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PM 2.5 Pollution
Context
A recent study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal has shown a strong connection between long-term exposure to PM2.5 pollution and deaths in India. The study found that about 1.5 million deaths occurred every year from 2009 to 2019 due to this pollution.
About PM 2.5
- 5 refers to fine particles smaller than 2.5 microns that can easily enter the lungs and bloodstream, causing serious health issues like respiratory and heart problems.
- They're a mix of various chemicals and can be partly liquid, unlike solid dust particles. When these particles are mainly liquid, they're called aerosols.
- Natural kinds of aerosolsinclude dust, sea salt and volcanic ash
- Man-made sourcesinclude factory and auto emissions, coal combustion and biomass burning for clearing land or farming.
- PM 2.5 particles are especially harmful as they can bypass our body's defenses like nose hairs and mucus. They can penetrate deep into our lungs, reach the alveoli, and even enter the bloodstream, posing serious health risks.
- WHO’s safety limit: The WHO recommends an annual average of 5 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic meter of air.
Key findings from the study:
- Exposure to PM2.5 Pollution: The entire population of India (around 1.4 billion people) lives in areas where PM2.5 levels are higher than the safe limit set by the World Health Organization (WHO).
- Around 82% of India's population (about 1.1 billion people) live in areas where PM2.5 levels exceed India’s own air quality standards (40 micrograms per cubic meter annually).
- Impact on Mortality: The study found that a 10-micron per cubic meter increase in PM2.5 pollution leads to an 8.6% higher annual mortality rate.
- This means the more polluted the air, the higher the number of deaths, especially from diseases caused by air pollution, such as heart disease, stroke, and lung disorders.
- Data and Methodology: The study used death data from the Civil Registration System and PM2.5 levels measured through satellite data and over 1,000 ground-based monitoring stations.
- The team looked at yearly data from 2009 to 2019 to understand the trends in pollution and death rates.
- Variation in Pollution Levels:5 levels vary widely across the country. The lowest levels were found in Lower Subansiri district, Arunachal Pradesh, with 11.2 microns per cubic meter in 2019.
- The highest levels were recorded in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi, which had PM2.5 levels of 119 microns per cubic meter in 2016, showing the huge variation in pollution from one region to another.
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