A Mini-Review for Causes, Effects and Preventive Measures of Choking Smog

Roheela Yasmeen, Sahiba Zulfiqar Ali, Zunaira Baig, Uzma Rafi, Syeda Shazia Bokhari, Aisha Waheed Qurashi

Abstract


Air pollution and its increasing hazards are growing issues in Pakistan. The main reason is over population and efforts to provide luxurious lifestyles to people. So, changes in economic growth result in ever-increasing fossil fuels consumption, deforestation, industrialization, construction and urbanization. The activities are responsible for the enhanced level of airborne particles and ozone-depleting substances in the atmosphere that is resulting in low air quality especially in winter as compared to summer. Since the last few years, it was noticed in Lahore, Pakistan, that the ambient environment condition of the city is rapidly changing, particularly in winter. The sun rays are blocked out and result in smog. Smog is a combination of fog and smoke and an important secondary pollutant that reduces visibility and enhances various health issues. It particularly affects children and older people causing high risk diseases such as eye-watering, skin allergies and respiratory infections. Even though preventive measures are taken to control the effect of smog every winter, there is still a need to focus on the causes to control the prevailing problem of winter smog for betterment in the future. The present review will discuss smog’s history, sources, effects and preventive measures in Pakistan along with other countries.

Keywords


Air pollution, Secondary pollutant, Winter, Visibility, Health issues

Full Text:

XML PDF

References


Snyder LP. "The Death-Dealing Smog over Donora, Pennsylvania": Industrial Air Pollution, Public Health Policy, and the Politics of Expertise, 1948-1949. Environmental History Review. 1994; 18(1): 117-39.

Brimblecombe P. The Big Smoke (Routledge Revivals): A History of Air Pollution in London since Medieval Times. Routledge. 2012.

Bell ML, Davis DL, Fletcher T. A retrospective assessment of mortality from the London smog episode of 1952: the role of influenza and pollution. Environmental health perspectives. 2004; 112(1): 6-8.

Bell ML, Davis DL. Reassessment of the lethal London fog of 1952: novel indicators of acute and chronic consequences of acute exposure to air pollution. Environmental health perspectives. 2001;109 (suppl 3): 389-94.

Hunt A, Abraham JL, Judson B, Berry CL. Toxicologic and epidemiologic clues from the characterization of the 1952 London smog fine particulate matter in archival autopsy lung tissues. Environmental health perspectives. 2003; 111(9): 1209-14.

Zhang D, Liu J, Li B. Tackling air pollution in China—What do we learn from the great smog of 1950s in London. Sustainability. 2014 ; 6(8):5322-38.

Watts J. China: the air pollution capital of the world. The Lancet. 2005; 366 (9499): 1761-62.

Qiu. Fight against smog ramps up: Chinese government to provide incentives for heavy polluters to go green, but analysts question whether its wider air-quality strategy goes far enough. Nature. 2014; 506(7488): 273-75.

David H, Juyuan J. A study of smog issues and PM 2.5 pollutant control strategies in China. Journal of Environmental Protection. 2013; 4(07): 746.

Raja MU, Mukhtar T, Shaheen FA, Bodlah I, Jamal A, Fatima B, Ismail M, Shah I. Climate change and its impact on plant health: a Pakistan’s prospective. Plant Protection. 2018; 2(2): 51-56.

Ali Y, Razi M, De Felice F, Sabir M, Petrillo A. A VIKOR based approach for assessing the social, environmental and economic effects of “smog” on human health.Science of the Total Environment.2019; 650: 2897-05.

Sun C, Yuan X, Xu M. The public perceptions and willingness to pay: from the perspective of the smog crisis in China. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2016; 112: 1635-44.

Biswas KF, Ghauri BM, Husain L. Gaseous and aerosol pollutants during fog and clear episodes in South Asian urban atmosphere. Atmospheric Environment. 2008; 42 (33): 7775-85.

