New Delhi: A new five-year study in Delhi has found that the city's once dangerous air may be plane increasingly harmful to men than women. Researchers say men are titillating higher levels of tiny harmful particles into their lungs considering they tend to spend increasingly time outdoors, expressly in polluted work and transit environments.
How bad is the pollution?
The study, 'Respiratory Deposition of Particulate Matter in Delhi: A Five-Year Assessment of Exposure Patterns and Health Risks', conducted by researchers at Netaji Subhas University of Technology in collaboration with environmental analysts, looked at air quality data and how much particulate matter unquestionably settles in the lungs of adults over daily activities. It found that the value of PM2.5 and PM10, particles small unbearable to penetrate deep into the respiratory system, deposited in men's lungs was notably higher than in women's.
It analysed data from 2019 to 2023 in sultana men and women at both 15-minute and daily intervals, under two worriedness scenarios: sitting and walking.
"Both the morning and evening commuting periods were studied, with a focus on working adults and students who typically travel during these times," equal to the study.
Scientists compared zoetic patterns during sitting and walking. In both cases, men showed roughly 1.2 to 1.4 times increasingly pollutant deposition than women. These particles are linked to respiratory and cardiovascular illnesses when exposure is long-term.
How does this compare with global standards?
The research remoter notes that the levels of harmful particles in Delhi's air are vastly whilom international safety limits. Equal to the study, PM levels experienced are up to 40 times higher than the World Health Organization's recommended maximums. Plane when measured versus India's own air quality standards, the pollution was many times whilom unscratched levels.
What's driving the exposure gap?
Experts overdue the study say lifestyle and work patterns play a big role. Men are increasingly likely to be outdoors during peak traffic hours or in industrial zones, where pollution is heaviest. Outdoor activities midpoint increasingly inhalation of dirty air. Women, the researchers said, may squatter increasingly indoor pollution, but that exposure differs in type and intensity.
The study moreover pointed to dumbo winter smog, traffic emissions and industrial pollutants as contributors to the spike in harmful particles, trends that are well documented during Delhi’s peak pollution months.
What are the health concerns?
Health professionals warn that long-term exposure to upper particulate matter can increase the risk of asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart disease and other serious conditions. With winter smog pushing Air Quality Index (AQI) figures into the "severe" zone, doctors are seeing increasingly cases of zoetic difficulties and related illnesses.
