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'Everyone can't leave Delhi, but...': Doctor's advice as AQI keeps worsening
According to top expert, a good quality air purifier is efficient only if it is on all the time and close to the person using it
The air quality of the national capital has continued to maintain its ‘poor’ and ‘very poor’ streak over the past week, with the overall AQI plunging into the ‘very poor’ category on Sunday morning, November 2.
Delhi recorded an overall AQI of 377 at 7 am on Sunday morning, with the air quality even turning ‘severe’ in some areas. As of 10 am, areas such as Anand Vihar, Chandni Chowk, Nehru Nagar, RK Puram, Rohini and several others recorded an AQI of over 400, making the air quality in these areas ‘severe’.
With no respite in sight from the deteriorating air quality, former AIIMS doctor and senior pulmonologist Dr Gopi Chand Khilnani suggests those who can leave the national capital to do so. In an interview with Indian Express, Dr Khilnani advised those with chronic conditions to go away from Delhi till mid of the end of December if they can.
Dr Khilnani, who is also the chairman of PSRI Institute of Pulmonary, told the news outlet, “Everybody cannot afford to leave Delhi, because it is not simple. But those who have chronic lung disease or chronic heart disease, those who are on oxygen, and those who have the opportunity and ability to go abroad or to less polluted places, I very safely advise them to leave Delhi for 6-8 weeks from now, so as to protect themselves from the distress of breathlessness, the requirement of oxygen, and so on and so forth.”
Air pollution increases the risk of lung diseases, other health problems
While talking about the risks air pollution poses to our lungs and other organs, the doctor said that according to a study conducted by AIIMS, air pollution leads to diminished growth of lungs in children.
Also, while three or four decades back, tobacco or smoking was the main reason behind 90 per cent cases of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), 50 per cent of such cases are now caused by indoor and outdoor air pollution. “Again, more than 80% of lung cancer cases were earlier caused by tobacco smoking; today, in daily data, 40% of lung cancers are seen in people who have never smoked. Also, the incidence of lung cancer is rising among younger patients,” Dr Khilnani said.
Apart from lungs, the air pollution also targets other systems such as heart, brain, kidneys, intestines, the endocrine system, and immunity in general.
Can air purifiers help?
According to Dr Khilnani, a good quality air purifier could cover the volume of a room to make the air cleaner, however, it should be on all the time and be close to the person using it. He also said that the room with the air purifier should be closed almost all the time, otherwise, opening of the door at multiple intervals could affect the efficiency of the air purifier.
He also added that while the WHO does not believe that air purifiers are of any help in improving health, he recommends it could help people with chronic respiratory, COPD or heart diseases who stay at home.
