As Delhi struggles with severe air pollution, where levels have surpassed 17 times the acceptable threshold, the state government has been forced to take drastic steps.
These include implementing work-from-home measures for 50% of government employees, and returning to the dubious odd-even vehicle scheme.&nbsp;
Meanwhile, netizens have turned to memes, presumably in a bid to make sense of the absurdity of their situation.
Even as social media remains awash with memes, and images with near-zero visibility, researchers in Australia say pollution may be costing us&nbsp;even more than we&rsquo;d originally thought.
It&rsquo;s long been held that spending time in nature is good for you.
Now, there&rsquo;s a growing body of research that suggests we&rsquo;re missing something important&mdash;the potential benefits of trees and green spaces, not just as air purifiers, but as active contributors to our health.
New scientific ideas propose that trees may offer us something beyond clean air: aeronutrients&mdash;essential nutrients that we can absorb directly from the air we breathe.
Writing in The Conversation, researchers <a href="https://theconversation.com/air-is-an-overlooked-source-of-nutrients-evidence-shows-we-can-inhale-some-vitamins-243486">Fl&aacute;via Fayet-Moore and Stephen R. Robinson</a> propose that iodine, zinc, manganese and some vitamins like B12 could be more effective at far lower concentrations than would be needed if they were being consumed by mouth.
Their article, first <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39486624">published in Advances in Nutrition</a>, quotes research from the 1960s that found higher iodine levels in the blood and urine of laundry workers who were exposed to iodine-rich air. It also quotes a recent study in Ireland, which showed similar results among children who live near seaweed-rich coastal areas.
The researchers also state that manganese and zinc can enter the brain through the neurons that sense smell in the nose, where specialized blood vessels directly transport them to the brain. While this may seem unexpected, it&rsquo;s a reminder that the air we breathe could be providing more than just oxygen.
Reports say the current air quality in Delhi has the same effects on a person as smoking 50 cigarettes. While Gujarat is doing relatively better, we&rsquo;re soon catching up. Surat&rsquo;s pollution levels on November 19 placed the city at 263 on the Air Quality Index&mdash;the equivalent of puffing away at two cigarettes a day. Ahmedabad&rsquo;s air is slightly cleaner, with the AQI at 153 on November 20. However, PM 2.5 (particulate matter) stood at 59.1 &nbsp;&micro;g/m&sup3;&mdash;which isn&rsquo;t great.
As cities get more crowded, with industrial and vehicular densities increasing, toxic pollutants fill urban air for much of the year.
The idea of aeronutrients challenges the way we think about nutrition and health. It reminds us that the environment around us&mdash;especially nature&mdash;has more to offer than we often realize.&nbsp;Trees and plants, which thrive in clean, nutrient-rich environments, might be doing more for us than we think. The fresh air in forests, parks, and even urban green spaces could, in fact, be contributing to our health in ways that go beyond what we eat or drink.
The new research opens up a broader conversation about the role of nature in urban health.&nbsp;It&rsquo;s easy to see trees as simply decorative or as a way to improve the aesthetic of our cities. But it&rsquo;s clear that green spaces don&rsquo;t just &nbsp;help reduce the harmful effects of air pollution. They could also supplement our diets with much-needed nutrients, enhancing our overall well-being in subtle, yet powerful ways.
As the pollution crisis continues to worsen in Delhi and spread to other cities, investing in trees and green spaces could be one of the most effective long-term strategies for improving air quality, boosting health, and combating the deficiencies that affect millions of people.

Commuters ride their bicycles along Kartavya Path amid smog (Photo: IANS/Qamar Sibtain)

New research suggests that pure air from green spaces could actively contribute to public health

Is Smog Costing Us More than We Thought?

New research suggests that pure air from green spaces could actively contribute to public health

November 20, 2024 | 15:48 IST