Health Air pollution claims thousands of lives in India's major cities
More than seven percent of all deaths in ten of India's largest cities are caused by air pollution. This is the finding of a new study published in the journal "The Lancet Planetary Health".
For the study, researchers investigated particulate matter pollution in the cities of Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla and Varanasi.
Specifically, the focus was on PM2.5 particulate matter, which is particularly harmful to health. These small particulate matter particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometers can penetrate deep into the lungs when inhaled and from there into the bloodstream. They cause cardiovascular and respiratory diseases such as asthma and lung cancer.
Stricter rules called for
According to the study, more than 33,000 deaths per year in the Indian cities surveyed between 2008 and 2019 could be attributable to PM2.5 levels above the World Health Organization's (WHO) recommended upper limit of 15 micrograms per cubic meter. This corresponds to 7.2 percent of all deaths registered in cities during this period.
India currently recommends an upper limit of 60 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter - four times higher than the WHO guideline.
The authors of the study are now calling for stricter rules for air quality in India. Lower upper limits for particulate matter would "save tens of thousands of lives per year", explained study co-author Joel Schwartz from Harvard University in the USA. "There are methods to control air pollution that are used in other places. They urgently need to be applied in India as well," demanded Schwartz.
According to the study, as many as 12,00 deaths a year in the Indian capital New Delhi, or 11.5 percent of all deaths, are attributable to polluted air. And even cities with relatively low levels of air pollution - such as Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai - have a high death rate due to particulate matter, according to the researchers. According to the WHO, almost everyone on earth breathes in more than the recommended amount of polluted air.
SDA
