Pollution – Is there any way out - Need an Air filter

It was a great lovely morning when I woke up today. I was very excited and was appreciating the fantastic morning, lovely weather with lot of excitement, & feeling the JOY of one more exciting day and was thinking to reach office early so that I can be more productive and will able to accomplish more. I took my cup of tea & went out to my balcony and all my excitement went off in a fraction of a second because I looked outside and saw road full of traffic & vehicles moving inch by inch.

All of a sudden, many thoughts crossed my mind

What will happen to my health & my energy levels, if I am part of this traffic?

Am I healthy today, will I be productive after reaching to office?

Will I have any energy to work, after travelling 2 hrs, one way, in this traffic?

I read few articles on pollution in recent times and all the learning I had through most of those articles started flashing in my mind and here are some of those leanings:

Today we all are staying in cities, away from parents, family and near & dear ones, for what? To be successful in life, to give great education to our kids, enjoy the life! But the real question is - can I really enjoy life, if I am not healthy? Am I really able to take care of my health? Isn’t the pollution, long working hours and long commutes to traffic affecting my health?

Can I somehow be away from pollution, no I cannot….. But yes off-course I can, if I want

I believe, in present day scenario, we cannot question “why so much traffic on roads?” because I am also one contributing to increase traffic. So it’s more relevant and important to find out how I can protect myself from pollution and be healthy and diseases free.

We have been always listening about pollution in last so many years. In fact if I say

“Is Pollution silent killer?” and your Answer will be YES

“Is pollution affecting our health?” and your answer will be YES”

Though we breathe in polluted air, day in and day out, ever thought what does pollution mean?

So simplest definition that comes in our mind is air filled with various gases, vehicle emissions, industry exhausts full of toxic chemicals constitutes pollution. I also had similar definition about pollution until I started reading more. I found something which is way beyond what we think i.e. PM 2.5 and PM 10 Particles

PM 2.5: These are small particles measuring 2.5 micro-meters or less. They come from car, truck, bus and off-road vehicle, tobacco smoke, burning of fuels such as wood, heating oil etc. Prolonged exposure of these is very harmful. Those PM2.5 particulates can contain carbon monoxide, exhaust from gasoline and diesel vehicles, as well as germs that multiply.

PM 10: These are larger particles measuring between 2.5 to 10 micro-meters. Examples of these are pollen, dust and particles generated from grinding of rocks. These particles are relatively less harmful and usually only cause upper respiratory tract issues like allergic rhinitis and asthma.

PM 2.5 and PM10 particles are so small, infact it is many times smaller than hair. PM 2.5 is Particulate Matter less than 2.5 Microns size. To give an example Human hair is about 80 to 100 Microns size, Pollen is about 30 Microns size and Household dust is about 10 Microns in size

Let me explain you little bit more in simpler way

Have you seen some things get dissolved in water, like if you take one spoon sugar and put into glass of water and in some time it disappears and gets fully dissolved in water?. It simply means you cannot see the sugar but it does not mean it has gone out from water. It got fully dissolved in water. This water, if consumed by a diabetic patient, will surely shoot up their sugar levels, just like eating sweets will do.

Similarly PM 2.5 and PM 10 are tiny particles that are present in Air but cannot be seen with eye, which means, when we step out and breath in air, we are inhaling these fine Particles . Infect for the longest time I thought that I’m protecting myself from inhaling polluted air by being in car – with windows rolled up and AC on! But the interesting truth is that the air inside car is 15 or sometimes 29 times more polluted than outside!

Good part is that our body’s defense mechanism is very strong to fight against such pollutants and particles. However, prolonged exposure for such things will slowly but surely affect body defense mechanism to fail or malfunction.

Just like, if you keep on eating junk food regularly, consume alcohol frequently or eat too many sweets or processed food often and don’t exercise every day, then our body will tolerate for some time but as we age, surely health issues such as diabetes, heart ailments and other lifestyle disorders will crop up, body has got its own limits.

Inhaling air filled with PM2.5 & PM10 particles will surely case havoc in our body too.

Short term effect: Eye, nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath.

Long term effect: Effects respiratory & cardiovascular functions, Worsens medical conditions such as asthma and heart diseases

A famous cardiologist at one of the renowned hospitals in Bangalore said that there is high incidence of heart attacks of people who spend long hours in slow moving traffic (Deccan Herald article, Feb 24 2018)

When you breathe in, these particles pass through the nostrils and get deposited in deepest place in lungs, and over period of time causes respiratory issues & inflammation in arteries. In fact there are lot of articles on this and which is impacting young age people in early stage of 35Yrs. & people are suffering from cardio vascular diseases

Connect with me and we can talk more on solution for this. #antipollutiondrive

Invisible killer - Air pollution is an invisible killer that lurks all around us, preying on the young and old. Learn how it slips unnoticed past our body's defenses causing deaths from heart attack, strokes, lung disease and cancer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVBeY1jSG9Y&feature=youtu.be