin bhok raha hai aur agar hai to woh insaan ko kya kar raha hoga. Janwar to bachche shayad kahin bhi nikalega lekin kya ye human hai ki bachche ko bade harmful pollution mein nikalna. God, na kutta na sher hu insaan hun. Please help.
(When this place was called golden bird then how many street male and female dogs were here. When you see barking then do you ever think perhaps it's because of severely harmful pollution and if it's then what it would be doing to humans. Animal might produce life anywhere, however, is it human to produce life in severely harmful pollution. God, I'm neither dog nor tiger but human. Please help.)
2nd March 2014: Jiski maa ho Indian sadak ki kutiya, suarni ya koi aur janwar uski hawa to kaisi bhi lekin jiski maa ho insaan uski hawa kaise aisi? (Whose mother is Indian street dog, pig or another animal then its air can be like anything, however, whose mother is human then how come their air is like this?)
Delhi has turned into a pollution zone so deadly that children in the Capital have the lungs of chain-smokers, and all the associated respiratory ailments.
Prof. Randeep Guleria, head of the Department of Pulmonary Medicine at AIIMS, said Delhiites are facing breathing problems they never had and say their problem is now prolonged.
22nd February 2014: Women Warriors. Today at Parikrama, Kasturba Gandhi Marg, Connaught Place, Delhi, I showed my grandfather my anti-pollution mask. He's visiting from USA and is a neurosurgeon. I had shared with some relatives about how weak I felt as an Indian. Do you wonder if a dog knew enough about the harm that severe air pollution causes including to babies then would the dog try to move to reproduce its babies or try to make its place good enough for the babies? When I returned, there was an online message by the owner of NeoMask www.neomask.in regarding my purchase of several masks. Nice! Thank You for this!
Just imagine to keep breathing deeply into the body harmful to severely harmful chemicals.
22nd February 2014: Delhi is coughing hard and the air is to blame. Satellite pictures of Delhi's pollution should set off alarm bells - the city has PM2.5 or Particulate Matter 2.5 many times higher than the levels that World Health Organisation says is safe.
Here is why: PM2.5 or particulate matter 2.5 basically are particles floating in the air that are smaller than 2.5 micrometers, which is 100 times thinner than a human hair. These are toxic organic compounds and heavy metals hanging low in the air as the grey smog that envelopes the city.
When people inhale, they breathe in the particles which could then travel deep into the lungs causing serious respiratory problems.
17th February 2014: A new study has found that breathing in harmful toxic chemicals during pregnancy increases risk of hypertension in women and may result in deadly complications like preeclampsia.
Sulfur dioxide is emitted from power plants and industries. Most carbon monoxide is produced by car exhaust.
7th February 2014: In a worrying trend noted by oncologists, lung cancer is increasing rapidly among Indian women. The foremost reason, much against popular perception, is not smoking but environmental pollution.
"So, while in 1998, lung cancer was negligible in women and was not one of the top 10 cancers affecting females, in 2008 the ratio between men and women became 3:1. In our experience in the clinic too, we have seen a rise in the number of women affected by lung cancer. Most of these women are from metro cities and are non-smokers...they are not even passive smokers," A.K. Anand, chief, Radiation Oncology at Max Hospital, told IANS.
Preeti Jain, consultant Oncology surgeon at Columbia Asia Hospital, further said that harm by vehicular and environmental pollution starts early. "Pollution is definitely a big factor in the rising number of respiratory ailments and now in lung cancer cases. Fine particulate matter in the air that lodges itself in the lungs causes harm over time, and damage starts early," Jain told IANS. Smoking, even passive smoking, she added, are the next two factors.
India has just slipped 32 ranks in the global Environment Performance Index (EPI) to a low of 155, and capital Delhi has earned the dubious tag of being the world's most polluted city.
http://www.dnaindia.com/health/report-pollution-increasing-lung-cancer-in-indian-women-1959054
3rd February 2014: Vanya Joshi (51), a filmmaker, says, “My doctor tells me that the smoke from the chimneys has affected my immune system. I do not smoke but my lungs have developed black patches. If this continues I will have to sell my flat and move somewhere safer.”
