CO level 81 times higher than safe limit in city, reveals CPCB data

Gurgaon: The level of carbon monoxide (CO) in the city is over 81 times the permissible limit, according to data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB). The CO concentration in the city on Tuesday varied between 139µg/m³ and 194µg/m³, while the safe limit is 1.7µg/m³. Experts said that heavy traffic on highways results in high CO levels.
The city’s average CO level (calculated over eight hours) was 138µg/m³ on Tuesday.It was the highest at Sector 51 (194µg/m³), followed by Gwalpahari (123µg/m³), Teri Gram (112µg/m³) and Vikas Sadan (108µg/m³). On Monday, Vikas Sadan recorded the highest CO levels at 89 µg/m³, followed by Sector 51 (78µg/m³) and Teri Gram (67 µg/m³). Data from the Gwalpahari station wasn’t available.
CO is a toxic gas that is colourless, odourless and tasteless, and doesn’t cause irritation, unlike other pollutants. It is produced when carbonaceous fuels like wood, diesel, petrol, coal, natural gas, kerosene, and stubble are incompletely burned. High concentrations of CO can cause breathlessness, difficulty in focusing and memory loss. It also affects the supply of oxygen to vital organs.
“The greatest sources of CO in outdoor air are cars, trucks and other vehicles or machinery that burn fossil fuels. The data shows that when overall pollution levels are high, background emissions of CO too spike. High concentration of CO in the city is because of local factors like garbage burning and plying of diesel vehicles,” Shubhansh Tiwari, a research associate at the Centre for Science and Environment, said.
According to studies on air pollution, the NCR’s air quality is as terrible as smoking 40 cigarettes a day. The most frequent causes of the rise in air pollution include open burning of agricultural waste (called stubble burning), exhaust from moving cars, and hazardous chemicals released by industrial waste.
Haryana State Pollution Control Board (HSPCB) officials said diesel vehicles are primarily responsible for high CO levels. “During winter, firewood burning at construction sites by workers at night is also a major contributor. Also, continuous movement of vehicles on the highways passing through the city day and night is also a big concern,” said Vijay Chaudhary, the HSPCB regional officer.
It's not just CO — the city’s particulate matter levels too have breached safe limits several times over. On Tuesday, the PM2.5 level was highest in Sector 51 (298 µg/m³), followed by Teri Gram (274 µg/m³) and Vikas Sadan (245 µg/m³). PM10 emissions were the highest at Sector 51 (285µg/m³), followed by Teri Gram (244µg/m³). Vikas Sadan doesn’t record PM10 data. According to the CPCB, the annual average permissible limits for PM2.5 and PM10 are 40µg/m³ and 60µg/m³, respectively.
Meanwhile, the city’s AQI continued to stay in the ‘poor’ category for the fifth consecutive day on Tuesday with an overall reading of 270, up from Monday’s 245.
The System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research said surface winds with speeds ranging from 4kmph to 12kmph are expected in the region for the next six days, and the AQI is likely to stay ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’.
According to guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board, when AQI is in the ‘moderate’ category, people with asthma and lung or heart disease can face breathing discomfort.
In ‘poor’ AQI, breathing discomfort can be felt by most people on prolonged exposure. An AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 ‘moderate’, 201 and 300 ‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very poor', and 401 and 500 ‘severe’.