Exposure to Vehicular Pollution and Its Impact on Traffic Policemen in Tirunelveli City, India

摘要

Automobiles are 'necessary evils'. On one hand they have made living easy and convenient, but on the other hand they have also made human life more complicated and vulnerable to both toxic emissions and increased risk of accidents. Urban people are the most affected, and among the worst sufferers are traffic policemen who are particularly close to the automobile exhaust. Work pressure and high level of pollution are taking their toll on traffic policemen. To assess the knowledge, attitude and practices of traffic policemen towards the health effects caused by vehicular pollution, the present study has been carried out on 52 randomly selected traffic policemen in Tirunelveli Corporation area. The questionnaire included questions regarding the self-assessment of the policemen about their respiratory symptoms, hearing ability, past and present exposure to loud sound and the use of personal protective devices such as earplugs and earmuffs. The questionnaire was filled up by the subjects. The mean age of policemen was 39.2 ± 7.8 years, and the mean years of exposure was 3.4 ±1.1 years. The self-assessment of hearing by traffic policemen suggests that most of the traffic policemen have normal hearing. However, a systematic study with audiometry of these subjects is recommended. Respiratory symptoms, including cough and related health problems, were observed in 30 policemen. The results show a major prevalence of respiratory symptoms and allergic sensitization in exposed traffic police.