1. A study in The Lancet Planetary Health links over 7% of daily deaths in 10 Indian cities to PM2.5 pollution.
2. Cities analyzed include Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi.
3. PM2.5 levels exceeded WHO safe limits on most days, contributing significantly to health risks.
New Delhi, July 04: More than 7 per cent of daily deaths in 10 major Indian cities are linked to air pollution caused by PM2.5 concentrations exceeding the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) safe exposure limits, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.
The study analyzed data from cities including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi.
It revealed that PM2.5 levels, tiny pollutants that can penetrate deep into the lungs and bloodstream, exceeded the WHO’s safe limit of 15 micrograms per cubic meter on 99.8 percent of the days.
Delhi has the highest fraction of daily and yearly deaths attributable to PM2.5 air pollution, comprising particles 2.5 micrometers or less in diameter, the study said.
These harmful particles primarily stem from vehicular and industrial emissions.
Annually, the national capital records around 12,000 deaths linked to air pollution, amounting to a staggering 11.5 percent of its total deaths.
Researchers found that daily exposure to PM2.5 pollution in Indian cities is linked with a higher risk of death, with locally created pollution likely causing these fatalities.
An alarming finding indicated that a 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 concentration, measured over two days, correlates with a 1.4 percent rise in daily mortality.
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This risk factor doubles to 2.7 percent when observations are restricted to levels below the Indian air quality standards, which are notably less stringent than WHO guidelines.
The WHO recommends a safe exposure limit of 15 micrograms per cubic meter over 24 hours, while the Indian standard allows for 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
City-specific data revealed a 0.31 percent rise in daily mortality per 10 microgram per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 levels in Delhi, compared to a 3.06 percent rise in Bengaluru.
The study’s causality models indicated a stronger link between daily exposure to PM2.5 and locally produced pollutants, suggesting that local pollution significantly contributes to these deaths.
The study also highlighted that the causal effects were particularly strong in cities with lower overall air pollution levels, such as Bengaluru, Chennai, and Shimla.
This research is the first multi-city time series analysis of short-term exposure to PM2.5 and daily mortality in India.
It analyzed around 36 lakh daily deaths across ten Indian cities from 2008 to 2019. The study involved an international team, including researchers from Varanasi’s Banaras Hindu University and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi.
Joel Schwartz from Harvard University, a co-author of the study, emphasized that lowering and enforcing stricter air quality limits “will save tens of thousands of lives per year.” He stressed that effective methods for controlling pollution are already in use in other parts of the world and urgently need to be implemented in India.
The WHO asserts that almost everyone on Earth is exposed to higher levels of air pollution than recommended, posing severe health risks.
Prolonged exposure to PM2.5 particles can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer, and various other respiratory ailments.
