Lancet has published a first multi-city study examining the relationship between short-term air pollution (PM2.5) exposure and mortality in 10 major cities of India between 2008 and 2019.
Key findings of the Study
- Air Pollution Causing Death: The study revealed that over 33,000 deaths (approximately 7.2% of total mortalities) could be attributed to air pollution annually across the 10 investigated cities.
- Highest Mortality Burden: Delhi, exhibited the most severe air pollution, with a staggering 11.5% (12,000 deaths) of annual deaths linked to air pollution.
- Shimla Lowest Mortality: Shimla emerged as the city with the lowest mortality burden attributable to air pollution, with only 59 deaths (constituting 3.7% of total deaths) annually.
- Chronic Exceedance of Safe Air Quality Standards: There has been a persistent violation of established air quality standards. PM2.5 concentrations consistently exceeded the World Health Organization’s (WHO) safe limit (15 μg/m³) on an alarming 99.8% of the days analyzed.
- Deteriorating Health with Increasing Pollution Levels: Every 10 μg/m³ increase in PM2.5 concentration demonstrably resulted in a 1.42% rise in mortality across the ten cities.
- Cities with comparatively lower pollution levels, such as Bengaluru and Shimla, exhibited a heightened susceptibility to mortality increases with even incremental rises in PM2.5 concentrations.
PM 2.5
- PM2.5 is a term that stands for fine particles. These are tiny airborne pollutant particles that are 2 ½ microns wide or less.
- Thousands of the smallest of these particles could fit into the full stop at the end of this sentence.