Residents claim toxic emissions from such plants have been linked to cancers, respiratory ailments and birth defects. “And it’s not only Sukhdev Vihar which is suffering. Other affected colonies include New Friends Colony, Maharani Bagh, Ishwar Nagar, Jamia Nagar, Jasola Vihar and Sarita Vihar, besides Jamia Millia Islamia University, Holy Family Hospital and other institutions,” said Krishna.
Indian sadak ke kutte ki awaaz suno, jab wo bhoke to uski baat suno. Kya wo bhok severely harmful pollution se hai? Achcha hai ki hum insaan hai, aap pollution ke bare mein kya karte hai?
2nd February 2014: Imagine very clean air vs very polluted air on a daily basis for months and years and possibly worsening. What it would do to your mind and life overall. Imagine harmful chemicals in food that you don't know about and you aren't paying to buy and eat them. If you and each one of us will not do greatly about this then perhaps we're reaching a point from where we can't return.
Someone spoke to me as if he was trying to assert that I should know the details of what I'm talking about. He asked that which particles and in how much amount in the pollution cause diseases like cancer. I had shared with the person that the statistics and other details from highly reputed sources are saying that there's a very high amount of severely harmful pollution in Delhi area and that which causes diseases including cancer.
I responded that my effort isn't to remember the details but to collect such details from highly reputed sources and that share the same on a single blog post and then at other places so that the many people can get to read those details for themselves. I also said that my effort is to raise enough concern in the people that they would want to learn about the same because as the awareness would grow, hopefully the demand for better would grow too.
I felt that my value of efforts was being questioned. I was told that since I'm sharing higher level details, the person would also ask the details from me. I emphasized some different times that I'm putting together such details at single place so that people can read a lot about them quickly. I think the person gradually got my point much better and then he shared as a very concerned person about how things are in such poor conditions considering the best in our world.
I was told things like people are so busy with school related efforts of children that how would they give enough time to the quality of food and air that their children are getting. I would ask everyone to think that if the quality of food and air was great or that we knew that we were doing specific things to make them great then we could assertively say that we know what we're doing and that we're going to have an increasingly better society and environment and that the people today would live and do better. What's one living for? A fancy TV first or great food, water and air first? I was told about people making trade offs and I wondered that how can people not actively work seriously against such severely harmful issues faced by them and their family.
I was asked that what to do on which I showed my pollution mask and I also said that people have to work individually and together to bring the necessary changes. The government, the private sector, the nonprofit organizations and the individuals have to do a variety of things and some of which I also mentioned. I mentioned about planting trees which are so less around on which the person said that what about people living on higher floors that the trees wouldn't be between their apartments and the pollution coming from the other side. I said that it's not one thing but various things have to be done. Appropriate quality buses at different ticket prices can replace so many cars on the road and that corporate and other organizations can also provide them. People can still own cars if they want to, however, the environment doesn't have to bear the burden of so many vehicles at all times and that then even the law and enforcement would find it much easier to check the much fewer vehicles related to pollution. I said that the public transport has to be made much better overall and that people in general have to become so much more aware to demand and use public transportation and then we also have to plant so many trees and do other things. I said that do parents even get curious about the harmful chemicals in the soil of the park in which their children play and breath deeply including with open mouths. Have they ever thought of getting the soil tested for what harmful chemicals are in them? I wish that my efforts would help our society in implementing the best of solutions as quickly as possible.
30th January 2014: Particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5 in shorthand) are fine enough to lodge deep in human lung and blood tissue and cause diseases ranging from stroke to lung cancer, the Yale study said.
The World Health Organisation, which last year termed polluted air as a carcinogen, says PM2.5 at 10 m/cum is safe.
Delhi University’s PM 2.5 level was 500 m/cum and ITO’s 360 at 7pm.
On Tuesday, the levels dropped to average between 230 m/cum and 430 m/cum at places such as Mandir Marg, Anand Vihar and Punjabi Bagh.
26th January 2014: "Researchers are beginning to suspect that India's unusual mix of polluted air, poor sanitation and contaminated water may make the country among the most dangerous in the world for lungs."
So Indian sadak ki kutiya (female street dog) ke lungs are generally the weakest among female street dogs in our world and that's probably also why we see Indian street dogs keep barking around much and that what would weak mothers generally produce?
