Every 10 unit rise in annual PM2.5 exposure raising death risk in Indians: Study

Every 10 micrograms per cubic metre of air increase in annual exposure to fine particulate matter 25 PM25 is associated with an 86 per cent increased risk for mortality across India finds a study on ThursdayThe study published in the journal Lancet Planetary Health revealed that longterm exposure to PM25 pollution concentrations higher than the 5 micrograms per cubic meter annual average recommended by the WHO is potentially associated with 15 million deaths a year in IndiaThe findings showed that the 14 billion people in India live in areas with PM25 concentrations above that recommended by the WHO guidelinesHigh levels of annual PM25 exposures are observed in India causing a huge mortality burden not limited to cities that are highlighted during the extreme pollution episodes signaling the need for systematic and not symptomatic approachrdquo said Suganthi Jaganathan doctoral researcher Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends CHART Ashoka UniversityThe study observed that the risk is high even at lower levels of air pollution This indicates the need to reduce air pollution levels across the countryUnlike previous studies this study used PM25 exposure from a fine spatiotemporal model built for India and annual mortality counts reported across all districts of IndiaDuring the study period 2009 to 2019 25 per cent of all deaths about 15 million deaths a year were attributed to annual PM25 exposure higher than the WHO guidelineAbout 03 million annual deaths are also attributed to annual exposure to PM25 above the Indian National Ambient Air Quality Standards NAAQSThe exposureresponse function revealed a higher incremental risk for mortality at lower PM25 concentrations and leveling off at higher PM25 concentrationsldquoDelhi may get the headlines but this is a problem all over India and nationwide efforts are needed Coalburning electric plants need scrubbers crop burning needs to be limited and most importantly we need urgent measures to protect population healthrdquo said Joel Schwartz Professor Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health and principal investigator from the US for the CHAIRIndia consortiumThe study was led by the CHAIRIndia consortium established in May 2019 comprised of leading Indian academic institutions such as the Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends CHART at Ashoka University the Centre for Chronic Disease Control CCDC and global institutions like Karolinska Institutet Stockholm Sweden Harvard University Boston University among othersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever