Breathing In Delhi - W. PM2.5 @ 950-1,000, It's Equivalent To Smoking 44 Cigarettes/Day
New Delhi (CNN)It was early on Tuesday morning when residents in the Indian capital of Delhi first began to notice the thick white haze that had descended across the city.
Initially viewed as a mild irritant, by mid-week its debilitating effects were evident to all, as the city struggled to adapt to the new eerie, martian-like conditions brought about by the pollution. With visibility severely reduced, trains have been canceled, planes delayed and cars have piled into each other, with multiple traffic accidents reported across the city. The sense that this is now a city under siege has been enhanced by the unusually far-reaching actions of the Delhi government.
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Across the capital, doctors reported a surge in patients complaining of chest pain, breathlessness and burning eyes. "The number of patients have increased obviously," said Deepak Rosha, a pulmonologist at Apollo Hospital, one of the largest private hospitals in Delhi. "I don't think it's ever been so bad in Delhi. I'm very angry that we've had to come to this."
Breathing in air with a PM2.5 content of between 950 to 1,000 is considered roughly equivalent to smoking 44 cigarettes a day, according to the independent Berkeley Earth science research group.
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http://www.cnn.com/2017/11/10/health/delhi-pollution-equivalent-cigarettes-a-day/index.html