During the high pollution season, the habit of walking, which is considered healthy, can become a burden for the lungs. Many experts warn that early morning and late evening are two red time frames when air quality drops to the lowest level, posing many potential risks to workers.
According to Dr. Piyush Goel, a lung specialist at Medanta Hospital (India), the benefits of walking can be completely eliminated when the body has to breathe a large amount of fine dust during times of high pollution. When we exercise, we breathe faster and deeper. That means more toxic dust grains are absorbed into the lungs, he said.
The air is most dense in the early morning and late evening
In large cities, the phenomenon of at night counter-otherms causes cold air to lie close to the ground, retaining fine dust PM2.5 and toxic gases. In the early morning, before the sunlight causes air to circulate again, pollutants accumulate densely around human breathing range.
Data published in the journal Science of the Total Environment shows that PM2.5 and NO2 levels skyrocket at these two times due to heavy traffic and unfavorable weather conditions. When people flock to the streets to work or after work, the number of vehicles increases sharply, leading to sudden pollution, Dr. Goel analyzed.
Fine dust enters the blood
When walking briskly or running lightly, people often breathe through their mouths, without accidentally ignoring the natural filtering mechanism of the nose. Super small PM2.5 particles can penetrate deep into the lungs, enter the bloodstream and aggravate asthma, COPD or cause cardiovascular disorders. Research published in the Journal of Poetry Research confirms that long-term exposure can lead to chronic respiratory diseases.
Children, the elderly, and people with congenital respiratory diseases are the most severely affected groups. Even healthy people are at risk of lung damage if they continue to exercise in poor AQI conditions.
How to exercise safely?
Experts recommend avoiding outdoor exercise at dawn or sunset. The best time to go is late in the morning to early afternoon, when the sunlight helps diffuse pollutants, suggests Dr. Goel.
If it is mandatory to practice early or late, workers should choose areas with lots of trees, avoid large roads and reduce the intensity of movement. When pollution exceeds the danger threshold, doing indoor activities from yoga, cardio to weight-bearing exercises is a safer choice.
He emphasized: Maintaining health does not mean exchanging lung leaves. The important thing is to choose the right time and space to exercise".
