In recent weeks, the air quality in Delhi has been alarmingly toxic. On Wednesday again, she was in the “very poor” category. This is not a new problem. Every winter, North India faces very high levels of air pollution compounded by poor air quality during the rest of the year as well.
So it’s not surprising that 22 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world are in India. In India, ambient air pollution is the fourth major killer – after high systolic blood pressure, high fasting plasma glucose and smoking. It is responsible for 0.98 million premature deaths each year in the country.
However, air pollution does not only affect people physically. The psychological implications of air pollution cannot be underestimated. In recent years, numerical studies in various parts of the world have confirmed this.
impaired judgment
In 2020, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Systematically reviewed and revised 178 published scientific papers to show that air pollution reduces people’s happiness and life satisfaction.
Otherstudy, published in 2018 in a journal called The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America found that long-term exposure to air pollution directly affects attention, memory, mathematical ability, verbal and non-verbal intelligence, and the quality of decision-making. This deterioration has indirect negative consequences in a wide range of activities.
For example, a study in the US published in 2018 in the Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists shows that in case of high levels of carbon monoxide and PM 2.5, or particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less, professional baseball umpires more likely to make wrong callsY Investors are more likely to sell winning assets and retain failed assets..
Air quality at the NCR was recorded in the ‘very poor’ category on Wednesday.#The air pollution #NCRhttps://t.co/0pCY92t0ir
– TIMES NOW (@TimesNow) February 2, 2022
Many researchers also estimate that air pollution can increase the severity of existing mental conditions. Various disorders are likely to be aggravated by air pollution. TO Study of the National Project of Social Life, Health and Aging 2017 in the US found that an increase in PM 2.5 is significantly associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms.
Furthermore, the results of a national cohort study in Denmark published in the lancet in 2020 shows that higher air pollution (nitrogen dioxide or NO2 and nitric oxide or NOX) during childhood is associated with a later elevated risk of schizophrenia in later years.
Scientists from the University of Southern California observed in their study published in JAMA Psychiatry in 2013 that exposure to nitrogen dioxide, PM 2.5 and PM 10 during pregnancy and the first year of life could lead to autism.
Air pollution has also been identified as increasing the risk of many neurological disorders. TO study in Taiwan published in International Journal of the Environment in 2019 noticed a positive relationship between nitrogen dioxide pollution and vascular dementia. A 2019 study in the Archives of Medical Research Journal
has shown that long-term exposure to air pollution is directly linked to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, among others.
existential anxiety
Additionally, as people become aware of the impact of poor air quality on health, this may lead to increased sense of existential anxietyaccording to a Columbia University study published in psychological science in 2018, after analyzing a nine-year panel of 9,360 US cities.
Air pollution also hampers the economy, as people in academia and professions show. poor performance and absenteeism indicates a study published in Air quality, atmosphere and health. However, this impact is not uniform, given the differentiation in wealth and resources. Air pollution has a relatively more significant impact on the middle and low income groups, women and rural-urban populationsays a 2020 study from Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, published in Research in Environmental Sciences and Pollution.
The #Delhi The government plans to make the Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate mandatory for filling fuel at pumps, in order to guarantee that polluting vehicles do not circulate in the national capital. #DelhiPollution
Read: https://t.co/iOT3aWk97Z
📸: Rajesh Mehta/BCCL pic.twitter.com/I8104MElS0
— The Weather Channel India (@weatherindia) January 29, 2022
There is concern about the potential for “environmental injustice” as high-income people have access to expensive products and solutions that enable them to deal with the effects of air pollution.
Children are the most affected as they are highly vulnerable due to their immature immune systems and their involvement in numerous physical activities outdoors. It has been found that prenatal exposure to air pollution not only affects the developing brain of the fetus, but also slows down the development process itself and leads to problems such as obsessive thoughts, aggressive behavior, and lack of coping skillsindicated a study published in Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology from the Medical University of Lublin, Poland.
other recent study by Gautam Buddha University on the behavior of schoolchildren in Greater Noida looked at cases of children exposed to air pollution who were reportedly unable to concentrate for long on a particular task. They were restless and described problems such as dependence, confusion, crying, disobedience, appetite problems, among others.
TO study in 2010 by the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, analyzed a sample of 1,819 school-going Indian children (9-17 years old) and found that exposure to PM 10 increased the risks of developing hyperactive disorder and attention deficit.
It is imperative that further studies be carried out in India. In areas with high levels of air pollution, efforts should be made for early detection and treatment. with a focus on high-risk groups.
In December, the Delhi government close schools due to high levels of air pollution. However, such solutions are temporary. We need long-term preventive and mitigation strategies. After all, a reduction in pollution levels not only contributes to reducing the possibility of physical and mental disorders it also improves the general welfare of society.
Arushi Jindal is an independent researcher working in the area of community psychology. Ajay Singh Nagpure is director of the air quality program at the World Resources Institute in India.
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