Residents of the highly industrialised Patancheru area silently suffer from a variety of respiratory problems including chronic pulmonary disease, tightness in the chest and morning cough.
A team of researchers from Osmania University College for Women selected Patancheru to study the problem of respiratory diseases among the residents. Patancheru had grabbed the attention of environment scientists around the world for its notoriously high levels of industrial pollutants. Both air and water quality in the area fails the ambient environment quality tests.
As part of the study, the team comprising Anusha C. Pawar, Jithender Kumar Naik and Anitha Kumari conducted a cross-sectional survey of about 500 residents of Patancheru. They observed health issues related to air pollution like morning cough and tightness in the chest. The results were presented before an international gathering of eminent scientists at the Indian Science Congress held at Bhubaneswar recently.
According to the research team, indoor and outdoor air pollution is one of the most serious environmental and public health problems in industrial zones. The epidemiological evidences establish a connection between exposure to ambient air pollutants and various negative health effects such as respiratory symptoms or impaired cardio-pulmonary function and premature mortality.
The team found that the air pollutant concentrations are relatively high in densely populated congested locations and more prominent at industrialised zones. An odds ratio of 1.68 was found in case of chronic pulmonary diseases, 1.78 in case of tightness in the chest and 1.81 in case of morning cough, indicating that air pollution is the cause of the problem. An odds ratio greater than 1 implies a more likely link between the cause (pollution) and effect (disease).
“The study indicates that the air pollution and respiratory problems among the residents are high. From public health point of view, it is important to control the possible risk on the health status of the residents,” they said.
