Did this air pollution suddenly occur yesterday? What are its health effects? This is an ideal opportunity to identify what future risks we may face and decide on the appropriate measures accordingly. The Health Promotion Bureau presents these facts about it.
Many people’s attention has been drawn to the current air pollution situation in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, you may already know that sensitive groups, such as young children, pregnant mothers, elderly people and people suffering from chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, have been advised to use face masks and avoid going out of the house as much as possible.
Among the large number of air pollutants that change the natural composition of the air in a harmful way, analysts are of the opinion that particulate matter has been identified as responsible for the air pollution situation that we are concerned about in Sri Lanka these days.
Particulate pollutants are commonly known as smoke, ash, dust and various vapors. Humans release more and more of these into the atmosphere from vehicles, various factories and power plants, as well as by burning various things in the external environment. It is possible to see these as smoke with the naked eye only when they are of an easily visible color and are mostly gathered in one place. Among these particles, the smallest group (PM 2.5) has the ability to travel to the delicate inner parts of the lungs and enter the bloodstream, which is a dangerous situation.
Air pollution has been causing serious damage to our lives in various ways and is also posing a serious threat to our health. Air pollution directly contributes to stroke, heart attack, lung cancer, pneumonia, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) more than we think. In addition to this, allergic symptoms such as eye inflammation and tearing and exacerbation of certain skin diseases are more common.
In addition to the air pollution in the external environment that is observed from time to time with changes in the weather, it is scientifically confirmed that most of us Sri Lankans live in housing units with polluted air. It has been calculated that if there are 100,000 Sri Lankans, 65 people will lose their lives directly due to air pollution in a year.
While following the guidelines issued in the current situation, it will be very important to avoid activities that lead to air pollution both indoors and outdoors to keep the air we breathe clean in the long run.
Staying away from the use of solid fuel such as firewood for cooking in the kitchen, preparing a chimney so that the smoke from the oven goes out of the house, avoiding burning the garbage and recycling the non-decomposable waste to make compost, as well as the proper maintenance of the vehicles we use can reduce toxic fumes into the air. Reducing emissions is an important step we can take as citizens.
If all of us fulfill our responsibility on a personal level and the whole world makes this a priority, we will be able to save safety air to breathe in the future. If not, it is certain that an environment in which humans and even animals cannot live will soon be created on earth.
