~ 302 ~ International Journal of Physical Education, Sports and Health 2020; 7(6): 302-305 P-ISSN: 2394-1685 E-ISSN: 2394-1693 Impact Factor (ISRA): 5.38 IJPESH 2020; 7(6): 302-305 © 2020 IJPESH www.kheljournal.com Received: 23-09-2020 Accepted: 01-11-2020 Provash Das Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India Piyali Mishra Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India Madhab Chandra Ghosh Professor, Department of Physical Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India Corresponding Author: Provash Das Research Scholar, Department of Physical Education, University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India A comparative study on physiological fitness components of male athletes of two different air polluted zones of West Bengal Provash Das, Piyali Mishra and Madhab Chandra Ghosh Abstract Regular exercise is an important way to live a healthy life, while exercise and air pollution can be an unhealthy combination. The study was carried out to observe whether environmental air pollution has any effect on physiological fitness parameters of male athletes of two different polluted zones of west Bengal. Two different zones (Cooch Behar -A B N Seal College, Durgapur -PCBL More) with their respective climate condition of West Bengal, India were selected for the present study. The air quality of these different zones was collected from WBPCB for comparative study of air pollution from January 2017 to February 2017. The total number of 21 male athletes aged 18-25 years undergoing regular training program for a minimum period of 3 years and having participation in national /state/district level sports competitions and residents of that particular area for the past 5 years or more were enrolled as subjects of this study. They were subdivided into two groups according to their residence of particular zone. Selected physical measurement, physiological fitness and air pollutants were measured. Values of PM10 of Durgapur zone was much more than the national ambient air quality standards, while SO2 and NO2 of both zones were within the standards. There was no significant difference between athletes of Cooch Behar and Durgapur zone in respect of height, weight and BSA. BMI of the athletes of the Cooch Behar zone was significantly higher than Durgapur zone. Pre exercise heart rate of the Cooch Behar athletes was significantly lower than Durgapur athletes. Blood pressure, PFI and VO2max of the Cooch Behar athletes were significantly higher than the Durgapur athletes. Keywords: Air pollution, fitness, athletes 1. Introduction Air pollution is one of the most serious problems in the world which has been motivated by the country's developments. Air pollution may affect an athlete's health and performance (Rundell, 2012; Pierson, 1989) [19, 17] . Kargarfard et al. (2011) [11] found a significant decrease in meanVO 2max for trained athletes and detrained athletes group in the higher-polluted than in the lower-polluted area. Regular physical exercise exceeds the harmful effects of air pollution. To become stay fit and healthy one should focus on the possible way to minimize the exposure of air pollution while exercising (Edward & Laskowski, 2017) [9] . Air pollution may affect an athlete's health and performance (Rundell, 2012) [19] . Air pollution adversely affected the VO2max in children, and physical exercise in a polluted environment might not have a beneficial effect on cardiopulmonary fitness (Yu et al., 2004) [22] . Chatterjee et al. (2016) [4] revealed that exercising in higher air pollutant zone might harm the physical fitness level. It was also revealed that in the case of sedentary subjects, the boys residing in lower air pollutant zones had a better physical Fitness status. Exposure to air pollution was associated with reduced respiratory function and may lead to a decline in physical efficiency in pre-adolescent children (Zebrowska & Mankowski, 2015) [23] . However, studies on the effects of air pollution on fitness parameters in adults, particularly athletes are scanty. So the researcher was interested to measure physiological fitness of male athletes of two different polluted zones of West Bengal and to identify difference between them if any. 1.1 Purpose of the study The purposes of this study are stated below-