Stone E, Schauer J, Quraishi TA, Mahmood A. Chemical characterization and source apportionment of fine and coarse particulate matter in Lahore, Pakistan. Atmospheric Environment. 2010; 44(8):1062-70.

Shah MH, Shaheen N, Nazir R. Assessment of the trace elements level in urban atmospheric particulate matter and source apportionment in Islamabad, Pakistan. Atmospheric pollution research. 2012; 3(1):39-45.

Rasheed A, Aneja VP, Aiyyer A, Rafique U. Measurement and analysis of fine particulate matter (PM2. 5) in urban areas of Pakistan. Aerosol and Air Quality Research. 2015; 15(2): 426-39.

Ali Z, Rauf A, Sidra S, Nasir ZA, Colbeck I. Air quality (particulate matter) at heavy traffic sites in Lahore, Pakistan. Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences. 2015; 25(3): 644-48.

Molina C, Toro R, Manzano C, Leiva-Guzmán MA. Particulate matter in urban areas of south-central Chile exceeds air quality standards. Air Quality, Atmosphere & Health. 2017; 10(5): 653-67.

Kampa M, Castanas E. Human health effects of air pollution. Environmental pollution. 2008; 151(2):362-67.

Jiang L, Hiltunen E, He X, Zhu L. A questionnaire case study to investigate public awareness of smog pollution in China’s rural areas. Sustainability. 2016; 8(11): 1111.

Kabata-Pendias A, Mukherjee AB. Trace elements from soil to human. Springer Science & Business Media. 2007.

Parekh PP, Khwaja HA, Khan AR, Naqvi RR, Malik A, Khan K, Hussain G. Lead content of petrol and diesel and its assessment in an urban environment. Environmental monitoring and assessment. 2002; 74(3):255- 62.

Wang J, Niu H, Ling P, Fan J, Luo K, Blokhin M, Sun Y. The smog pollution in Handan-a mining and industrial city in China. World Journal of Engineering, 2014; 11(6): 613-20.

Butt MU, Waseef RF, Ahmed H. Perception about the Factors Associated with Smog among Medical Students. Biomedica. 2018; 34(4): 264.

Khan, A. Evaluation of Industrial Environmental Management-Pakistan. Report Prepared for the Ministry of Industries, Islamabad. 2010.

Ashraf MN 2017. Available at:

https://www.technologytimes.pk/smog-lahore-causes-solutions/

Ali M, Athar M. Impact of transport and industrial emissions on the ambient air quality of Lahore City, Pakistan. Environmental monitoring and assessment. 2010; 171(1): 353-63.

Riaz R, Hamid K. Existing smog in Lahore, Pakistan: an alarming public health concern. Cureus. 2018;10(1). e2111. 1-3.

Xiang Z, Wang H, Stevanovic S, Jing S, Lou S, Tao S, Li L, Liu J, Yu M, Wang L. Assessing impacts of factors on carbonyl compounds emissions produced from several typical Chinese cooking. Building and Environment. 2017; 125:348-55.

Mira-Salama D, Grüning C, Jensen NR, Cavalli P, Putaud JP, Larsen BR, Raes F, Coe H. Source attribution of urban smog episodes caused by coal combustion. Atmospheric Research. 2008; 88(3-4):294-04.

Campbell ME, Li Q, Gingrich SE, Macfarlane RG, Cheng S. Should people be physically active outdoors on smog alert days?. Canadian journal of public health. 2005; 96(1): 24-28.

Li K, Chen L, White SJ, Yu H, Wu X, Gao X, Azzi M, Cen K. Smog chamber study of the role of NH3 in new particle formation from photo-oxidation of aromatic hydrocarbons. Science of the Total Environment. 2018; 619: 927-37.

Pak-EPA (2005) State of the environment report. Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Ministry of Environment, Government of Pakistan. Available from: http://environment.gov.pk/state-ofenvironment-report/ 27–6-2016 (accessed 08.07.2016)

Elsom D. Smog alert: managing urban air quality. Earthscan Routledge; 2014 Apr 4. 1-94.

