THERE is a buzz in the air of India’s capital, and not just because Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is barely a week away. Along with a shopping rush and a welcome dip in temperature, the season augurs a surge in levels of PM2.5, tiny particles of dust that lodge deep in the lungs and cause such diseases as asthma, pulmonary fibrosis and cancer.
Recent mornings in the world’s most polluted megacity have already seen measures of toxic dust exceed ten times the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum. They could spike far higher during Diwali, when pyromaniac revellers ignite lakhs and crores (ie, a lot) of sparklers and rockets. Last year’s choking festive smog hung for days, with the level of PM2.5 pushing well beyond 30 times what humans can safely breathe. Small wonder: held at arm’s length, a popular firework known as a “garland” generates more than 1,000 times more poisonous smoke than the WHO maximum;...Continue reading
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