Toxic micro plastic in Dhaka air

News Desk :
Existence of toxic micro plastic was found in the air of the capital city and it is entering the human body of Dhaka dwellers through their breath, researchers have said.
Physicians fear this toxic air is causing various diseases including cancer, which will not be cured by medicines.
The experts have laid emphasis on controlling its source.
University of Dhaka, the University of Houston in the US and Texas University in a joint study collected samples of air from 13 areas in Dhaka.
The areas are: Cantonment, Mohammadpur, Mirpur-13, Paschim Kazipara, Shantinagar, Arambagh, Dhaka University Curzon Hall and Fazlul Haque Hall, Khilket, Farmgate, Mohakhali, Mughda and Bashabo.
Besides, samples of air were also taken from Siddhirganj of Narayanganj and Tongi of Gazipur.
The study was led by Dhaka University Chemistry Department ‘s Professor Abdus Salam.
Speaking to the media on Saturday, he said, “Whether you want or not, that harmful element is entering our bodies through our breath. The government has taken a plan to reduce the use of plastic and that does not return to nature. But there is no application of the plan. So pollution continues to grow.”
According to global agencies including AirVisual, the air of Dhaka has been polluted mostly in the last two years. Dhaka’s air was dangerous and disastrous throughout January 2023.
Researchers in various studies in Bangladesh found micro plastic particles in the fish of rivers and seas, in water, soil and in tea.
In a study of the Netherlands in 2022, the element is also found in the blood
 of people. The researchers carried out the study taking blood samples from various parts of the world.
There was heated discussion over the floating particles in the air in China in the same year.
Earlier, in a study of the World Bank, it was said that the use of plastic in the cities of Bangladesh has increased threefold in the last one and half decades. About 23 kilograms of plastic is used per head annually in the capital and half of it goes to the soil and water. This causes dangerous pollution which threatens public health.
In the study led by Professor Abdus Salam, a special device was installed in the research areas during the collection of samples of air. Researchers collected dust that settled there from the wind and later the dust was examined in the laboratory. Moreover, pictures of the dust blowing in the wind were taken with special cameras. Micro plastic particles are mainly identified in these two ways.
Director of the environment department Ziaul Haque said, “Presence of micro plastic particles floating in the air is new information. We are taking steps for plastic manufacturing agencies to take responsibility to collect waste and dump it in a safe space.”
On 9 December, international magazine Ecology Informatics published a report on plastic pollution over the cities in South Asia. Around 10 million (1 crore) tonnes of plastic waste spread across the world in 2022. That waste, seriously harmful for the human body and the environment across the world, is increasing expeditiously. If it increases at such a pace, the amount would increase to 20 million in 2040.
According to the study, 25 per cent of total plastic waste is spreading in South Asian countries. 91 per cent of it spreads in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan. The total waste created in this region is 32.2 million tonnes and 12 per cent of it is plastic. Of the total plastic, 75 per cent is thrown in the soil and water. If things go in this way, the amount of plastic stands at 60 million tonnes annually. If the use of plastic is stopped now, even 5 billion tonnes of plastic will remain in the environment. A plastic particle lasts at least 400 years.
In the research it is said 47 per cent of deaths due to air pollution take place in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.
When asked about the matter, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) respiratory medicine department professor Md Atiqur Rahman said if a plastic particle enters the body through breath, it first spreads in lungs and later in the blood.
It causes various lungs-related diseases, blood pressure and other ailments where medicine does not work. As a result, steps have to be taken so that plastic waste does not spread in nature, he added.