Indian sadak ki kutiya (Indian female street dog) kya progress dikhati hogi apne bachchon ko (would be showing what progress to its children) kyunki dhoondti to woh bhi hogi theek jagah, khana, pani aur hawa (because it would also be searching for alright place, food, water and air)? "A recent study showed that Indians have the world's weakest lungs."
It's great that we're humans but what are we doing as humans about our most severe issues? "Fine particle pollution has been strongly linked with premature death, heart attacks, strokes and heart failure. In October, the World Health Organization declared that it caused lung cancer."
"Then a 2010 study found that the children of Indian immigrants who were born and raised in the United States had far better lung function than those born and raised in India."
http://www.ndtv.com/article/cities/beijing-s-air-would-be-step-up-for-smoggy-delhi-475574
Sadak ke kutte, kutiya severely harmful pollution se bhi kya bhokte jaye? Insaan apne aur sabke liye severely harmful pollution ko kum aur khatam bhi karte jaye.
Do street male and female dogs keep barking also due to severely harmful pollution? Humans for self and for all others keep reducing and even stopping the severely harmful pollution.
26th January 2014: "Critical" air quality impacts everyone, not just the vulnerable.
Over January 14-16, air pollution levels in Delhi reached a level that's linked to "emergency conditions" for health.
Air quality in Delhi reached a "critical" level-i.e. on January 14, 15 and 16 the air was extremely polluted at almost all locations monitored by System of Air Quality Weather Forecasting and Research run by the ministry of earth sciences.
Street dogs, pigs and other animals will make noises when affected by pollution. I've also created www.indianstreetanimalnahin.com/?p=5 What are you doing about pollution?
Someone commented on my wall:
https://www.facebook.com/slateandchalk.net/posts/704100569623164?comment_id=97245686¬if_t=like
PERSON Pollution is a problem every place. Hear in California (American West coast) are starting to receive China's smog.
14 minutes ago · Like
Shakti Saran Thank You for sharing PERSON! I think much worse is coming very fast unless people in masses start demanding and working for major changes and for which they need to be aware to start with. Moreover, this would also hugely negatively affect the future generations of today's best off people and so everyone should be concerned and that doing their best about this. Our world might even start to deteriorate much faster than we could ever make it great again. I wish the best people can reach the most important positions of responsibility. I wish us the best!
4 minutes ago · Like · 1
Over 180 hours of measurements, the average PM2.5 concentration in New Delhi auto-rickshaws was ~ 200 µg / m^3. In this video, the peak concentrations exceed 2,000 µg / m^3. For context, the World Health Organization recommends that annual-average concentrations in urban areas not exceed 10 µg / m^3. The US comes close to meeting this guideline for ambient air:
30th October 2013: God, Kya yeh sadak ke suar, kutte, janwar jaisa hain? Aisi health hone se insaan kya karega aur phir society and environment ka kya hoga? Please help. I just read: Roy said that air pollution is compromising immune systems of people in cities dramatically. "We found depression incidence to be twice high in Delhi as compared to the control group. Our study shows this is linked to air pollution. Liver and kidney function is also affected," he said, adding that long-term exposure to benzene can cause DNA damage.
The long-term study— being funded by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and World Health Organization (WHO) — covers not just respiratory problems caused by air pollution but also incidence of certain kinds of cancer and changes in behavioral pattern of children.
25th October 2013: It seems that people of Indian origin get programmed to think in certain ways perhaps also due to facing several severe issues for years like some lady who has been living abroad for some years in one of the most developed nations, has traveled the world and is in 50s told me that based on what some yoga teacher in India told that lady, yoga would be the solution against the severely harmful pollution equating it to germs. When I mentioned that there's severely harmful inorganic matter in the severely harmful pollution and that high quantity of such pollution is very harmful then that person didn't have anything to say. Perhaps when there were boards that said that dogs and Indians not allowed then the children were told things in general which have also led us to such severe issues now.
