Red alert: A simple surgical mask will not help

Red alert: A simple surgical mask will not help

Doctors are urging that people with respiratory problems, patients with cardiovascular problems and oncological patients with lung malignancies should not leave the house from 8am to 6pm.

Bearing in mind that the heating season has not yet started, and that private fireplaces and heat plants are one of the three main pollutants in our country, the question is what kind of air will we breathe at the start of winter season, Blic reported.

In Valjevo, one of the most polluted Serbian cities, irrespective of the Indian summer, people already breathe heavily, and quality measurements over the last seven days show that air is polluted at the fourth category level, Blic writes.

All of this is already particularly risky for the patients with respiratory problems, patients with cardiovascular problems, and oncological patients with lung malignancies. When, during the winter months, the level of air pollution is higher, we unfortunately expect that other vulnerable categories will be at risk, such as children and pregnant women. Therefore, in periods of peak values of PM-10 particles, usually from 8am to 6pm, the vulnerable categories should reduce going out and any physical activity, spending more time at home", oncologist Zoran Zivkovic, PhD, President of the Vranje Health Council, said for "Blic" daily.

He recalls that recent research by the Batut Institute has shown that "5,400 people die prematurely in Serbia due to the increased air pollution", and "if this methodology were applied to Valjevo, it would mean that we have 60 premature deaths due to air pollution on annual level."

Dr Goran Belojevic, a hygiene expert, and a full professor at the School of Medicine, advises that people should spend as little time outside as possible and if they have difficulty breathing, the doctor advises citizens to put a wet handkerchief over their mouth and nose.

"A simple surgical mask will not help. It needs to be a wet handkerchief or a wet mask, because water is the best solvent", he advises, agreeing that mouth and nose rinsing when returning home is also desirable.

"In case of inhaling PM-10 particles, that causes breath shortening, the heart strains to compensate for the reduced oxygen intake and it gets exhausted. In addition to lung disease, PM-10 particles also cause a heart attack or stroke and can be considered a cause of sudden cardiac arrests, for which we have no valid evidence", oncologist Dr Zoran Zivkovic explains.

The degree of air pollution varies during the day and the worst air is inhaled in the late evening and early morning, from midnight to 9.00am.

Thus, a record 223 PM-10 particles were recorded on Wednesday at 3.00 hours at the Starcevo metering station in Pancevo.

The situation was not much better in Stari Grad municipality, where 204 PM-10 particles were measured at 7.00 am in the same day, while there were 167 PM-10 particles in New Belgrade at that time, according to data provided by the Environmental Protection Agency.

The alarming condition of poor air quality in the Serbian capital is also confirmed by data from the site "AirVisual", which deals with the measurement of air pollution around the world, so two days ago Belgrade was designated as the fourth city with the most polluted air on the planet.