Ipsita Sarkar

@Piercingharmony

Hurkle-durkling

Delhi/NCR

Joined May 2009

498 Following

943 Followers

4K Posts

Piercingharmony retweeted

Nithin Kamath

@Nithin0dha

over 1 year ago

The biggest takeaway for me after meeting @bryan_johnson was debunking the myth I once believed: that only Delhi in India has an air quality problem—and that it occurs only in winter. We recorded @nikhilkamathcio’s (link in the following tweet) WTF podcast in a sea-facing apartment in Bandra, Mumbai, and the AQI was a whopping 160+. If the AQI was this high in Bandra, just imagine the levels in the more crowded parts of the town. Later, I got an AQI meter for our office in J.P. Nagar—a quiet corner of Bengaluru—and was shocked to see it reading 120+. Again, imagine how much worse it might be in the busier parts of the city. What makes matters trickier in Bengaluru is the dust from the ongoing construction boom and poor roads. Most places in the US and Europe have AQIs below 50, which is considered good. An AQI of 50 to 100 is moderate, 100 to 150 is poor, 150 to 200 is unhealthy, 200 to 250 is severe, and above 250 is hazardous. Long-term exposure to poor air quality can cause lung damage, cardiovascular problems, compromised immunity, an increased risk of cancer, and more—all of which ultimately affect quality of life. In Delhi, for example, the AQI can reach 500 or more in winter and 200+ in summer. This has bothered me ever since. Everyone should have equal access to clean air. With water, you can use a filter to ensure decent quality. But what about air? We seem to have gotten used to the fact that air pollution is just a part of life, and we’re okay with breathing low-quality air—even though clean air is a fundamental right granted to citizens by the Constitution. So, shouldn’t property prices be linked to AQI? The higher the AQI, the lower the real estate prices should be. That means if an area has poor air quality, property prices and rents should be lower, and vice versa. After all, by living in such areas, you are accepting higher odds of respiratory ailments, cancer, etc. There also doesn’t seem to be much research on this in India. If you are a researcher thinking about or working on this topic, we’d love to connect with you. Perhaps some large hospital chains would be willing to provide anonymized data sets on health issues for researchers to work on. Please let us know if you are working on AQI, its impact on both personal and public health, or if you intend to explore it further. We at @RainmatterOrg would like to collaborate. We are trying to improve quality of life, and air quality plays a significant role in many cities across the country. 1/3

Nithin0dha's tweet photo. The biggest takeaway for me after meeting @bryan_johnson was debunking the myth I once believed: that only Delhi in India has an air quality problem—and that it occurs only in winter.

We recorded @nikhilkamathcio’s (link in the following tweet) WTF podcast in a sea-facing apartment in Bandra, Mumbai, and the AQI was a whopping 160+. If the AQI was this high in Bandra, just imagine the levels in the more crowded parts of the town.

Later, I got an AQI meter for our office in J.P. Nagar—a quiet corner of Bengaluru—and was shocked to see it reading 120+. Again, imagine how much worse it might be in the busier parts of the city. What makes matters trickier in Bengaluru is the dust from the ongoing construction boom and poor roads.

Most places in the US and Europe have AQIs below 50, which is considered good. An AQI of 50 to 100 is moderate, 100 to 150 is poor, 150 to 200 is unhealthy, 200 to 250 is severe, and above 250 is hazardous.

Long-term exposure to poor air quality can cause lung damage, cardiovascular problems, compromised immunity, an increased risk of cancer, and more—all of which ultimately affect quality of life. In Delhi, for example, the AQI can reach 500 or more in winter and 200+ in summer.

This has bothered me ever since. Everyone should have equal access to clean air. With water, you can use a filter to ensure decent quality. But what about air? We seem to have gotten used to the fact that air pollution is just a part of life, and we’re okay with breathing low-quality air—even though clean air is a fundamental right granted to citizens by the Constitution.

So, shouldn’t property prices be linked to AQI? The higher the AQI, the lower the real estate prices should be. That means if an area has poor air quality, property prices and rents should be lower, and vice versa. After all, by living in such areas, you are accepting higher odds of respiratory ailments, cancer, etc.

There also doesn’t seem to be much research on this in India. If you are a researcher thinking about or working on this topic, we’d love to connect with you. Perhaps some large hospital chains would be willing to provide anonymized data sets on health issues for researchers to work on.

Please let us know if you are working on AQI, its impact on both personal and public health, or if you intend to explore it further. We at @RainmatterOrg would like to collaborate. We are trying to improve quality of life, and air quality plays a significant role in many cities across the country. 1/3

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Piercingharmony retweeted

Bryan Johnson

@bryan_johnson

over 1 year ago

When in India, I did end this podcast early due to the bad air quality. @nikhilkamathcio was a gracious host and we were having a great time. The problem was that the room we were in circulated outside air which made the air purifier I'd brought with me ineffective. Inside, the AQI was 130 and PM2.5 was 75 µg/m³, which is equal to smoking 3.4 cigarettes for 24 hours of exposure. This was my third day in India and the air pollution had made my skin break out in rash and my eyes and throat burn. Air pollution has been so normalized in India that no one even notices anymore despite the science of its negative effects being well known. People would be outside running. Babies and small children exposed from birth. No one wore a mask which can significantly decrease exposure. It was so confusing. The evidence shows that India would improve the health of its population more by cleaning up air quality than by curing all cancers. I am unsure why India's leaders do not make air quality a national emergency. I don't know what interests, money and power keep things the way they are but it's really bad for the entire country. When I returned to the U.S., my eyes were fresh to see what is normalized to me. I saw obesity everywhere. 42.4% of American are obese and because I was around it all the time, I had been mostly oblivious to it. In many contexts, obesity is worse than air pollution in the long term. Why wouldn't American leaders declare a national emergency on obesity? What interests, money and power keep things the way they are but are really bad for the entire country.

24K

Piercingharmony retweeted

Mythili @mythmenon

over 1 year ago

Come be my colleague! The Dept of English at @WichitaState is hiring a tenure-track Asst. Professor of Linguistics. Specialization is open. As the search committee chair, I am happy to provide more info and answer any questions related to this search. Use the link below to apply!

Ipsita Sarkar

@Piercingharmony

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