Diwali, the festival of lights, is a time for celebration in India, but it poses special difficulties for people with respiratory illnesses like asthma, COPD. Usually, the celebration falls around the start of winter, which coincides with a difficult time for people who have specific lung conditions. The increase in air and noise pollution around Diwali, especially from the suspension of polluted air which fails to rise up due to cold, exacerbates this problem.
Asthma is a chronic respiratory condition that affects millions of people worldwide. Individuals with asthma have sensitive airways that can become inflamed and narrowed in response to various triggers, including airborne pollutants. We must avoid excessive fireworks during Diwali time. The reason is a mixture of chemicals and tiny soot particles that are released into the air by excessive fireworks makes the matters worse on an already compromised air quality of the region. Particulate matter (PM), a term for these minuscule solid particles which get suspended in air, have the ability to irritate the airways and worsen the symptoms of asthma. Furthermore, the concentration of pollutants such as sulfur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the atmosphere increases due to inability of cold air to rise up.
