New Delhi

A new study has found that over 1.5 million people die in India every year due to long-term exposure to air pollution and high PM2.5 levels. The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal, said that the entire 1.4 billion population of the country breathes poor air with PM2.5 levels much higher than the recommended levels by the World Health Organization (WHO).

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A team of researchers from Ashoka University, Haryana, and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control, New Delhi, found that 82 per cent of the Indian population lives in areas where PM2.5 levels are higher than the level recommended by the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards (40 microns per cubic metre).

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“Delhi may get the headlines, but this is a problem all over India. Nationwide efforts are needed,” said Joel Schwartz, professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and principal investigator from the US for the CHAIR-India consortium.

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The researchers also found that a yearly spike in PM2.5 pollution of 10 microns per cubic metre was associated with 8.6 per cent higher annual mortality. For the purpose of the study, the scientists took pan-India deaths data from the Civil Registration System, spanning from the year 2009 to 2019, whereas PM2.5 levels were monitored using over 1,000 ground-monitoring stations across the country over the same period.

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The team concluded that the evidence to establish a link between long-term exposure to air pollution and deaths in India is scarce and inconsistent with studies from other countries.

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“High PM2.5 exposure levels in India cause a significant mortality burden, not limited to urban areas. A systematic, not symptomatic, approach is needed,” said Suganthi Jaganathan, doctoral researcher at Ashoka University’s CHART.

The study further highlighted the urgent need for the government to take long-term measures to improve AQI across India and strengthen regulations to comply with WHO mandates.

(With inputs from agencies)