Post SARS-CoV-2 urban India: Computing air quality health indicators (AQHI) for Gurugram city to assess imminent threats to public health

Kumar, Arvaan and Chaudhuri, Sriroop (2022) Post SARS-CoV-2 urban India: Computing air quality health indicators (AQHI) for Gurugram city to assess imminent threats to public health. Ecology, Environment and Conservation Paper, 28. pp. 185-193. ISSN 0971765X

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Abstract

We aim to make the authorities aware about re-emergence of health risks for Gurugram City, keyed to renewal of air pollution inthe post-COVID 19 times. We compute multiple Air Quality Health Indicators (AQHI)forPre-Lockdown (denoted as PreLD; pre-COVID normal life; March 5-25, 2020), COVID-19 Lockdown (LD; March 25 - May 31), Un-Lockdown (UNLD; June 1 – August 31) and Post-Lockdown (PostLD life-as-usual conditions; September 1, 2020 – January 31, 2021) using 24-hour,time-weighted average ambient PM2.5 and PM10 concentrations, obtained from the Central Pollution Control Board. Results indicated that beyond initial reductions in ambient PM2.5 and PM10 levels in the LD period, they (i) persisted above international/national regulatory thresholds all along the study period; and (ii) rapidly spiked in the PostLD period, indicating reemergence of pollution-induced health concerns. We computed a suit of AQHIs including all-cause mortality for children and infant (5-yr age); respiratory mortality for all age groups;and cardiopulmonary and cancer mortality. Relative risk factor (RR) for all the above have grown in the PostLD periods, with children and infants appearing more vulnerable than other age groups.We highlight to the authorities of short (YLL,YLD, DALY) and long-term benefits of undertaking air quality-health research. We alsoreflect onpotential sources of uncertainties, and underscored main areas for future researchto establish statistically meaningful relationships between air quality and health.

Item Type: Article
Keywords: Post-COVID urban air quality | Lockdown | Particulate matter | Meteorological factors | Air quality health indicator (AQHI) | Environmental health burden| Cardiopulmonary and cancer mortalit
Subjects: Physical, Life and Health Sciences > Environmental Science, Policy and Law
JGU School/Centre: Jindal School of Liberal Arts & Humanities
Depositing User: Amees Mohammad
Date Deposited: 02 Jun 2022 10:39
Last Modified: 21 Jul 2022 04:32
Official URL: http://doi.org/10.53550/EEC.2022.v28i01s.027
URI: https://pure.jgu.edu.in/id/eprint/3169

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