Plague of Smog in Lahore, Pakistan: A Choking Situation

作者：Sipper Khan · 发表于：Asia-Pacific journal of public health · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1177/1010539520917814 · 被引用次数：1 · 研究领域：Medicine、Geography

To the Editor: Air pollution is directly linked to rapid urbanization, which is now acknowledged as a public health concern due to growing range of health hazards associated with it. The smog contains nitrogen oxides, ozone, and extremely small particulate matter PM10 and PM2.5, that is, 10 μm and 2.5 μm diameter, respectively. Major sources of this “invisible killer” include combustion of fossil fuels, open fires, road transport, power grid stations, and factories. According to the US AQI (Air Quality Index), 447 was recorded for Lahore, Punjab, on November 8, 2019. This AQI is categorized under hazardous range (US AQI 301500); falling in hazardous range, it is ranked as the second most polluted city in the world. This resulted in official closure of all schools on November 8 and 15, 2019, for the first time in Pakistan. The PM2.5 according to the World Health Organization standards are estimated to be more than 6.8× the acceptable range.1 The annual deaths from air pollution are also recorded to be 212 433 deaths in Pakistan. Both outdoor and household air pollution are classified as leading causes of this death toll. Ischemic heart disease is the main disease outcome in both categories mentioned above; however, household air pollution also resulted in child deaths (0-5 years), with approximately 25 933 annual deaths rate.2 Air pollution is highly associated with reduced life expectancy, cardiovascular diseases, increased respiratory morbidity, reduced lung functioning, ext...