14 August 2013: How great does an Indian in general feel in our world?
Exclusive: Study reveals Delhi air is full of cancer-causing particles leading to respiratory ailments
The findings of the report have also perturbed city's environmentalists. "We know that particulate matter level is high in Delhi's air, but the high presence of heavy metals in shocking. The findings show how toxic can PM be when it mixes with other compounds in the air," said Anumita Roy Chowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy, Centre for Science and Environment. "The mortality risk assessment calls for better pollution control measures by the authorities. It's high time that we ramp up our actions towards air pollution control in the city," she said.
http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/air-pollution-delhiites-jnu-study-carcinogenic-particles-aerosol-respiratory-ailments/1/291232.html
31 July 2013: God, What is the quality of Indian being produced and grown given the amount and severity of issues faced by them and how would that further affect the issues? When you see Indian street dog or pig living in severely harmful pollution then what do you think for humans also living in that severely harmful pollution? God, why do you keep making Indians when those Indians would live in such severe issues and that the issues don't seem to be improving? How many Indians are doing something significant against air pollution? If you're making more Indians then please also help for increasing greatness in India.
From http://www.kjrh.com/dpp/news/studies-air-pollution-linked-to-brain-damage
In the lab, Gandy and colleagues exposed mice to the common gases and nanoparticles of air pollution for three hours. When the mice were autopsied, they showed a 72 percent to 129 percent increase in the levels of beta amyloid, a key protein associated with Alzheimer's. "We were startled when three hours of air pollution exposure for the mice showed such a rapid and dramatic elevation," Gandy said.
Scientists in 2004 studied the brain tissue of children and young adults in Mexico who had died of accidents and were stunned by what they found -- a discovery that rocked the world of neuroscience and has gone largely untested until now.
Almost all the young people had evidence of Alzheimer's protein plaques scattered throughout their brain tissue.
The only factor linking one case to another was air pollution in Mexico City, which led scientists at the time to hypothesize that smog might be a trigger of Alzheimer's disease and that the mind-robbing damage might start early in life.
Now a new group of scientists has picked up where the first team left off. So far, it appears a link may exist between inhaling pollutants and developing damage in the brain.
A nationwide study last year followed the fate of nearly 20,000 women over a 10-year period and found that inhaling pollutants, such as those found in any metropolitan area, exacerbated problems with attention span and escalated memory loss.
Another investigation reported last year, which focused on Boston, revealed that on days when concentrations of traffic-related pollutants were up, the number of strokes increased.
Dr. Heather Volk of the University of Southern California reported last fall that exposure to traffic-related pollution during pregnancy and a child's first year of life appear to be associated with an elevated risk of autism.
The key pollutants, she found, were vehicle-related particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide, a leading precursor of ozone, also known as smog.
No matter how much we train a dog, can it care about air pollution? It's great that we're humans. If you're doing anything related to air pollution in India then you're welcome to also share about it here.
Updated on previous dates:
India’s Air the World’s Unhealthiest, Study Says
Of 132 countries whose environments were surveyed, India ranks dead last in the ‘Air (effects on human health)’ ranking. The annual study, the Environmental Performance Index, is conducted and written by environmental research centers at Yale and Columbia universities with assistance from dozens of outside scientists. The study uses satellite data to measure air pollution concentrations.
India’s high levels of fine particulate matter (a subject we’ve been looking at on India Ink, albeit just in Delhi) are one of the major factors contributing to the country’s abysmal air quality. Levels of so-called PM 2.5, for the 2.5 micron size of the particulates, are nearly five times the threshold where they become unsafe for human beings.
http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/indias-air-the-worlds-unhealthiest-study-says/?_r=0
Delhi's pollution level is up by five times in eight years
Delhiites are breathing poison. If you thought CNG had made the Capital's air cleaner, then it's time for a reality check. The alarming pollution levels have blackened Delhi's air to such an extent that it ranks alongside coal town Jharia and unregulated industrial hubs like Ludhiana, Raipur and Kanpur.
And it's the ever-increasing numbers of diesel-guzzling passenger cars and trucks plying unregulated on the city's roads that are largely to blame for the situation.
Read more: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-pollution-level-rises/1/204283.html
City kids residing in commercial areas at a high health risk - The study found that the percentage of students having respiratory disorder symptoms was maximum in Chandni Chowk (66 per cent) followed by Mayapuri (59 per cent) and Sarojini Nagar (46 per cent).
