Published By: Soham Halder

Diwali Week Begins 'Very Poor’ Air Quality: The Invisible Threat to Your Work Efficiency and Focus

The air quality deteriorated in Delhi with the Air Quality Index (AQI) being recorded at 352, indicating the 'very poor' condition.

System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) has categorized Delhi’s air quality as ‘very poor’ before the Diwali festival. Especially during winter season, as temperature drops, it is often accompanied by dense fog making Air Quality Index (AQI) extremely poor in national capital. This is has been the story for last couple of years and situation is worsening every year. The AQI was recorded over 300 in several regions while some also reported the AQI above 350. As per CPCB parameters, AQI range of 0-50, 51-100, 101-200, 201-300, 301-400, 401-500 are considered "good", "satisfactory", "moderate", "poor", "very poor", and "severe" respectively. Does this air quality impact on your productivity? Of course, yes! Let's find out how.

Credit - X/@ANI

Pollution, Productivity & Performance:

Exposure to air pollution, even at extremely low level can have significant impacts on physical as well as cognitive performance. World Health Organisation (WHO) has already revised its global air quality guidelines and mentioned air pollution as “the single biggest environmental threat to human health. The burden of disease resulting from air pollution also imposes a significant economic burden”.

Cognitive Function: Exposure to any type of pollution can significantly impact cognitive abilities. It enhances the risk of cognitive decline and promotes neurodegenerative disease such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. The impact is higher on young and old people. The small particles causing air pollution often get absorbed into the bloodstream, which might affect brain function drastically. Some reports mentioned about developing dementia in later stage of life. In long-term basis, air pollution affects productivity in jobs.

Impact on Teen’s IQ: While living in an area with high air pollution, young students lose the ability of reasoning and problem-solving. As per IQAir data, “every 2.5 µg/m3 increase of PM2. 5 surrounding teens' homes, their performance IQ score dropped one point”.

Physical Exertion: Air pollution drastically reduce the respiratory functions. As a result, people associated with strenuous activities face lot of difficulties working in polluted areas. Even, it enhances the risks of heart attacks.

Talent Recruitment: Places with high AQI often seen as ‘not so desirable’ for work from both employees and employers. Some organizations even offer ‘hardship-posting compensation’ for workers to relocate to cities with high AQI. This leads to morale issues associated with lower productivity and absenteeism.

Air Pollution & Economy:

Air pollution has a heavy impact on economy too due to reduced productivity. Air pollution causes lost workdays along with reduce productivity and economic activity. Across the globe, nearly 1.2 billion workdays are lost annually due to air pollution. This might increase to 3.8 billion by 2060. Additionally, health damage and reduced crop yields restrict the economic growth.

If your work demands going to polluted areas, consider wearing a well-fitting N95/FFP2 mask to safeguard yourself from the impact of poor air quality.

Air pollution has a huge global economic impact. As per the World Bank data, “the health damage caused by air pollution costs $8.1 trillion a year”