How can you protect yourself against the effects of air pollution?

Air pollution is a growing problem in Hanoi: according to GreenID, during the first trimester of 2018, average level of air pollution was four times higher than the acceptable levels as defined by the WHO.

Discover what is air pollution, how it affects your health, and how to protect yourself!

What is air pollution?

Air is invisible but vital for animals and humans to breathe and plants to grow. Air is a mixture of gases and consist of mainly nitrogen (N2) with 78%, and oxygen (O2) with 21%. Air also contains also water vapor.

Sources of air pollution can be natural (for example, volcanic activity) or due to human activity (industry, road traffic, agriculture, residential emission…).

There are numerous air pollutants. The most dangerous are sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxyde (CO), and ozone (O3).

The smaller PM are, the deeper they can penetrate into your body: PM10 (size < 10μm) penetrates the nose and throat, PM2,5 (< 2,5μm) can reach your bronchi, PM1 (< 1μm) and PM0,1 (< 0,1μm) are able to reach your blood! For comparison, one human hair measures 50 to 70μm.

To better know the amount of pollution in the air you are breathing, you can follow (on internet, on mobile-apps) the Air Quality Index which measures the five most important pollutants and gives you advice for protecting yourself depending on five levels of health hazard.

What are the effects of air pollution on your health?

During air pollution highs, there are significantly more people complaining about cough or noisy breathing and there are more respiratory tract infections in children. People living with chronic respiratory or cardiac disease have a higher risk to experience asthma attacks, heart attacks or even stroke.

Breathing polluted air every day is dangerous during pregnancy and may lead to premature birth and lower birth weight. Children may have slower development of their lungs and may develop asthma and allergies. Adults may develop chronic bronchitis and also lung cancer.

You should see your doctor if you experience any abnormal symptoms, such as persistent cough, noisy breathing, or frequent shortness of breath.

How can you protect yourself against the effects of air pollution?

Follow the instructions based on the Air Quality Index level to adapt your daily routine. Make sure you regularly ventilate your home and office, to avoid indoor concentration of pollutants (except in case of ozone pollution).

Fragile persons (pregnant women, children, people suffering from chronic heart or respiratory disease) should limit their outdoor activities and avoid dense traffic axes, especially during rush hour. Limit the amount of time your child spends playing outdoors if the air quality is unhealthy and if possible inform school authorities to restrict school related outdoor activities.

To limit health effects of chronic exposure to air pollution, you should keep your home and office well aerated, avoid smoking in your home, don’t burn trash, and exercise regularly! When pollution levels are high, exercise in a gym or use an exercise machine at home.

Face masks type FFP3 can protect you from bigger PMs but do not protect you against the smaller ones (PM0.1 and PM1) or against exhaust fumes.

Make an appointment with your doctor in case of recurrent respiratory problems. If you experience breathing difficulties or chest pain, see your doctor immediately.

At the Hanoi French Hospital, Dr. Delphine Natali and Dr. Tran Pham Hai with years of experience will bring state of the art knowledge and treatment for pulmonary and lung diseases to our customers.

For an appointment with our pneumologists, please contact us at  (84-24) 3577 1100, or send us an inquiry here