GO GREEN | BREATHE CLEAN - Plants to the rescue
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| A scene of reduced visibility of my locality in Noida |
And whether we realize or not, the monster pollutants are already inside us. But before I tell you how to go for a healthy living, let me give you insights on what exactly is happening to Delhi and NCR.
Why has the visibility suddenly reduced?
For
a past couple of days, as I look outside of my house in the morning, and it
looks like the clouds have settled in my balcony and things are barely visible.
There are traffic jams and accidents on the roads, schools are being shut down
and life seems to have slowed down. But isn’t is a regular thing for Delhiites
in winters? There are a couple of different terms to describe this weather
phenomenon – FOG and SMOG are two of those.
Though
they look the same, they both disperse light and reduce visibility but they are
formed quite differently. FOG is just the accumulation of floating water
droplets in the air. Whereas SMOG; originated as a blend of smoke and fog is a
form of air pollution, resulting from toxins dispersed into the atmosphere.
What
makes the air quality so hazardous?
Many
people are falling prey to health hazards caused due to the pollutants present
in the air right now. Amongst the common air pollutants, the most harmful ones
are Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Particulate Matter (PM 10 8 2.5),
Nitrogen Oxides, Carbon Monoxide (CO). Ozone (03) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2). They
can be in the form of gases or particles. They all constitute SMOG.
Measuring
the air quality- AQI
An air
quality index (AQI) is a number used by government agencies to communicate
to the public how polluted the air currently is or how polluted it is forecast
to become. In simple terms, as the AQI increases, the air quality
becomes hazardous due to increased level of such pollutants and this leads to
severe adverse health effects.
Delhi -NCR and Particle Pollution
Particle
pollution, also called particulate matter or PM, is a mixture of solids and
liquid droplets floating in the air. Some particles are released directly from
a specific source, while others form in complicated chemical reactions in the
atmosphere.
Particles
come in a wide range of sizes:
- Coarse dust particles (PM10) are 2.5 to 10 micrometers in diameter. Sources include crushing or grinding operations and dust stirred up by vehicles on roads.
- Fine particles (PM2.5) are 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, and can only be seen with an electron microscope. Fine particles are produced from all types of combustion, including motor vehicles, power plants, residential wood burning, forest fires, agricultural burning, and some industrial processes.
Currently, Delhi-NCR is affected majorly by particle pollution. Areas near Delhi have experienced severe crop burning and to worsen the situation, there are lesser winds reported in region. Therefore, since the warm air remains stagnant near the surface, the longer the smog is bound to stay.
Are
you protecting yourself with a mask?
You
recently must have spotted many people wearing masks; especially in public
places like stations, airports, markets, malls etc. It appears that they are
taking precautions and the masks will save them from air pollution. To
my surprise, I saw many people in my locality who have been wearing surgical
masks. In fact, I too was wearing it earlier. But after a thorough reading
about the particle pollution, I came to know that surgical masks are NOT
designed to protect our lungs from airborne hazards like PM 2.5. The ideal
respirators for the current situation would be N95 because they filter
particles from the air when properly fitted, helping reduce the number of
particles or germs that we breathe in.
Is
there a way to fight this air pollution?
Since,
climate change is inevitable, I feel, we all need to start somewhere as an
individual to create healthy air within our living spaces to control the amount
of toxins that we breathe in.
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| View from my balcony in Noida |
The
best way will always be to control the generation of pollutants from our end
but as humans we are facing difficulties in accomplishing that. Another could
be installing good quality Air Purifiers at home if it suits your pocket and if you can maintain them. Well, being a nature
lover, I have figured out a natural way to fix this and lessen the impact of
air pollution in my living space.
Go
Green, Breathe Clean – Plants to the rescue
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| Money Plant at my residence in Noida |
As
a proven fact, many plants have air purification capacity. They help in
eliminating pollutants like Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), Nitrogen Oxides,
Carbon Monoxide (CO). Ozone (03) and Sulphur Dioxide (SO2) and even Particulate
Matter (PM 10 & 2.5) to an extent.
How
do plants do that?
The
answer is Phytoremediation. Technically,
phytoremediation refers to the technologies that use living plants to
clean up soil, air, and water contaminated with hazardous chemicals. So
basically it is a low cost, solar energy driven clean-up technique.
Plants
absorb some of the particulates from the air at the same time that they take
in carbon dioxide, which is then processed into oxygen through
photosynthesis. But that’s not all—microorganisms associated with the plants
are present in the potting soil, and these microbes are also responsible for
much of the cleaning effect.
Which
are those plants?
Many
researchers have identified plant species that mitigate air pollution in the
living spaces. These indoor plants have toxin absorbing and oxygen releasing efficiency.
However, they cannot remove high levels of PM 2.5 from the air. A few that are
low maintenance and easy to care are as follows:
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| Air Purifying plants at my residence in Noida |
Trust me, if we think beyond air
quality, plants can actually make us feel better and happier as they grow. So
let us Go Green and Breathe Clean.
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