Bad air killing millions

At least one in eight deaths in India can be attributed to air pollution, according to a new nationwide study. More people died last year in India because of air pollution than from tobacco use, according to the study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health. The findings were ‘‘remarkable’’, said Lalit Dandoni, director of the India State Level Disease Burden Initiative, which conducted the study. It found that 77 per cent of the country’s population is exposed to levels of harmful particulate matter that exceed the standard set by the Indian Government. That threshold is already four times the limit recommended by the World Health Organisation. Sources of air pollution in India include car exhaust, industrial emissions, construction dust, the burning of crop residues, and the use of wood, charcoal and dried dung for fuel and heating.