People tend to make excuses for skipping exercise—too cold in the morning, it is raining, need to sleep some more, and what not. The latest excuse is air pollution. Believe it or not, a new study published in the journal Preventive Medicine says that some of the Indian cities are so polluted that even 30 minutes of exercise does more harm than good. The study used walking and cycling as sample activities.
Allahabad and Gwalior top the list of cities along with Zabol in Iran, where 30 minutes of cycling is considered to be the ‘breakeven point’. Air pollution exposure was estimated through changes in background concentrations of fine particles—PM2.5. Any outdoor activity could lead to serious health problems even without exercise if the PM2.5 levels are above a certain level. Diwali celebrations in Delhi in November last year saw air pollution go up 14 to 16 times the safe limits. The Delhi pollution control committee’s data showed that concentration of PM2.5 at Anand Vihar touched 883 micrograms per cubic metre, 14 times the standard level. The study shows that the average PM2.5 concentration in Delhi as 122, less than some of other cities in India. In Delhi, 'breakeven point' reaches after one hour of cycling. It's not hard to see why the effect will be severe on those who run or cycle outdoors in such an environment.
We are living in a world where 92 per cent of the people are breathing air containing fine particles exceeding global air quality guidelines, says another report—State of Global Air 2017. The study found that air pollution is the leading environmental cause of death worldwide and it caused 4.2 million premature deaths and a loss of 103 million healthy years of life in 2015. Also, it found that China and India together were responsible for over half of these deaths. India occupies the second spot with 1.1 million premature deaths every year, almost on par with China. It finds that long-term exposure to fine particles—the most significant element of air pollution—is the main cause of premature deaths.
