Ahmedabad: Spare a thought for the traffic police personnel standing for hours in the sun, inhaling fumes, exposed to the dust and noise on Ahmedabad roads.
In the first-of-its-kind study, a team of public health researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar (IIPH) and Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) have provided kits to traffic personnel loaded with hi-tech sensors which will measure the quality of air they breathe and the noise pollution they are exposed to while on duty.
The study is being supported by Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC). "The traffic personnel's kit has a personal air quality sampler, noise dosimeter, and temperature data logger," says IIPH researcher Priya Dutta. Her colleague Abiyant Tiwari adds, "The pollution readings will be taken for 12 days along with the heat logger. It will explain how much pollution a person is exposed to on our city roads," says Tiwari.
Nearly 40 traffic police personnel have been selected for the study after due their consent was taken.
Not only will the study provide a detailed analysis of the amount of noise and ambient air pollution that the traffic police is exposed to, but also the time of exposure as well. This is one of the first such studies where pollution and heat parameters are being studied in a particular occupation.
