A Study of Effect of Air Pollution on Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in motor cycle riders with and without Breathing Masks.

Peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) is a reliable indicator of the lung function. PEFR depends on the force of contraction of expiratory muscles, elastic recoil of lungs and resistance of the bronchial tree. Reduction in PEFR values may indicate the risk of obstructive airway disease in the bike riders in metropolitan cities as the have to travel a long distance in motor cycle for years together and are exposed to air pollutants every day. To evaluate and compare PEFR in the motor cycle riders with and without breathing mask. The study group comprised of 100 healthy bike riders aged about 25 – 50 years. The study subjects were divided into two groups, group 1 comprised of 50 men who were not using breathing masks while riding and group 2 comprised of 50 men who were using breathing masks while riding. The wrights peak flow meter was used the dial range is 0-1000 lpm. Each participant blow 5 times into the flow meter and three maximum readings were recorded. Each study subject was encouraged to make a maximal effort and was closely watched to ensure that an air tight seal between lips and mouth piece is maintained. The Data analysis was performed using one way ANOVA to find the significance of study parameter between the two groups. The p value less than 0.05 or less was considered statistically significant. There was a significant reduction in the actual PEFR values in both the study groups when compared to predicted values (p < 0.001**). Secondly there was no statistically significant change in the actual PEFR values between the two study groups (p › 0.001). If similar study is undertaken in larger population, we might get statistically significant increase in the PEFR values between the two groups. With this we conclude that the clean air act should be established which should identify all pollutants that may reasonably be anticipated to endanger the public health and to issue air quality criteria documents for such pollutants that reflect “the latest scientific knowledge useful to indicate the kind and extent of all identifiable effects on public health and welfare which may be expected from the presence of such pollutants in the ambient air”.