What Impact has air pollution on health of human beings and environment? Is there any relation between covid-19 & air pollution?
Authors: Kumar Dr Piyush 
Published: July 2021

Almost all the countries around the world are experiencing high levels of air pollution. How does pollution impact our body in times of COVID-19? Air pollution and related climatic-environmental changes is one of the prime concern and biggest challenge globally in 21st century faced by most of the nations. The global impact of this public health problem can be assessed and understood from the data of morbidity and mortality as well as DALY (disability adjusted life years) & QALY (quality adjusted life years), YLL (years of life lost) measurements. Today global air is having several varieties and types of air pollutants which are taking lives of people on daily basis and the death count may be more as compared to covid-19 deaths. The finest and smallest particulate matters present in air as byproducts of several human and industry related activities are able to infiltrate the respiratory system through inhalation while breathing, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular system(CVS) diseases, reproductive and central nervous system(CNS) diseases and malfunctioning as well as various carcinoma. Ozone (O3) protects us from harmful effects of UV (ultra violet) radiations which can cause cancers, skin diseases as well as mutations etc but at the same time it is harmful when in high concentration at ground level, affecting the respiratory and cardiovascular system. Added to this other pollutants present in air such as nitrogen oxide(NO), sulfur dioxide(SO2), Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), dioxins, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are all important air pollutants which are known to be harmful to human beings. Carbon monoxide (CO) can bind with haemoglobin (Hb) very tightly (not allowing oxygen to be released at tissue level causing tissue hypoxia) forming carboxy-haemoglobin which can cause poisoning when breathed in at high levels. Heavy metals for example lead (Pb) can lead to direct poisoning (plumbinism or saturnism) or chronic intoxication can lead to a variety of CNS, GIT(gastrointestinal tract), and reproductive system diseases, depending on the exposure. Air pollution usually causes respiratory problems such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), asthma, bronchiolitis, lung cancer, cardiovascular events, central nervous system dysfunctions, and cutaneous diseases. Added to this, the climate change resulting from environmental pollution affects the geographical distribution of many infectious diseases like natural disasters as well as affects social and environmental determinants of health. The only way to tackle this problem is through public health awareness, strategies to reduce air pollution as well as environmental protection measures with a multidisciplinary Intersectoral approach by scientific experts of national and international organizations. The global leaders must address the emergence of this threat and propose sustainable and suitable solutions to deal this challenging issue.

KEYWORDS: Covid-19, air pollution, environment, health, disease, policy, pollutant, public health,