View Photo of Lung exposed to pollution:
http://www.healthfitnessindia.com/photo/lung-exposed-to-air-pollution-health-fitness-india
Financial Times video of New Delhi faces pollution crisis:
https://plus.google.com/113457471429583444041/posts/df26YEzbW41
Severely Harmful Pollution in India & Defense Tech based Anti-Pollution Mask (brief) http://www.umbrasecurity.com/severely-harmful-pollution-in-india-defense-tech-based-anti-pollution-mask
31 Jan 2013 (update):
India has the most toxic air: Study http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/energy-and-environment/article2837739.ece
"Delhi ranks last in world green index: UN report". How such conditions affect Delhi's security? http://lnkd.in/hHvM38 Just posted: I feel deeply sorry for Delhi Police that it has to be out in such high pollution continuously...
26 Jan 2013 (update):
Dear All,
Happy Republic Day!
I welcome you to browse the Security and India (SAI) LinkedIn group's updated profile http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Security-India-4667311/about and also browse Umbra Security Pvt. Ltd. company's website http://www.umbrasecurity.com/ for about our work and team.
I request your few minutes to consider a most critical issue being faced by us including our families, friends and colleagues. High to very high quantities of severely harmful pollutants are critically damaging our minds and bodies. Recent study by WHO shows that diesel fumes cause lung cancer. Other studies show that people aren't safe from pollution inside cars.
Roychowdhury, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) executive director-research and advocacy and head of its air pollution unit says that "India will have to take aggressive action to reverse the trend of short term respiratory and cardiac effects as well as the long term cancer and other metabolic and cellular effects. Remember - toxic effects like cancer surface after a long latency period. Therefore, exposure to air pollution will have to be reduced today to reduce the burden of disease." Please consider how this would be impacting children including their long-term well-being.
Kindly let me share with you that I've become a sales partner for an imported and affordable anti pollution mask using world class Defense technology (used by U.K. Ministry of Defense) after using it for a year. The filter is made using http://www.chemvironcarbon.com/en/activated-carbon-cloth. Currently, the whole piece is made in South-East Asia after importing the filter cloth to there and then the whole piece is imported to India. The manufacturer (Britisher) has become a friend and I've been able to bring down the price of the mask for my customers a good amount from the MRP. After selling enough pieces, I intend to manufacture it in India hopefully along with this person to further bring down the price and make it affordable to a lot more people. If one can reduce the regular exposure to pollutants by a large amount then the regular damage will be much less and that which the body might even be able to heal and recover from unlike if the regular damage is very high. The anti pollution mask should cost around 5 INR a day over a year's period including after separately purchasing and replacing the filter few times in a year as required based on usage.
I request your kindest support to let me share an online presentation about air pollution and the anti pollution mask with people working at your organization. Whether they travel using cars, bikes or various means of public transport, I believe that they would benefit greatly by using this mask on a daily basis. Moreover, the mask is very easy to wear and is made from materials which can be worn for a long while with comfort (based on experience of some different people including me). People who've bought it from me wear it regularly and that have thanked me because I kept sharing with them about pollution and how it's harming all of us and how they can much better protect themselves from it. I also believe that as more and more people would wear it then that would also have the great positive effect of making an increasing number of people aware of the issue and that as the awareness would grow not only in breadth but also in depth, the hope is that the masses would make increasingly significant efforts for reducing the severely harmful pollution that we all face together.
I think you would agree that a developed nation is known not by how many people use their own vehicle for transportation but by how many people who can afford or have a vehicle use public transportation. I think it doesn't mean to not own a vehicle if one can and wants to but it means to also have public transportation such that it's not a must to use one's own vehicle for the same or an almost similar experience. I think you would agree that by reducing our growing burden on our nation and our planet, we would most likely live increasingly better for a much longer period.
I hope you think that what I've shared with you is also critically applicable to Security and India and that I would receive your kindest support in my efforts. If you would be able to help me share an online presentation about air pollution and the anti pollution mask with people working at your organization or even just with your family, friends and colleagues then please share with me your preferable email id and that I would send you the presentation. Also, if you and any of your contacts are interested to purchase the anti pollution mask then please share with me and based on the number of pieces, I'll give you a discount and share with you the modalities of payment and delivery.
