1 in 8 deaths in India due to air deadlier than cigarettes
In 2017, it led to 1.24 mn fatalities — 12.5% of the total deaths
1.24 million deaths in India, which accounts for 12.5% of the total deaths. “Living in India is like being a chronic smoker. A substantial 8% of the total disease burden and 11% of premature deaths in people younger than 70 years are attributed to air pollution,” said senior author Prof Lalit Dandona, director of the India State-level Disease Burden Initiative, which led the study.
No state across the country had an annual mean particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5 micrometres are particles one-400th of a millimetre) lower than the World Health Organization (Who)-recommended level of 10µg/m³.
About 76.8% of India’s population was exposed to mean PM2.5 more than 40µg/m³, which is the recommended limit set by the National Ambient Air Quality Standards of India.
PM is short for particulate matter. PM2.5 are fine particles invisible to the naked eye and can only be seen by using an electron microscope. Delhi had the highest annual mean PM2.5 in 2017, followed by Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Haryana, all of which had mean values of PM 2.5 greater than 125 µg/m³.
“Air pollution damages the health of every person living in India. Apart from causing lung diseases, cancers and cognitive loss, noxious air also damages blood vessels, causing strokes and heart attacks,” said Prof K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India.
The disability-adjusted life years (DALYS, or healthy years lost due to disease, disability or early death) from ischaemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer attributable to air pollution were found to be similar to those attributable to tobacco use. “These are conservative estimates as we have deliberately taken an approach where we use only those diseases and conditions (heart disease, lung diseases, diabetes) for which there is firm evidence in scientific literature. For example, air pollution is also linked with low birth weight and cognitive impairment, but since these are early studies and there is no conclusive evidence, we have not included them,” said Dandona.