Respiratory health concerns in children at some strategic locations from high PM levels during crop residue burning episodes

•PFT of low age group fall as SIS > HIS > CAS, mixed trend was observed for other groups.•FVC of children of all age groups from SIS decreased 5–7% more than of HIS and CAS which is due to their poor BMI.•Lung capacity of children recovers only up to 80% after the CRB events.•Children of CAS recover much faster than SIS and AMR due to their better BMI.•A fall of PEF by 3% during non-CRB (winter) months may be due to PM10 and PM2.5 levels due to automobiles activity.

Particulate Matter (PM) levels in the ambient air of three urban sites of strategic importance in Punjab (second largest agricultural state of India) were monitored from September 2013 to June 2014 covering two seasons of crop residue burning episodes of rice and wheat, respectively. During both crop periods, the levels varied from 71 to 167 μgm−3(PM10) and 43–107 μgm−3 (PM2.5), which were observed to be much beyond the permissible limits of 100 μgm−3 for PM10 and 60 μgm−3 for PM2.5 set by state pollution control agencies. Simultaneously, Pulmonary Function Test (PFT) parameters of children (age group 10–16 years) residing at these sites were monitored. PFT parameters like Forced Vital Capacity (FVC) and Peak Expiratory Flow (PEF) were monitored on 50 healthy subjects at each site. The results indicated an alarming fall in FVC (5%–7%) and in PEF (4%–6%) parameters during the crop residue burning period’s .The decrement was almost same for all age groups of children. The adverse effect was more on female subjects than male subjects. The impact of particulate matter pollution was more prominent in industrially important site (7%, SIS) as compared to historically (3%, HIS) and commercially (4%, CAS) important sites.

Graphical abstractFortnightly averaged PFT parameters; FVC and PEF on 50 school children (10–16 year) at each of the sampling sites of strategic importance: HIS (Historically Important Site, Amritsar), CAS (Commercial and small scale industrial Site, Ludhiana), and SIS (Steel Industrial Site, Mandi Gobindgarh) are reported.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (284 K)Download as PowerPoint slide