Thank you very much for your precious time to read my message and consider my request. I wish that I would make increasingly valuable contributions with you over the long-term.
Best Regards,
Shakti Saran
Founder Director | Umbra Security Pvt. Ltd.
shakti.saran@umbrasecurit.com | http://www.umbrasecurity.com/
"S/he who, secure within, can say, I am not just dust or shadow."
12 Jan 2013 (update): Around 65 per cent of the air pollution deaths occur in Asia and close to quarter of this in India.
Roychowdhury, Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) executive director-research and advocacy and head of its air pollution unit said, "Days of doubts and complacency are over. There is hard enough evidence now to act urgently to reduce the public health risks to all, particularly the children, elderly, and poor. No one can escape toxic air. India will have to take aggressive action to reverse the trend of short term respiratory and cardiac effects as well as the long term cancer and other metabolic and cellular effects. Remember - toxic effects like cancer surface after a long latency period. Therefore, exposure to air pollution will have to be reduced today to reduce the burden of disease."
11 Jan 2013 (update): What do you think when you breathe lung cancer causing diesel fumes and other severely harmful pollutants critically damaging your mind and body? Also, if you think that you're safe in your car then most likely your car's air filter doesn't filter out the severely harmful pollutants from entering inside your vehicle and then damaging you. Also, inside of your car can hold pollutants for a long while which would keep damaging you. I've become a sales partner for an imported and affordable anti pollution mask using world class Defense technology after using it for a year. If you think that the mask wouldn't block all pollution then please realize that if one can reduce regular exposure by a large amount then the regular damage will be much less and that which the body might even be able to heal and recover from unlike if the regular damage is very high. The anti pollution mask should cost around 5 INR a day over a year's period. You're welcome to write to me if you would like buy one.
7 Dec 2012 (update): I've been using an anti pollution mask (imported) for a year now to protect myself from severely harmful polluted air. Recently, I've become its sales partner. The technology was originally developed by the British Ministry of Defence for use in chemical warfare suits. It costs around 5 INR a day over a year's period. If you're interested in getting one then kindly write to me. Kindly note that inside of vehicles can have more concentrated amount of pollutants than in open air. Also, air outside is highly polluted. I've received very positive feedback including from bikers. If you would like its details then you're welcome to Sign Up and then Message me through this site. Also, by wearing an anti pollution mask, you and people around you might even make increasing efforts towards reducing pollution. All the Best!
8 Dec 2011: I use the Delhi Metro which has been nice including because many people have been noticing my anti-pollution mask and that I would be writing www.healthfitnessindia.com on it soon. Today after leaving the gym, I wore the anti-pollution mask. During the security check at the entrance of Delhi Metro in Connaught Place, New Delhi, India, the police officer checking me asked me what I was wearing on which I said an anti-pollution mask and then he asked me from which country I was on which I said India. He asked me whether I was an NRI (Non Resident Indian) on which I said no on which he asked me that where all I would keep wearing this mask in India. He was speaking in Hindi and that laughingly and that I think that he was mentioning that there's a lot of pollution in India particularly in the major cities of India.
Some other police officers joined in our conversation which had extended as I had stepped a distance away from him and that I had gotten my bags through the security scanner machine while speaking with them. They were polite and had even gotten seriously interested in this conversation when I had said that the traffic police has been given anti-pollution masks (on which I had read online even though I haven't seen them wear it and that after using my anti-pollution mask, I even thought of trying to get it available to all public officials working in polluted environments). The police officers told me that anti-pollution mask hasn't been made available to them on which I told them that I would try to present this need of theirs to our Commissioner of Police, Delhi and that I also asked them whether they would support me if I try to do this on which they agreed. Now, I'll ask family and friends to help me with the same. I wish that we can meet this need of those who've chosen to keep us safe.
Regarding Delhi Metro, to people who only mention its issues, I would like to say that of course there're issues and that most likely most things in the world can be improved, however, first it has several benefits and second it would be better to do something about those issues even if at minimum by bringing together people wanting to make a change, and/or by writing, sharing, and discussing on potential solutions and that trying to present them to those who make related decisions than just saying that there're issues.
Best!
Shakti Saran