BioEvolution ISBN 978-81-925781-3-2, May 2014, pg 51-54 www.giapjournals.org/bioevolution.html Page 51 AN INTRODUCTION TO AIR QUALITY INDEX AND HEALTH CONCERNS Dr. Era Upadhyay Assistant Professor Ansal Institute of Technology & Management, Lucknow (U.P.) era.upadhyay@gmail.com Air pollution arises due to contamination of solid or liquid particles and gases in the environment. The presence of this contamination in the atmosphere in certain quality and for certain duration implies the effect of harm, or expected to be harm to environment, property and health of human, animal & plant life. Contamination in air is the result of discharge of harmful substances from various sources in the atmosphere and may cause to health effects on the population, which might be either chronic or acute depends upon exposure. Other effects of air pollution include agricultural damage, impairment of visibility, and climate change that leads to global warming. Air pollution results from various reasons including the reasons beyond the human control i.e. natural disasters. Gaseous and particulate matters emitted from natural calamities like volcanoes, storms, forest fires etc. in the form of ash and toxic fumes into the atmosphere, contribute to air pollution. The explosions of such natural disasters are related to measurable climatic changes. Climate change affects the natural resource systems across the Earth, which disturbs sustainability 12,20,21 . Increasing frequency and intensity of droughts in many parts of Asia are attributed largely to a rise in temperature, particularly during the summer and normally drier months 3,10,16,17,19,20,21,22,23,34 . Atmospheric brown clouds, layers of air pollution containing a wide range of aerosol components including black carbon and organic carbon, dust, sulphates and nitrates, have been observed in China and India 25. The climatic stimuli are affecting the system adversely and likely to build the Universe more sensitive to the degree to which a system is susceptible, responsible for vulnerability 4,5 . The vulnerability resulted out from the exposure to air pollution causes various types of diseases in human beings, for example asthma, lung cancer, heart diseases, inflammation and infection in the lungs, which leads to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Emphysema may also occur due to accumulation of smoke in the lungs. Recently, long-term health effects of exposure to blast have been observed during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan 33 . Due to the exposure to blast, many Gulf War veterans have experienced various unexplained symptoms like fatigue, muscle and joint pain, memory loss, and gastrointestinal disorders 32 . The Institute of Medicine concluded that pollution from the burn pits had caused any long-term health problems due to chemicals released and could lead to cancer, anaemia, and liver, kidney, heart and respiratory problems. The chemicals can also harm the brain and reproductive system. In Indian context, a number of sources that are directly and indirectly contributed to the particulate pollution, ranging from domestic combustion to transport sector 28 . Several studies relating air pollution and health have been conducted in Delhi region 1,23 and Chronic respiratory morbidity was reported due to PM, SO 2 and NO x 6 . Ozone reacts with molecules in the lining of our breathing airways. Short term acute effects of ozone include pulmonary function decrements, increased airway responsiveness and airway inflammation, aggravation of pre- existing respiratory diseases like asthma, increase in daily hospital admissions and emergency department visits for respiratory causes, and increased mortality rates 26,29 . Hence, in polluted urban regions of India health impact of air pollutants is extremely significant. Recently, Centre for Science and Environment assessed air pollution levels in Beijing and Delhi and reported that PM 10 levels of Delhi nearly double that in Beijing. In case of PM 2.5 levels, continuous daily average of three months (Nov’2013 – Jan’ 2014), in India shows approximately 240 g/m 3 , which is about four times higher than the Indian National Ambient Air Quality standards. During this period the peak level was as high as 575g/m 3 in Delhi, but did not cross 400 g/m 3 in Beijing 31 . CSE’s analysis also claims that 39,780 cancer cases in Delhi might occur due to lifetime inhalation and exposure to PAH concentrations. Therefore, studies show that actual risk depends on the pollutant type and concentration, duration of exposure to the polluted air and current health status.  Pollutant type and concentration- Particular type and high level of pollutant make hard supply of oxygen to the body; damage of the cells in the respiratory system causes abrupt health problems like cardiovascular and respiratory illness, stress to heart and lungs.  Duration of exposure- Long-term exposure to polluted air could result in permanent health effects like asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, cancer, aging of the lungs, decrease in lung capacity and functioning, reduced life span etc.  Current health status- The patients of heart, lung disease, pregnant women, children, and outdoor workers are most susceptible to health harms due to exposure of air pollution. Health may be affected either by indoor or outdoor air quality. As per the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 2 million per year untimely deaths are attributed due to outdoor and indoor air pollution.