How dangerous is red dust to health?

Red dust has soil dust components, it is not only construction dust but also belongs to the group of air pollutants .

Talking to reporters, doctor Nguyen Huu Hoang, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said that people living in environments with too much dust will suffer from many respiratory diseases . Dust entering the lungs causes upper respiratory tract diseases such as rhinitis, pharyngitis and sinusitis.

Then, it goes down to the lungs, damaging the lungs . This condition will recur again and again if people have to live in a dust-contaminated environment for a long time.

"In the composition of dust, there is not only soil, but also chemicals and metals. It has long-term effects on people , if they have to live in a dusty environment continuously ," said Dr. Hoang.

Red dust at Long Thanh airport construction site (Dong Nai) is blown away by the wind. (Photo: Chi Hung).

For people with pre-existing diseases such as allergic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). the condition will get worse.

If you have to live in a dusty environment for a long time, people with the above diseases will not be able to control their condition well, leading to the disease becoming more and more severe.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nguyen Hai Cong, Head of the Department of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases, Military Hospital 175 (HCMC), emphasized that when in direct contact with the skin, nose or eyes, red dust will cause inflammation. Skin and soft tissue infections, causing conjunctivitis or sinusitis, especially in people with sensitive skin and allergies.

This type of dust also contains insoluble components such as asbestos, silica or coal dust. When they enter the airways, they will deposit and cause acute inflammation, which in the long term can lead to chronic inflammation and fibrosis of the airways.

With its small shape and size, red dust easily enters the respiratory tract and reaches the lung parenchyma, causing fibrosis or scratching of the airways.

In children, the system of villi, nasal hair, and mucous glands is not yet complete, and when dust penetrates deeply, it will cause more severe inflammation.

" Red dust greatly affects people's health, especially when the weather is dry, with little rain, low humidity and lots of wind ," said Dr. Cong.

It is difficult to filter out fine dust particles

Regular masks can only prevent large dust particles, some fine dust particles still pass through and enter the lungs, causing coughing, phlegm, and greatly affecting the respiratory tract.

"The optimal treatment is for people to leave places with a lot of red dust, or use air purifiers ," said Dr. Hoang.

Faced with the dangerous effects of red dust on health, doctor Nguyen Hai Cong recommends that people bathe with warm water to clean mucous membranes after going outside. At the same time, gargle with physiological saline solution and regularly wash your nose and spray your nose to clean your airways.

Before going out, people should be careful to limit exposure to dust by carefully covering themselves such as wearing masks, glasses, jackets or long-sleeved clothes.