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Environmental Health Problems Due to Air Pollution Exposure: A Case Study of Respiratory and Associated Morbidities Among Traffic Police Personnel in Aurangabad City of Maharashtra

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Handbook of Environmental Materials Management

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Abstract

Air pollution is the major public health problem, and vehicular exhaust fumes are the principal source of air pollution in urban areas. There is now a large body of epidemiological evidences associating exposure to ambient particles with short- and long-term effects on health. Traffic personnel undergo a sedentary style of work as they are located at the traffic junctions where they are exposed to fumes, vehicles, noise, and crowd. Majority of research papers on traffic police have concluded that traffic police are at high stress that yield to body fatigue. Aurangabad is a rapidly growing city of Maharashtra with close to 11 lakh vehicles, 80% of which are two wheelers. These vehicles are growing at a rate of 8% on an annual basis. In order to manage this vehicle population, the Aurangabad has traffic personnel posted across the city. However, no studies are available on the health status of traffic policemen due to pollution. Therefore, this study is first of its kind to understand this issue and to recommend relevant measures for improving their health. This cross-section study was done in this context, among 100 traffic police personnel in Aurangabad city, to assess the prevalence of respiratory and other associated morbidities and the factors associated with it. The overall prevalence of chronic respiratory morbidity was 28%. Out of the 100 police personnel, only two reported the use of an appropriate respirator during their duty hours. Of those who reported to use of face masks 97% of them used only some kind of face barriers like kerchiefs or disposable masks that do not offer adequate protection. The major self-reported morbidities among police personnel were low-back pain 38%, hypertension 21%, and diabetes 14%. The high prevalence of respiratory morbidity in traffic policemen is a matter of concern since it may be due to their occupational exposure to vehicular exhaust-related air pollution. Periodic monitoring of this group can detect early signs of dysfunctions and measures including supply of appropriate and acceptable personal protective equipments. Daily exercises, pranayam, and yoga interventions are expected to improve the overall health and productivity of the important work force such as traffic police.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Sciences Dr. BAMU, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

    Suchirai Gaikwad & N. N. Bandela

  2. MGM’s Jawaharlal Nehru Engineering College, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India

    Geetanjali Kaushik

  3. Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

    Chaudhery M. Hussain

Authors
  1. Suchirai Gaikwad
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  2. N. N. Bandela
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  3. Geetanjali Kaushik
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  4. Chaudhery M. Hussain
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Geetanjali Kaushik .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, New Jersey InstTech, 151 D Tiernan-NJIT Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, Newark, NJ, USA

    Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

Section Editor information

  1. Dept. of Chemistry and EVSC, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, USA

    Chaudhery Mustansar Hussain

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Gaikwad, S., Bandela, N.N., Kaushik, G., Hussain, C.M. (2018). Environmental Health Problems Due to Air Pollution Exposure: A Case Study of Respiratory and Associated Morbidities Among Traffic Police Personnel in Aurangabad City of Maharashtra. In: Hussain, C. (eds) Handbook of Environmental Materials Management. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58538-3_169-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-58538-3_169-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-58538-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-58538-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Chemistry and Mat. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Chemistry, Materials and Physics

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