ASSESSING THE IMPACT OF AIR POLLUTION ON RESPIRATORY HEALTH IN MAJOR CITIES OF PAKISTAN: EPIDEMIOLOGICAL TRENDS, RISK FACTORS, AND MITIGATION STRATEGIES

Abstract

The public health issue of air pollution severely affects the urban areas of Lahore, Karachi, Faisalabad, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi in Pakistan.  Various human activities combined with industrial emission sources and brick kiln contaminants and urbanization and combustion activities together result in severe health problems through air pollution in Pakistani cities.  This study assessed the origins along with health impacts and various effects of smog and air pollution.  A PRISMA approach served for evaluating the health impact of environment pollution on human health.  Research investigated sources of air pollution along with pollutants PM2.5, PM10, CO2, CO, SOX and NOx that derived from agricultural and waste burning emissions.  The participant group included both urban and rural inhabitants of Pakistan across different age groups and genders.  The data collection along with analysis occurred through SRDR+ software together with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets.  Air pollution and diseases occurred most frequently in Karachi and Lahore because of their heavy industry operations combined with vehicular emissions.  The winter season creates smog conditions which become the main factor leading to multiple illnesses throughout Lahore.  The combination of urban expansion with brick kilns together with industrial contamination and agricultural sources produce environmental effects that spread across several cities including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Jahan, Sialkot, Faisalabad and Kalarkhar.  These air pollution causes lead to higher occurrence rates of cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses in specific cities and communities.  Asthma together with eye and throat issues and allergies represent one cluster of medical conditions while lung cancer stands alone from them along with air pollution's effects of mortality and morbidity.  The implementation of strategic policies must focus on reducing pollution emissions and supporting safer technologies along with enhanced air quality tracking systems to minimize the damaging impact of air pollution on health.