Kathmandu, June 13:

Students of eight government schools of the capital city will soon get to know if they

have been suffering from lung complications.

This comes at a time when growing air pollution level is believed to be taking a heavy toll on respiratory health of people across all age groups. However, the tests will be conducted on eighth-graders of eight government schools in the capital.

The scheme can be extended among pedestrians in the city in the second phase.

Eric Cheng, a Canadian respiratory therapy student, is currently here with Spirometer, an instrument that lets people know about the status of their lungs. Eric leads a team of 20 local students, who will join him as volunteers for a survey of the lungs.

Cheng, who is a student at the Michener Institute of Toronto in Canada, is working with the Environment and Public Health Organisation (ENPHO) and Clean Energy Nepal (CEN) to conduct a survey of lungs. Currently, Cheng is a volunteer at the Kanti Children’s Hospital. All that one has to do is blow air heavily into the mouthpiece of the gadget and wait for initial results, while a detailed analysis comes later.

Anyone, who cannot blow in given volume of air into the gadget, may have weak lungs for reasons ranging from breathing in foul air to congenital complications. The person who can blow in enough air may get a clean chit. “The volunteers will ask people to blow into Spirometer, which will automatically record all data we need to calculate his respiratory health condition,” Cheng told this daily.

“The importance of the study, of course, lies in the fact that it will go a long way in assessing the level of air-pollution in Kathmandu. We will also know the status of lungs of the people of Kathmandu,” Cheng said.

“Outcome could be that the government could come up with better policy to check growing pollution. It could even lead to evolution of new cap on emission level in automobiles,” he said.