Air pollution overarching reason for pulmonary diseases

Nearly one fourth of the dwellers in the capital suffer from abnormal pulmonary function, for which high level of air pollution is an overarching reason, leading medical experts told a seminar yesterday.   

Adolescent children, elderly people and pregnant women are much more susceptible to this menace, they said while revealing findings of a research on effects of air pollution on public health, conducted by Bangladesh University (BU) over the last three months.

The university and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) jointly organised the seminar at the capital's Krishibid Institution.

The research was based on a random sample of 500 persons, aged from 10 to 40 and above, chosen from various slums and schools in different parts of the city.

Around 25 percent of the people tested were found to have abnormal lung function, said Prof Md Ruhul Amin, a paediatric pulmonologist at Dhaka Shishu Hospital.

Generally, exposure to high levels of air pollution causes bronchiolitis , pneumonia, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD),  said Amin, adding that such chronic diseases reduce people's workability, making them a social liability.             

Architect Iqbal Habib, coordinator at the BU urban lab, said the research also found that the levels of particles in Dhaka's air are four times higher than the acceptable limits.

The human sewage, which spills over into the roads and drains during the rainy season and dries up in the dry season, goes directly into the air in the form of suspended particles, later being inhaled into the respiratory system, he said.   

Unbearable air pollution was deadly for lungs, liver and pregnancy…, said Brig Gen (retd) Abdul Malik, national professor and founder of National Heart Foundation, adding that it was therefore imperative to contain it through afforesting all the more.

DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq said they were going to plant some 3.25 lakh trees in the next two years in the DNCC area.

The experts urged the authorities concerned to take measures to thwart air pollution caused by innumerable brick kilns, automobiles, tanneries and unmanaged municipal and clinical waste.