Dangerous air pollution kills 15 lakh Indians each year, finds new study

New Delhi: The all pervasive super-fine polluting particles that travel to the bloodstream and penetrate the lungs are associated with an estimated 15 lakh deaths in India every year, public health researchers said here on Thursday, after comparing the mortality with WHO safe limit for such particles known as PM2.5.

A comparison with more relaxed Indian air quality norms brings down the figure to more conservative 300,000 plus individuals, according to the researchers who singled out the impact of long-term exposure of PM2.5 while separating other probable causes of death. 

On both counts the toll estimates are very high, underlining the risks posed by dirty air.

An international team comprising researchers from India, USA, Europe and Israel for the first time applied statistical tools and sophisticated modelling techniques on district level official death data to identify mortalities caused by air pollution after eliminating other possible causes like socio-economical or nutritional factors.

“We inhale a very high level of PM2.5 everyday. These particles have multiple adverse health effects and consequences are far reaching as they enter the blood and respiratory systems. Even unborn children are affected,” Suganthi Jaganathan, doctoral researcher, at Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends Ashoka University and first author of the study told DH.

Published in Lancet Planetary Health, the study says an annual PM2.5 exposure of five microgram per cubic metre is potentially associated with 1.5 million deaths a year in India. In 2019, the mortality figure went up to 1.8 million. Between 2009 and 2019, they caused an estimated 16.6 million deaths.

The National Ambient Air Quality Standards are more relaxed compared to the UN ones. But the air pollution level is way above even the national standard of 40 microgram annual exposure. Compared against the Indian norms, the study says an estimated 38 lakh deaths have occurred in the same 11 year period, accounting for more than 5 per cent of total mortality.

Either way, over 110 crore Indians breathe air that is dangerous to their health. “But we don’t give much attention to air quality,” Suganthi said.

The study also shows every 10 microgram rise in the PM2.5 level enhances the mortality risk by 8.6 per cent.

The range of exposure varied across the years, with the lowest annual concentration of 11.2 microgram recorded in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 and the highest of 119 micrograms in Ghaziabad and Delhi in 2016.

Senior scientist Poornima Prabhakaran, a team member from Ashoka University said the study provided corroborating evidence on the adverse impact of air pollution on health.

“This signals yet again the need to mount stringent air quality management strategies across India,” she said.

Reacting to the findings, senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh said, “Our present standard for PM2.5 is 8 times the WHO guideline for annual exposure and 4 times the guideline for 24-hour exposure. Despite the launch of the National Clean Air Program, the PM2.5 levels have continued to rise and shockingly, now every single person in India lives in areas where PM2.5 levels far exceed the WHO guidelines.”

“We need to immediately review the NCAP and the National Ambient Air Quality Standards, which have not been updated since they were promulgated in Nov 2009,” the former environment minister said in a social media post.