Extract
Air quality is usually evaluated by the concentrations of particulate matter and gaseous substances that are present in the air we breathe. Thousands of pollutants are responsible for environmental air pollution, with particulate matter with a 50% cut-off aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 µm (PM2.5), PM10, carbon monoxide, ozone, sulfur dioxide and NOx being those most frequently evaluated. In developing countries such as Bangladesh, awareness of air pollution is virtually non-existent and, most of the time, ignored even when air quality becomes unbearable to most citizens. Among the sources of particulate matter in Dhaka, the large metropolis that serves as the capital city of Bangladesh, road dust, textile and dying businesses, tanneries, chemical and cement factories, and brick kilns emerge as the most polluting offenders. Substantial evidence has shown that PM2.5 is independently implicated in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and cancer, in light of its ability to reach terminal bronchioles and alveolar structures, and even reach the bloodstream [1].
Abstract
Air pollution levels in developing countries such as Bangladesh with a relatively young population pose an inordinate health risk for many years to come unless significant environmental control measures are effectively undertaken https://bit.ly/3bvzesx
Footnotes
Conflict of interest: S.A. Siddiqui has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: M. Jakaria has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: M.N. Amin has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: A. Al Mahmud has nothing to disclose.
Conflict of interest: D. Gozal has nothing to disclose.
- Received March 13, 2020.
- Accepted March 19, 2020.
- Copyright ©ERS 2020