The pilot study by Dr Rohini Chowgule and Dr R N Khandekar randomly examined 109 traffic policemen at the traffic police headquarters, Worli. Using spirometers, the duo found that 16 of the policemen had airway obstruction problems with asthma-like symptoms.

``Traffic policemen stand on their beats for eight hours at a stretch and are exposed to extreme levels of pollution including poisonous gases like Carbon Monoxide, Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide,'' says Dr Rohini Chowgule, pulmonary physician at the Bombay Hospital and director of the institute.

Traffic policemen also endured high noise levels at traffic intersections, she said, which could result in deafness, irritability and high blood pressure levels.

Spurred by the results of the pilot study, the institute will begin adetailed study on 1000 traffic policemen by early October.

This six-month study which will examine 50 policemen every week will include detailed medical examinations, collecyion of blood samples to determine lead levels in their blood and distribution of questionnaires amongst them to ascertain the effects of various external factors.

Dr Chowgule said that the detailed study would also consist of minutely examining the air the cops breathed while on their beat. This would be achieved by clipping walkman-sized air quality measuring devices to their belts. A small pipe from their nose would trail to this device to measure the component of the air they breathed.

The institute's study on traffic cops began last year when they discovered that 17 per cent of people surveyed in `D' ward between Tardeo and Haji Ali had asthma. The survey covered 2,300 adults in this largely residential area. ``We then began looking for a group with high exposure to pollution,'' Dr Chowgule said of how they hit upon the study oftraffic policemen.