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CNG, LPG-run vehicles pose health hazard: BMC


MUMBAI: Vehicles run by compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquid petroleum gas (LPG) in the metropolis are emitting particulates smaller than 2.5 micron in diameter which pose a health hazard, a BMC report has said. However, due to the use of cleaner fuels like unleaded petrol and low sulphur diesel, levels of so2 and lead have come down in Mumbai, the report added.
The environment status report has been prepared by the BMC's air quality monitoring and research laboratory. The smaller particulates, considered a serious health hazard, are generated in large quantities by vehicles which run on gaseous fuels like LPG and CNG, the report said. "The particulates smaller than 2.5 microns are easy to breathe in and dangerous substances can enter the body. If they are left unregulated, they will be major health hazards. This could also lead to lung cancer.''
As per the data available till March 2008, in Mumbai, there are around 44,721 metered and 290 tourist taxis, 540 cars, 290 buses, 95,813 auto-rickshaws and 986 goods carriers that operate on CNG. There are around 256 auto-rickshaws, 1,753 metered and 306 tourist taxis, 4,182 cars, 22 buses and 3,545 goods carriers that operate on LPG.

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Notes to ponder

NASA claims that the government could slow down worldwide global warming by cutting down on soot emissions. Studies by NASA show that cutting down on soot would not only have an immediate cooling effect, but would also put a stop to many of the deaths caused by air pollution. When soot is formed, it typically travels through the air absorbing and releasing solar radiation which in turn begins to warm the atmosphere. Cutting soot emissions would be an immediate help against global warming, as the soot would quickly fall out of the atmosphere and begin to cool it down.

Cutting back on soot emissions would buy us time in our fight against global warming. Soot is caused by the partial burning of fossil fuels, wood and vegetation. Soot is known to contain over forty different cancer causing chemicals, and a complete cut would offer untold health benefits worldwide.


Environmental conservation has always been a topic for lengthy discussions, but up until recent times, global warming and climate changes were vague subjects, with no hard proof. Not surprisingly, the previous lack of attention to these issues have created a very gloomy outlook on our future. So, considering all this, what could be the biggest contributor to climate changes through global warming? Transportation - the man-made iron horses, flying machines and sea monsters, so to speak.

The question we have now is how green is our transportation? The majority of the worlds' vehicles are fueled by oil (petrol, diesel and kerosene). Even if they rely on electricity, the stations used to generate this electricity use fossil fuels for power! Excluding vehicle manufacture, transportation is responsible for 14% of the artificially created greenhouse emissions, mostly carbondioxide.

Automobiles, trains and planes are all responsible for this problem, but cars are the highest impact-makers. They release approximately six times more carbondioxide than a plane and seven times more than sea vessels.

What is Air Pollution?

Air pollution is somewhat difficult to define because many air pollutants, at low concentrations, are essential nutrients for the sustainable development of ecosystems. So, air pollution could be defined as:A state of the atmosphere, which leads to the exposure of human beings and/or ecosystems to such high levels or loads of specific compounds or mixtures thereof, that damage is caused. With very few exceptions, all compounds that are considered air pollutants have both natural as well as human-made origins.

Air pollution is not a new phenomenon; in Medieval times, the burning of coal was forbidden in London while Parliament was in session. Air pollution problems have dramatically increased in intensity as well as scale due to the increase in emissions since the Industrial Revolution.