Air quality in Pishva

Is Pishva a polluted city to live in?

Pishva is a city located in Tehran province, a large area in Iran that sits just north of the countries central plateau. Pishva is also the capital of Pishva County, and has a somewhat small population of 59,184 people, as per a census conducted in 2016. Despite this small population size, Pishva has some fairly poor levels of air pollution, and finds itself among some of the most polluted cities worldwide, going by the air quality data that has been collected over the course of 2020 as well as the data that is continuing to be collected over 2021.

In May of 2021, Pishva came in with a US AQI reading of 74, a reading that would classify it as being ‘moderately’ polluted for the day and time in which the reading was taken. Whilst this is not too disastrous of an air quality reading, it still indicates that the air would be slightly permeated with haze, smoke and clouds of hazardous particulate matter, with levels that fluctuate over time.

Other readings of US AQI that were recorded in Pishva were numbers such as 46 and 48, showing that the levels can drop down further, often due to lack of anthropogenic and industrial activity along with potential meteorological intervention such as strong winds or rain that can help to remove pollution from the air. Highs of 79 and 80 were also recorded on the same day, once again showing the sporadic nature of air pollution levels within the city.

Regarding a longer term look at the air pollution present in Pishva, over the course of 2020, the city came in with a yearly PM2.5 average of 37.9 μg/m³, placing it in the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ ratings bracket.

This requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ to be classified as such, and although Pishva came in on the lower end of the spectrum, it still attained this rating nevertheless. This indicates that as an average, over the course of a year Pishva has many months in which the air quality may rise to levels that are of considerable risk to more vulnerable portions of the population.

In some further detail, these members or groups of the population would be ones such as young children, who are highly susceptible to the damaging influence that both hazardous particulate matter and chemical contaminants can bring. These can cause damage to the lungs and inflammation of the airways, causing higher risk of respiratory distress or ailments such as asthma that can turn into lifelong conditions if left unchecked. Furthermore, alteration to the nervous system via excessive exposure may even stunt both physical and cognitive growth, in worse case scenarios.

Others include the elderly, pregnant woman, those who have general level of poor health or other bad habits such as leading a sedentary lifestyle or smoking, along with those that have pre-existing health conditions or compromised immune systems, as well as a hypersensitivity towards certain chemical pollutants.

These groups may find the pollution in Pishva particularly damaging, and the use of air quality maps as present on the IQAir website or on the AirVisual app may be extremely helpful in helping one to keep up with hourly updates pertaining to the air pollution levels. During these spells of high pollution, the wearing of fine particle filtering masks as well as avoiding outdoor activity and strenuous exercise may be a wise preventative measure.

When do pollution levels reach their worst in Pishva?

Observing the level of air pollution present once again over 2020, it can be seen that there were certain months of the year which came in with significantly worse readings of PM2.5. These months were June through to October, as well as December presenting with elevated readings of pollution (with November’s PM2.5 reading falling down somewhat to more appreciable levels).

June through to October came in with readings of 36.4 μg/m³, 39.4 μg/m³, 48.7 μg/m³, 61.2 μg/m³ and 49.5 μg/m³, along with December at 49.4 μg/m³. All of these months came in within the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, with the exception of September which came in with a more elevated reading of 61.2 μg/m³. This made it the most polluted month of the year and the only one to fall into the ‘unhealthy’ air quality ratings bracket, which requires a reading between 55.5 to 150.4 μg/m³.

What are some health problems associated with polluted air in Pishva?

As some health conditions have already been touched on, delving further into the topic, exposure to high amounts of pollution can lead to a plethora of other conditions, particularly for those who face high amounts of exposure on a daily basis (such as those who live nearby busy roads or in close proximity to industrial areas). Health issues include ones such as pneumonia, bronchitis and emphysema, along with the previously mentioned asthma.

Scarring or inflammation of the lung tissue via excessive inhalation of pollutants can reduce both full lung function and quality of life, as well as making one more vulnerable to the conditions that appear above, which fall under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) bracket. Skin conditions may also present themselves, due to the irritating nature of chemical pollutants and certain aggravating particles. These would include ones such as cases of acne, atopic dermatitis and a variety of other skin rashes, along with a heightened risk of skin cancer developing, due to the carcinogenic nature of many of these particles (with ones such as black carbon and fine silica dust having known carcinogenic properties, particularly affecting the lungs when inhaled).

What are some types of air pollution found in Pishva?

Some of the main air pollutants found in Pishva would be the ones that typically go into making up the US AQI calculation, and these include nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), sulfur dioxide (SO₂), ozone (O₃) as well as both of the particulate matters, PM2.5 and PM10.

Other pollutants include ones such as black carbon and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), both of which see much of their release from the combustion of fossil fuels, as well as organic materials. Some examples of VOCs include chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, toluene and styrene.

Does Pishva have any months of the year where the air quality is better?

Whilst the latter part of the year had some high readings of PM2.5 and thus had air that was more permeated with smoke, haze and other contaminating pollutants, it can be seen from the data collected over 2020 that the months of February through to May all had the best readings of PM2.5.

They came in at 33.8 μg/m³, 26.9 μg/m³, 22.9 μg/m³ and 32.9 μg/m³ respectively, making April the cleanest month of the year by a considerable amount with its reading of 22.9 μg/m³, indicating the best quality of air and a time in which the atmosphere would be freest from pollution and hazardous particles.