Winter is here! Protect yourself from pollution while reducing exposure to cold

Air quality of the city in the last three months has been the best in the past 7-8 years. The extended and widespread rains witnessed in northern and western parts of India brought a significant improvement in air quality.

But unfortunately, as all the good things in life, the good days too have made their exit and bad days are here again. 

With the winters knocking on the door, air quality started deteriorating last week due to low dispersal rates of local pollutants (mostly combustion based and re-suspended dust) coupled with wind carrying pollutants of crop burning in and around Pakistan, Punjab and Haryana. A significant number of sugarcane crushers are polluting the air severely in the process of manufacture jaggery .

Apart from these activities, certain meteorological conditions are adding to worsening of the air quality. It is expected that the current meteorological changes will also impact air pollution in Delhi-NCR and we might face tougher days from 25th October.

Also, drop in temperatures will lower the mixing heights and pollutants will be hanging lower in atmosphere. All of these conditions are favourable for thermal inversion too and pollutants may start travelling horizontal.

Gear up to face this extreme weather condition. You can reduce the exposure to pollution by following some handy tips. 

1. Take out your masks, 
2. Cut down your outdoor activities,
3. Avoiding early morning walks, it can be delayed to later hours,
4. Walking on a side lane instead of main roads,
5. Avoiding opening of windows and doors early morning and ventilation should be done in afternoon hours,
6. Increase intake of citrus for, circumin (haldi),  jaggery and good rich in antioxidants, vitamin A, C, E & K, 
7. Replace dry brooming with wet mopping as it will not resuspend overnight settled particles.
8. Minimal use of deo/perfumes, avoid agarbatti better use ghee lamp
9. Eat and drink healthy, prefer hygienic foods, and  
10. Change filters or get them serviced in your air purifiers.

While selecting masks you need to look for the ratings in order to understand the protection they offer.

What does the P1 P2 P3 classes for protective half-masks mean?
The half-masks protect against atomised small-sized solid particles, such as dusts, smokes, mists (do not protect against gases). 
The protective half-masks, made of fabric, are classified into three filtration effectiveness categories. These are:
P1 – retains about 80 percent of particles smaller than 2 micrometers
P2 – retains about 94 percent of particles smaller than 0.5 micrometer
P3 – retains about 99.95 percent of particles smaller than 0.5 micrometer
The protective half-masks of the P1, P2, P3 classes are tested in accordance with the requirements of the standard PN-EN 149:2001.

Some Useful Tips:

1. There are disposable and reusable masks available in the market and their life is clearly mentioned so prefer reusable with long life.
2. Higher filter grades have higher resistance and if you face difficulty in breathing than trace off with lower grades. Even putting a handkerchief provide some filtration to fine particles.
3. Fitting is most important as even a few micron gap will impact heavily on the air you breathe. Also look for a respirator valve (butterfly valve) in masks for easy exhalation of air.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in the article above are his own and CitySpidey does not endorse them in anyway.