The perils of air pollution

Research reports have over the years been implicating pollutants in the air for very serious hazards, such as a fall in male fertility and birth of babies prematurely or with congenital defects. Now another study by a Danish team seems to suggest a link between asthmatic babies and their mothers' exposure to heavily polluted air during pregnancy. This latest study, involving over 45,000 children and their mothers, was presented recently at the annual conference of the European Respiratory Society in Amsterdam. There are good enough reasons to be concerned. Findings of a 20-year study by Kolkata University, Advanced Medicine and Research Institute and Cleveland Clinic of Ohio, USA, published in the American medical journal Fertility and Sterility, show that sperm samples collected from 729 men in the urban areas registered an alarming decline in both count and motility. The researchers blamed long-term exposure to vehicular exhaust, specially ingestion of heavy metals like lead and cadmium, which have been known to have deleterious effects on human health for years. Lead, one of the most studied neurotoxins, was identified as early as the 2nd century BC, as an element that 'makes the mind give way.' As for cadmium, it is a proven carcinogen. The IVF and Infertility Research Centre in Kolkata is said to have monitored a hundred childless couples and found that 15 to 20 per cent of them had suffered miscarriages over a two-year period, suspected to be, not due to any anomalies in the would-be mothers but the excessive exposure of the would-be fathers to poisonous exhaust of motor vehicles. That the reproductive health of both in a couple is vital for their future offspring has again been established by these studies. Human beings in the past 150 years or so have been exposed to thousands more chemicals than their ancestors have been. But not enough research has been done to establish their long-term effects on human life and the environment. Hundreds of thousands of chemical compounds are in use now, invented for every imaginable comfort and convenience. But information about the possible toxic effects of most industrial chemicals (excluding food additives, pesticides, cosmetics and drugs) remain inadequate. Environmental health researchers can hardly keep pace with the numbers of chemical compounds that continue to enter markets everywhere. The Consumer Association of Bangladesh ought to wake up to monitor the substances that enter the country, and inform the public about those suspected of causing problems. Leukemia for example has been linked to benzene, an ingredient in gasoline; mesotheliomia, another form of cancer, linked to asbestos exposure; PCBs, used for decades in electrical transformers, plastic paints, varnishes and waxes, to damage the endocrine system. Many solvents, shoe polish, glues, household cleaners, varnishes and everyday consumer products contain neurotoxic chemicals. Dioxin, a by-product of the plastic, pesticide and paper industries, affects behaviour, learning ability, metabolism, the immune system and reproduction. The load of toxins that are released into the air, water and soil, in the form of heavy metals, gases and chemicals, must be slashed significantly if suffering is to be reduced. Both the developed and developing countries are burdened by this menace but whereas some are enlightened enough to take proactive measures, many, like Bangladesh, seem least worried. It is no surprise that Dhaka has recently been declared the world's 'most polluted' city, in terms of air quality. High time toxic dust, fumes, gases, particulates, solutions and what-have-you, were taken seriously to bring their serious side effects down to a minimum.