The three VIP areas are among the places found with poor' to 'very poor' air quality index (AQI) ratings when it comes to the presence of highly concentrated and harmful particulate matter (PM2.5), an air pollutant mainly released by toxic vehicular fumes.

The city-based Integrated Allergy Standards of India (IASI) conducted the survey at 20 multi-centres in the first week of December using laser-guided pollution data check. It found the PM 2.5 readings at the Assembly building, Secretariat and the CM camp office to be 140, 120 and 106 respectively .

"Inhaling toxic particulate matter for even three minutes at such spots can affect lung function capacity besides triggering several other health complications," said Dr VyakarnamNageshwar, allergy specialist & founder of IASI, who took up the study as a part of `Swachh AakashAbhiyan'. Three other spots Begumpet, Sanathnagar and Zoo Park for which the US Consulate, Hyderabad, provides real-time air quality data showed the PM 2.5 readings of 151, 102 and 164 respectively at 7pm on Wednesday . The concentration of toxic particulate matter is even higher in congested areas like RTC X Road (rated `very poor' with 250 reading) and Ameerpet X Road (rated `very poor' with 140 reading).

IASI and staff from the city-based Aswini Allergy Centre recorded `severe' form of particulate matter presence at Madina in Old City with PM 2.5 level recorded at 350.

In fact, studies have shown that diesel vehicles produce 1500 times more particulate matter than petrol vehicles, besides increasing allergenicity by up to 50 times, as reported in Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

Under the National Air Quality Index (NAQI) ratings launched by the Union environment ministry in October, 2014, the `severe' rating for PM 2.5 concentration is given when the reading is more than 250.