Environmental Exposure to Carbonmonoxide and Symptoms of Its Toxicity among Urban Automobile Drivers | Chapter 04 | Issues and Developments in Medicine and Medical Research Vol. 6

 Rapid urbanisation leads to an increase in carbon monoxide production from vehicle emissions, which is a possible air toxin. Carbon monoxide is a silent killer since poisoning symptoms and death occur quietly and quickly in exposed victims. High levels of exposure, such as in the event of a malfunctioning automotive exhaust system among city drivers, can produce occult CO poisoning. The goal of this study was to use breath analysis to determine how exposed urban drivers were to the hazardous effects of carbon monoxide.

CO Breathanalyser was used to do a cross sectional observation of expired CO (eCO) in automobile drivers (n=101) (Vitalograph 29700). Age, duration of exposure, hours spent driving each day, and other sources of exposure such as smoking status, history of passive smoking, household coal fire exposure, and place of employment were all gathered. CO-related symptoms such as headache, bodily discomfort, exhaustion, and visual problems such as eye irritation, redness, neurological, and prior medical conditions were investigated for a link to eCO. In the study group of urban drivers with an average age of 39.96, the mean expired carbonmonoxide, eCO, in breath was 2.45 ppm. eCO was 6ppm in 87 percent of the drivers. More than 6 ppm of eCO was found in 12.9 percent of drivers. 22.8 percent of drivers had eCO levels between 3 and 4 PPM. Tiredness (27%) was the most common complaint, followed by irritation and redness in the eyes (10%), headache (20%), bodily discomfort (8%), and exhaustion (7%). (7 percent ). Body pain (P = 0.04) and weariness (P=0.03) showed a significant association. Finally, urban drivers are constantly exposed to large amounts of vehicular pollution, which can cause carbonmonoxide poisoning and impair functioning capacity.

Author(S) Details

M. Chitra
Department of Physiology, Shri Sathya Sai Medical College & Research Institute, A Constituent Teaching Unit of Sri Balaji Vidyapeeth, Pudhucherry, India.

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