Zero safe zones: No Indian city meets WHO air quality standards, says Lancet study

The study found that even if the air quality met these standards, there would have been 0.3 million deaths associated with long-term exposure to air pollution.

Written by Anonna Dutt

New Delhi | Updated: December 13, 2024 09:02 AM IST

3 min read

Pollution kills 1.5 mn a yr, no Indian lives in WHO standard air, says study

Air pollution, especially the PM2.5, is known to affect not just the respiratory system, but also increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes, cause spikes in blood pressure, and lead to developmental delays in children.

No one in India lives in areas where the yearly average pollution levels are below the levels recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO), with the high levels of PM2.5 associated with 1.5 million deaths a year, according to a study recently published in Lancet Planet Health.

In fact, 81.9% of the Indian population was living in areas where the air quality did not even meet the country’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) of 40 µg/m³ of PM2.5 — much higher than the WHO’s recommendation of 5µg/m³. The study found that even if the air quality met these standards, there would have been 0.3 million deaths associated with long-term exposure to air pollution.

“This shows the striking impact of air pollution on health. We need to take pro-active measures to control pollution levels by identifying the sources — whether it’s construction, vehicular pollution, crop burning, construction — and addressing it. Even if we are able to bring the levels of particulate matter to the NAAQS, it will reduce the number of deaths, albeit in smaller numbers than if we were able to bring it to the WHO levels,” said Dr Dorairaj Prabhakaran, one of the authors of the paper.

Also Read | What we don’t talk about when we talk about the ‘environment’

Importantly, the study found that every 10 µg/m³ increase in the levels of PM2.5 increased the risk of death due to any cause by 8.6%. The pollution levels in the country ranged from 11·2 µg/m³ observed in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh in 2019 to 119 µg/m³ observed in Ghaziabad and Delhi in 2016.

Also Read | Delhi’s pollution crisis is not just an India problem

The researchers utilised data from the civic registration system to look at the total number of deaths — of which they found 25% or 1.5 million could be linked to exposure to high levels of particulate matter — and ground station-based as well as satellite-based data to estimate the levels of pollution during the study period of 2009 to 2019. “Our estimates are slightly higher than the previous 1.1 million deaths estimated by the Global Burden of Disease — it could be because of the increase in population and also because of the methodology used,” said Dr Prabhakaran.

Anonna Dutt

Anonna Dutt is a Principal Correspondent who writes primarily on health at the Indian Express. She reports on myriad topics ranging from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and hypertension to the problems with pervasive infectious conditions. She reported on the government’s management of the Covid-19 pandemic and closely followed the vaccination programme. Her stories have resulted in the city government investing in high-end tests for the poor and acknowledging errors in their official reports. Dutt also takes a keen interest in the country’s space programme and has written on key missions like Chandrayaan 2 and 3, Aditya L1, and Gaganyaan. She was among the first batch of eleven media fellows with RBM Partnership to End Malaria. She was also selected to participate in the short-term programme on early childhood reporting at Columbia University’s Dart Centre. Dutt has a Bachelor’s Degree from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication, Pune and a PG Diploma from the Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. She started her reporting career with the Hindustan Times. When not at work, she tries to appease the Duolingo owl with her French skills and sometimes takes to the dance floor. ... Read More

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air pollution World Health Organization