Pollution kills 54% under 70 yrs of age
HEALTH IMPACT In 2017, air pollution in Haryana lowered life expectancy by 2.1 years, killed almost 28,000, finds study
GURUGRAM: Of all deaths recorded under the age of 70 in Haryana, 54% could be attributed to air pollution, a study published on December 6 found. The study, published in The Lancet Journal of Planetary Health, found that the average life expectancy in Haryana, in 2017, decreased by at least 2.1 years as a result of air pollution. In the same year, 28,965 deaths in the state were a direct result of air pollution.
The national average reduction in lifespan due to air pollution was 1.7 years, with only three states (Haryana, Rajasthan and MP) recording decreased life expectancy of more than two years. The study, which used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study, 2017, also found that 77% of India’s population was exposed to unsafe PM2.5 levels, with residents of Haryana, UP and Bihar exposed to an annual average PM2.5 concentration between 125.7 to 174.7μg/m3. This is around three or four times the safe limit of 40μg/m3, as per the CPCB’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards.
Delhi fared the worst in this regard, with residents exposed to an average 209ug/m3 of PM2.5 in 2017.
“If pollution levels were brought under control as per the norms, people in Haryana would have seen an increase of 2.1 years in average life expectancy,” said Kalpana Balakrishnan, one of the authors of the study and director of the Department of Environ- mental Health Engineering at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research.
“There is increasing evidence, globally, of the association of air pollution with premature death and disease burden. What we have produced are robust estimates of the health impact of outdoor and household air pollution in every state of India,” she said.
“The implication is that life expectancy is decreasing at faster rate than before, and will continue
› If pollution levels were brought under control as per the norms, people in Haryana would have seen an increase of 2.1 years in average life expectancy. KALPANA BALAKRISHNAN, one of the author’s of the study
till we come up with effective pollution control measures,” said an environmental scientist at IIT Delhi, who did not wish to be named due to his past association with the Environmental Pollution Control Authority.
The Lancet study, however, does not provide any district level data, unlike the University of Chicago’s Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) published last month. The AQLI estimated a reduction in life expectancy of 7.5 years in Haryana (and 8.7 years in Gurugram) due to PM2.5 exposure.
The AQLI’s finding are based on examination of data between 1998 and 2016.
However, The Lancet study also takes into account other sources of pollution, such as indoor fuel sources and ozone concentrations.
The Lancet study also pegged air pollution as India’s largest disease burden, ahead of tobacco.