Air Purifiers Can Prevent Respiratory Problems, Suggest Doctors
Installation of air purifiers can be an easy way to prevent respiratory problems caused by indoor air pollution, doctors say. According to health experts, air purifiers are becoming more reliable for people in metro cities because pollutants released indoors are 1,000 times more likely to reach the lungs than pollutants released outdoors. More than 5.5 million people worldwide die prematurely every year due to household and outdoor air pollution, and India and China together account for 55 percent of these deaths, a new research has found.
“Air pollution has come up as one of the major health challenges of modern Indian cities. With increasing respiratory problems, it is now important to know about pollutants, and their health hazards. Air purifiers are emerging as a good way to stay away from major respiratory diseases caused by indoor air pollution,” said Raj Kumar, head of respiratory allergy and applied immunology at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute. He added that recent studies have revealed the strong link between major respiratory and lung diseases and increase in air pollution, which clearly shows that we need to cut down the sources of indoor air pollution.
With the World Health Organization (WHO) having declared that the air quality of Indian metropolitan cities is the worst in the world, healthcare professionals are registering a sharp rise in respiratory problems, especially in the immuno-compromised population likechildren, elderly and people with health issues or malnutrition. Himanshu Garg, head of respiratory and critical care at Artemis Hospital, says, “In India, we have a long standing tradition of burning of incense sticks and dhoop that could increase the concentration of particulate matter (PM) by about 15 times more than the permitted levels.”
“Smoke emitted by these releases harmful pollutants. Along with this, smoke from tobacco and cooking and dust from carpets, furniture and curtains adds to the indoor air pollution. The damage to health caused due to these can be reduced by installing air purifiers, which bring down the percentage of pollutants in the air,” said Garg.
[“source-ndtv”]
