No running away from pollution
HEALTH HAZARD Exposed to high concentration of pollutants while working out, even healthy sportspersons are not immune to bad air. They are forced to change their time and places of practice with particulate matter levels highest in the morning
NEWDELHI: The smog which enveloped the city in the first week of November made it look nothing less than the post-apocalyptic wasteland in the 1999 Hollywood blockbuster, The Matrix. The sky was scorched and the sun was imprisoned behind thick pockets of toxic smog, the air quality had taken a plunge and reached the ‘severe’ category.
It was during such a time, on November 1, two days after Diwali that 15-yearold Kanchan Kumar, a student of Ramjas School, fell unconscious during her high jump practice. Her teachers and coach sprinkled water and took her into the school’s medical room until her condition stabilised.
“I was palpitating and suddenly went into cold sweats. I don’t remember very clearly what happened after that,” she said. Kumar has been an athlete who has been representing her school in various school and national level competitions. When her parents took her to a local clinic in the evening for consultation, they were told that she had a minor blackout episode because of exposure to the toxic smog.
“I was given a few anti-allergy tablets and asked to either practice indoors or refrain from it till the situation outside is better,” Kumar said.
If you think that playing sports, exercising and getting some ‘fresh’ air can guarantee you a healthy body and mind, then you might be in for a rude shock. The soaring pollution levels in Delhi’s air put sportspersons and outdoor exercise freaks at a greater risk than a regular resident, health experts said.
For twenty eight-year-old Himanshu Saini, a state level cricketer, however, these high pollution days were not just the inconvenience that a regular Delhiite faced, it cost him a week of practise before his match, which was scheduled for November 8, but was cancelled because of poor air quality.
“We have been preparing for this match for over three months now. Though we continued some form of physical exercise during these days too inside the gym but everyone was tensed for the match. We were lucky that it got postponed otherwise we could have lost,” Saini said.
He said that the match, against Gujarat, was cancelled after the Gujarat state authorities wrote a letter to the organisers requesting them to change the schedule because of the high pollution levels. They were concerned that exposure to such dangerous levels of pollution might be harmful to their players.
“They were perturbed by pollution here. It made me laugh because what about the players from here? Where could we go? We had practised this whole time in this gas chamber,” he said.
The same worry had gripped several sportspersons and enthusiasts in the city. Twenty five-year-old Varuneema Bhatnagar, a management professional at a private company in Gurgaon, ran the Airtel Delhi Half Marathon (ADHM) on November 20.
Though the skies had comparatively cleared by then and the levels of particulate matter in the air had shown marginal improvement, the runners were in constant worry of the effect of pollution on their health.
“For at least two weeks I was climbing up and down the stairs of my five storey building because running outside would mean suicide. I was not even sure if I could run in the marathon,” said Bhatnagar.
Bhatnagar said that she had purchased a mask after listening to the news of the air pollution in the city even on the day of the run, but running with the mask on was a cumbersome task.
“I do not know how I managed to finish the race but I think finishing under such circumstances was an achievement in itself,” she said, showing her finishers’ medal.
Several participants complained that they had written several letters to the organisers of the event to postpone the run to a later date because of the unhealthy levels of pollution but that did not happen.
“When you exercise, you breathe faster and deeper. When you are running outdoors, the amount of contaminated air that goes into your lungs is going to be higher. It is not advisable to run or play any kind of sport, especially in the early mornings and late evenings, when the level of pollutants in the air is at its highest,” Dr GC Khilnani, professor, department of pulmonary medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), said.
Khilani also said that a mask seldom helps sportspersons. Because of the sweat, the masks get damp and a wet mask does not filter the pollutants.
“An N95/99 can help in the case of virus attacks like swine flu, they are not easy to wear or breathe through. While running or exerting, your lungs are already making an extra effort and the mask is only going to make it tougher to run. That said, even a handkerchief can stop at least some of the pollutants from entering your system,” he explained.
Tennis coach, Mark Lain, said that practising in such conditions severely affects the performance of the player because they do not get the desired intake of oxygen.
“When the brain doesn’t get enough of oxygen it becomes an inflammatory irri- tant. It narrows the airway, so the athlete or the player is going to struggle to breathe in more oxygen, the volume is reduced. In such cases many players rely on a dilator to unblock the airways to breathe properly,” Lain said.
Another aspect is that since these sportspersons are out for practice for as long as eight to 10 hours their chances of catching pollution-related infections are higher.
When you exercise, you breathe faster and deeper. When you are running outdoors, the amount of contaminated air that goes into your lungs is going to be higher. It is not advisable to run or play any sport, especially early morning and late evening, when pollutants in the air are at their highest.
So what can they do to protect themselves?
Experts said that it would be best to avoid outdoor practise sessions during day during poor air quality days. However, if that is not possible then practise should be done under the supervision of your coach of doctor.
Practice should also be avoided during early morning and evening hours, because the pollution levels are at its peak during these hours.
In the first week of November, according to Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) data, the highest recorded pollution levels in a 24-hour period were recorded between 4am and 9.30am. The concentration starts settling down post 11am.
Masks can we work during warm ups, to get acclimatised to the conditions. These can also be put on between sessions, if there is a problem in breathing. For full CoverAge, log on to Yes, and it is the exact opposite actually. Because sportspersons breathe more pollutants per breath than a normal person. Exposure to ozone during exercise has been found to increase resting blood pressure, reduce lung function, and decrease exercise capacity. Further airborne pollution can trigger an asthmatic response with exercise (even among people without asthma). The outdoor competitors least at risk from pollution are sprinters who barely take a breath before the race is over and others participating in short, sharp, intensive events such as throwing shot put and javelin. Athletes competing in longer events, such as rowers and medium distance runners are affected more.
And those playing team sports should not be forgotten - hockey players for example have short bursts of activity from which they need to recover quickly.
Those doing endurance races, such as cycling and most notably the marathon are at maximum risk. Marathon runners take about 40 to 50 breaths per minute and their muscles need more air to burn. In normal conditions, oxygen makes up about 21% of the air, if that’s compromised, there will be less oxygen getting to the muscles. Add in the heat and the humidity and there could be some major implications. In conditions such as Delhi’s, the best step would be to practice indoors, if possible. If you can shift your sessions, especially before competitions and games to outside the city, do that. The governments will also need to help their representatives. Ideally there should be no industries or high traffic density roads near training stadiums.