D. Ashok V. Selvam and Ravi Chinta
Abstract
According to World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 7 million people worldwide die due to air pollution every year. Globally, for the past five years the pollution in air increased at 8%, and nearly 3,000 cities in the world are identified as maximum air polluted cities and the study also stated that in Middle East, South East Asia and West Pacific are most air polluted counties in the world. In China, the air pollution is 20 times more than the prescribed normal limit and as per the report, nearly half a million people die due to air pollution. According to this years Global Barden of Disease (GBD) estimates, one fifth of deaths across the world occur from outdoor air pollution. It is also the fifth leading cause of deaths in India and in Delhi alone nearly 35,000 deaths occur due to acute respiratory infections (ARI). The impact on air pollution leads to asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis etc are the diseases caused by exposure to increasing air pollution. Several studies have shown that vehicular emissions form 45% of urban air pollution. They are also a major contributor to indoor air pollutants including smoke, dust, aerosols, smoke from bakeries, burning garbage and toxic chemical compounds like carbon monoxide. Pollution from vehicles coupled with emission from products like paints, burning fuel, construction rubble as well as allergens like pollen, models and dander can affect indoor air quality. Based on the above issues in air pollution, the researchers wants to test the awareness on consequences of air pollution among urban students in Vellore district, Tamil Nadu in India. The findings of the study found that, the respondents have full awareness about urban air pollution including dust mines, bacteria, fungi, viruses, pollen, pet air and second hand smoke. Atmosphere with extreme temperatures, exacerbates diseases such as asthma, skin cancer and respiratory diseases, and in particular the urban area is most polluted in the Vellore district in Tamil Nadu.