Stop outdoor activities, exercises, say experts as air quality worsens

Noida: Suspend your daily outdoor activities, especially during the mornings, suggest experts, as the high pollution levels in Noida and adjoining areas make even

Noida: Suspend your daily outdoor activities, especially during the mornings, suggest experts, as the high pollution levels in Noida and adjoining areas make even healthy persons vulnerable to heart and lung ailments.

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As the air quality levels of Noida, Ghaziabad and Greater Noida oscillated between the bookends of the “severe” category for the past three days, and in the higher end of the “very poor” category before that, experts say the air is unfit for any kind of outdoor activity, especially those that lead to physical exertion such as jogging, brisk walking or cycling.

“All outdoor activities which increase breathing rate, be it jogging, running, walking or cycling, must be immediately stopped. On an average a person takes 16 to 17 breaths per minute but while exercising, this increases to 50 to 60 breaths per minute. This, in the current air quality, increases the intake of toxins by at least two to three times, which can weaken organs. In the current scenario, inhaling two to three times more toxins is equal to smoking 20 cigarettes a day,” said Dr Arvind Kumar, founder Lung Care Foundation and head of the chest surgery at Sir Gangaram Hospital, Delhi.

He added that symptoms like heavy breathing, choking sensations, dry cough, itchy nose, itchy eyes are the early symptoms showing that pollution is taking a toll on health and weakening the lungs and heart.

“If exposed to polluted air for a few days, these symptoms are temporary. On prolonged exposure, though, such symptoms become long term and in many cases, permanent. We who live in the National Capital Region are anyways exposed to at least four months of bad air quality,” he said, adding that precautions such as staying indoors and wearing N95 masks should be taken.

According to data obtained from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), pollutants particulate matter (PM)2.5 and PM10 in Noida and Greater Noida have been six to ten times higher than the permissible limits, hovering around 400 and 620 microgrammes per cubic metres (µg/m3), since Thursday.

The permissible limit for PM2.5 is µg/m3 and for PM10 it is 60µg/m3.

However, experts suggest that pollutants in the region, especially the annual average PM2.5 – the aerosols that mix with the bloodstream through lungs – are 143 µg/m3 over three times the national standard.

“The pollutants are at severe levels at present, which means that they can affect even healthy people. Even “moderate” air quality affects people with asthma and lung-related issues and by the time air quality becomes “very poor”, the risks of respiratory illnesses increases. That’s why it is important to avoid prolonged exposure to polluted air,” said Shambahvi Shukla, program officer, air pollution at Centre for Science and Environment (CSE).

Meanwhile, a cyclists’ and jogger’s group in the city said that they feel the pollution taking a toll on their efficiency and health, prompting them to suspend their morning runs and long cycling trails.

“There has been a lot of difference in the air in the past few weeks. We can actually feel our eyes burning, while breathing is heavy even for the slightest of exertions, and everyone in the group feels that their efficiency to paddle has dropped. We are constantly the AQI monitor and since the pollution levels are at their peak in the mornings, we have not gone for cycling for five to six days,” said Rajiva Singh, a city resident who heads Dare2Gear, a cyclist group, and JWC, a joggers’ group.

He added that there is a cycling event coming in late November which requires a large group to cycle for 100 kilometres, however, given the present conditions, the group is thinking of reducing the distance to 50 or 40 kms.