Air quality in Qarchak

Is Qarchak a highly polluted city?

Qarchak is a city located in Qarchak county, being the capital city of said county and having a population of some 173,832 people as of 2006. It finds itself some 35km away from the capital city of Tehran, and is also located within Tehran province, one of the 31 provinces within the country. Qarchak has some fairly bad levels of air pollution, both on record in past years as well as ongoing in more current times.

Looking at the levels of air pollution on record over the months of April and May of 2021, one can see that Qarchak came in with a US AQI reading of 153. This is an extremely high reading, one that put it into the ‘unhealthy’ air quality ratings bracket for that particular day and point in time in which it was recorded. As the name indicates, the air at the time would be permeated with large amounts of smoke, chemical compounds and clouds of hazardous particulate matter, all of which can wreak havoc on the health of its citizens, in particular those who fall into the more vulnerable demographics.

The people who would be more at risk to air pollution exposure would be ones such as young children and the elderly. Young children who are still going through the vital developmental stages of their life can have numerous conditions arise as a result of overexposure to pollution and certain chemical contaminants, having a stunting effect on both their mental and physical growth and health as a result.

The elderly are also at risk often due to simple health conditions having the ability to turn into terminal problems, with mild respiratory ailments sometimes having grave outcomes, particularly for those who have poor health or a sedentary lifestyle. Others who are at risk include groups such as pregnant women, those with pre-existing health conditions or compromised immune systems, as well as those with a hypersensitivity towards certain pollutants.

Other US AQI readings present in the months prior to the one shown above include numbers such as 122, 130 and 142. All of these fell into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, indicating that the air quality would be a danger for all of the above mentioned individuals. These readings came in consistently, with certain days dropping down to lows of 72 and 68. As such, Qarchak can be considered as a city with a high level of air pollution, and the use of preventative measures such as wearing fine particle filtering masks or avoiding outdoor activity during pollution spells may be of great assistance in safeguarding one’s health.

What are some health problems that can occur from pollution in Qarchak?

Some health conditions that may occur as a result of breathing excessive amounts of pollution would be a number of respiratory related issues, as well as cardiac ones that will be discussed in short. Simple and short term ailments would arise at first, such as dry coughs and chest pain, along with mild infections of the respiratory tract and potential headaches. However, these can all fade if exposure to pollution is lessened or ceased entirely. More serious conditions that can occur if exposure happens over a longer period of time would be ones such as pneumonia, bronchitis and emphysema, all of which fall under the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease bracket (COPD).

Continued coughing and breathing fine particles or certain chemical compounds can lead to inflammation of the lining of lungs and throat, as well as scarring of the lung tissue itself. This can lead to increased instances of the above mentioned health conditions, as well as a reduction in the capacity of the lungs to take in air. Other issues include heightened risks of cancer, particularly regarding the lungs and skin, but also possible throughout many organs in the body due to the insidious nature of PM2.5 and its ability to enter into the bloodstream via the alveoli in the lungs (once again due to its incredibly small size).

Strokes, heart attacks, arrythmias and other life threatening conditions may also arise, and as such keeping one’s exposure to a minimum becomes of increased importance. Pollution levels and spikes can be followed via the air quality maps as available on the IQAir website, as well as on the AirVisual app for hourly updates.

What are the main pollutants found in the air in Qarchak?

Some of the main pollutants that may be encountered in the air in Qarchak include ones such as nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) and sulfur dioxide (SO₂), both of which see a large amount of their release from vehicle engines, as well as factories and any other areas that see a form of combustion taking place.

Ozone (O₃) would also be prevalent, particularly during bouts of intense sunshine. When the various oxides of nitrogen (NOx) are exposed to sunlight, they, along with other pollutants and gases, can undergo a chemical reaction whereby they form ozone, or smog as it is known when it gathers in large enough amounts.

What are the most common causes of air pollution in Qarchak?

Some of the more common sources of air pollution present in Qarchak would be ones such as vehicle fumes and emissions, with many cars and smaller vehicles running on lower quality fuel such as leaded gasoline, as well as larger freight vehicles putting out far more chemical and particulate matter pollution than their smaller counterparts ever would. Factories and power plants would also contribute heavily to this, along with fires started by people to incinerate refuse and waste. The large amount of fine sand particles and other forms of dust can be blown up into the air from a variety of different sources, causing the PM2.5 and PM10 count to skyrocket as well.

When do pollution and haze levels reach their highest in Qarchak?

Observing the data collected over the course of 2020, it can be seen that Qarchak had its highest pollution levels over the months at the very beginning of the year, as well as the final three months, all of which came in with the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ rating (35.5 to 55.4 μg/m³ required), with the exception of December which came in with a reading of 59.9 μg/m³, placing it within the ‘unhealthy’ ratings bracket, the only month of the year to achieve such a rating (55.5 to 150.4 μg/m³ required).

In terms of its global placing as well as within its own country, Qarchak came in with a yearly PM2.5 reading of 39.5 μg/m³ as its yearly average. This placed it in 2nd place out of all cities currently ranked in Iran, as well as in 205th place out of all cities ranked worldwide.