Delhi's Air Quality Worsens Amid Persistent Fog, Dipping Temperatures; Experts Worried Over Toxicity Levels

As of Wednesday, the national capital's Air Quality Index was recorded at 339 under the "very poor" category, according to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR).

Speaking to IANS, Professor Gufran Beig, Founder Project Director of SAFAR, said that the current ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 is above 60%, which indicates that fine particles are high in abundance. Hence, a relatively high level of toxicity is prevailing.

"The worsening air quality in Delhi is mainly due to the persistent fog and falling temperatures. Advective fog, which occurs over the entire Indo-Gangetic plains, brings a high amount of toxic particles to the region. Normally, the contribution of finer particles, PM2.5, which are more toxic, remains below 50%", Prof Beig told IANS.

The fact that the ratio of PM2.5 to PM10 is above 60% indicates that fine particles are highly abundant. Hence, a relatively high level of toxicity is prevailing, which has severe health implications as these can be easily inhaled.

The "very poor" category AQI may trigger complications like breathing issues. People with heart and lung disease are advised to avoid prolonged or heavy exertion. Health experts have advised that even indoor activities must be kept to a minimum for those suffering from sensitive issues.

Commenting on the deteriorating air quality, Dr Harshal Salve, Additional Professor, Centre for Community medicine at AIIMS, said that prolonged exposure to such toxic air could lead to serious problems apart from respiratory issues.

Emphasising that outdoor activities should be stopped immediately, he said that everyone should avoid going outside from 10 PM to 8 AM when the pollutant concentration remains at its peak.

Dr Shuchin Bajaj, Founder-Director Ujala Cygnus, said that pollution kills more than nine million people yearly. It causes economic losses worth trillions of dollars, which is more than 7% of the world's GDP, "but we keep focusing more on other diseases like cancer, heart disease, etc."

"We should not forget that pollution is one of the biggest causes of lung cancer, heart disease and various other diseases, and it should be combated at the national and local levels.

We need to make sure that our cities which are some of the most polluted in the world, get free from this biggest pandemic which is much bigger than COVID," Dr Bajaj said.

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The above article has been published from a wire source with minimal modifications to the headline and text.