Let's safeguard the air against pollutants

By Amal Hewavissenti

A fair degree of pollution of air sufficiently produces a perilous short-term and even long-term effect on our health. The damage caused to a person by the pollutants in the air is largely determined by how much he is exposed to the noxious chemicals in the air and how long he is open to the air thus polluted.

It is obvious that small children and the elderly are not at all defended against air pollution and they are easily likely to suffer the consequences. At the same time prolonged exposure to the air pollution may account for chronic lung cancer and heart disease and may also damage the brain.

Factories, power stations and most important, the vehicles release gases, soot and dust into the air which, being polluted damage people's lungs. Some kinds of air pollution can even cause brain damage and waste gases in the air can also cause acid rain which damages trees, lakes and river life and buildings.

We are constantly reminded by medical research that polluted air directly attacks the central nervous system, liver and kidneys and detrimentally affect the lungs of growing children. Furthermore, polluted air can aggravate acute health conditions of old people.

The health authorities stress that irritation in the nose, eyes and throat, bronchitis and pneumonia are the dismal side effects created by air pollution. It has thus posed a substantial health hazard specially for the urban people under rapid industrialisation.

As far as any influence over human health is concerned, the chief environmental dilemma appears to be air pollution. The reality that urban areas are being continually struck by the dismal effects of air pollution is worth mention in this regard. A staggering number of people with severe respiratory problems are from urban areas where air pollution is on the rise.

In Sri Lanka too, the second major reason for hospital admissions of people has been proved to be disorders related to breathing. Statistics shows that around a million infants worldwide die of respiratory problems annually.

When the natural balance of air is disrupted, it becomes polluted. Once the air is blended with polluters such as gases and particles, it instantly becomes detrimental to human health. If one were to linger on the road in Colombo, Sri Lanka's most congested city, one would experience difficulty in breathing, fainting or headache because of the presence of carbon monoxide in the atmosphere.

Smoke

In Sri Lanka, the prominent polluter of air is the smoke emitted from traffic. The toxic gases and particles released by the traffic into the atmosphere are at work undermining the health of city dwellers. We may labour under the considerable misapprehension that wind may carry off the noxious gases and particles, but actually the toxic smoke hovers over the ground level. The reason is that the traffic smoke is comparatively heavier than the average smoke.

A great number of diesel and petrol driven vehicles daily cruise the roads of the country emitting carbon monoxide, lead and hydro carbon - a potential health threat at present. One problem associated with combating air pollution is the failure to maintain vehicles and driving vehicles of appalling condition. Practically everybody has the right to use a vehicle, but it is everybody's responsibility to leave a world that can provide good air for its people to breathe.

The vehicles that account for much of the air pollution are not trains or buses but cars, three wheelers, vans, motor cycles and so on. Fortunately the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of Electricity and Energy and Petroleum Corporation have taken effective measures to ban the use of petrol with lead. This has resulted in minimising the sicknesses caused by lead.

The air pollution is caused by electricity power plants too. These power plants which use diesel and furnace oil are revealed to emit considerable amount of Sulphur Dioxide. Even though these gas pollutants are released from a higher point the toxic smoke reaches the ground by night when it becomes cool.

Power plants, industrial buildings and diesel driven vehicles emit Sulphur Dioxide which gradually develops as a major cause for many illnesses. For instance, this gas may cause bronchitis and pneumonia.

Apart from that, Sulphur Dioxide can induce irritation in eyes, and throat in pedestrians. Nitrogen Dioxide can turn an asthma patient into a pneumonia patient within weeks. This gas is instrumental in producing Ozone which is also a harmful gas for human health even though the higher layer of it serves as a powerful guard against the sun's rays.

Ozone

A thin layer of Ozone, a gas produced naturally from Oxygen in the upper atmosphere, surrounds the world and protects it from the harmful ultraviolet rays in sunlight. However, Ozone is destroyed by pollution from burning fuels and by chemicals (CFCs) released from some refrigerators. If the Ozone layer is badly damaged, more people will get skin cancer.

The Ozone layer in the atmosphere is a highly detrimental gas to human health but it must be protected as it acts as a powerful shield against sun's strong rays. According to medical research, Ozone has the potential for producing a greater health hazard if it were to remain on the lower layer of the atmosphere. Yet, as long as Ozone remains on the top of the atmosphere, it is bound to safeguard man against the ultra violet rays.

Medical research asserts that, higher Ozone layer prevents skin cancer, skin diseases and eye disorders that are otherwise caused by the harmful rays of the sun. The hydro carbon and Nitrogen Dioxide emitted by vehicles with two stroke engines are directly responsible for producing a harmful Ozone layer in the lower atmosphere.

The lead in the atmosphere a by product of traffic smoke has the tendency to be deposited in the lungs and cause nerve disorders in children.

Eventhough man can sustain himself without water and food for several days, he cannot live an hour without air. Therefore, air is the most precious natural resource that must be safeguarded for a safe world.