Iriti M, Faoro F. Oxidative stress, the paradigm of ozone toxicity in plants and animals. Water, Air, and Soil Pollution. 2008; 187(1):285-01.

Gheorghe IF, Ion B. The effects of air pollutants on vegetation and the role of vegetation in reducing atmospheric pollution. The impact of air pollution on health, economy, environment and agricultural sources. 2011; 29: 241-80.

Pakbin P, Hudda N, Cheung KL, Moore KF, Sioutas C. Spatial and temporal variability of coarse (PM10− 2.5) particulate matter concentrations in the Los Angeles area. Aerosol Science and Technology. 2010; 44(7):514-25.

Sughis M, Nawrot TS, Ihsan-ul-Haque S, Amjad A, Nemery B. Blood pressure and particulate air pollution in schoolchildren of Lahore, Pakistan. BMC Public Health. 2012; 12(1): 1-8.

Chen R, Zhao Z, Kan H. Heavy smog and hospital visits in Beijing, China. American journal of respiratory and critical care medicine. 2013; 188(9):1170-71.

Rani B, Singh U, Chuhan AK, Sharma D, Maheshwari R. Photochemical Smog Pollution and Its Mitigation Measures. Journal of Advanced Scientific Research. 2011; 2(4): 28-33.

Bernstein JA, Alexis N, Barnes C, Bernstein IL, Nel A, Peden D, Diaz-Sanchez D, Tarlo SM, Williams PB. Health effects of air pollution. Journal of allergy and clinical immunology. 2004; 114(5): 1116-23.

Xing YF, Xu YH, Shi MH, Lian YX. The impact of PM2. 5 on the human respiratory system. Journal of thoracic disease. 2016; 8(1): E69-E74.

Sierra‐Vargas MP, Teran LM. Air pollution: impact and prevention. Respirology. 2012; 17(7): 1031-38.

Yang W, Omaye ST. Air pollutants, oxidative stress and human health. Mutation Research/Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis. 2009; 674(1-2):45-54.

Larry W. "The Causes and Effects of Smog." Thought Co, Aug. 23, 2018, thoughtco.com/what-is-smog-causes-and-effects-1204194. 2018, available at: https://www.thoughtco.com/what-is-smog-causes-and-effects-1204194

Wang Y, Sun M, Yang X, Yuan X. Public awareness and willingness to pay for tackling smog pollution in China: a case study. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2016; 112:1627-34.

Poljsak B, Fink R. The protective role of antioxidants in the defence against ROS/RNS-mediated environmental pollution. Oxidative medicine and cellular longevity. 2014. Volume 2014 |Article ID 671539. Available at: | https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/671539

Liang FY, Ryvak M, Sayeed S, Zhao N. The role of natural gas as a primary fuel in the near future, including comparisons of acquisition, transmission and waste handling costs of as with competitive alternatives. Chemistry Central Journal. 2012; 6(1):1-24.

Shi H, Wang Y, Chen J, Huisingh D. Preventing smog crises in China and globally. Journal of Cleaner Production. 2016; 112:1261-71.

Mellino S, Petrillo A, Cigolotti V, Autorino C, Jannelli E, Ulgiati S. A Life Cycle Assessment of lithium battery and hydrogen-FC powered electric bicycles: Searching for cleaner solutions to urban mobility. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy. 2017; 42(3):1830-40.

Ali Y, Razi M, De Felice F, Sabir M, Petrillo A. A VIKOR based approach for assessing the social, environmental and economic effects of “smog” on human health. Science of the Total Environment. 2019; 650:2897-05.

Dahal A, Dhakal P, Farooqui AA. Role of information technology for the improvement of climate change in the context of Nepal. 2020. A technical report. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.20953.13922 [53] Rosenfeld AH, Akbari H, Romm JJ, Pomerantz M. Cool communities: strategies for heat island mitigation and smog reduction. Energy and buildings. 1998 Aug 1;28(1):51-62.




Iranian Journal of Health, Safety and Environment e-ISSN: :2345-5535 Iran university of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran