Study: Air pollution causes many deaths

Pollution literally suffocates people. Fine particulate air pollution is responsible for about 7 percent of deaths in ten major Indian cities, a study estimates, pointing out that mortality remains high even among relatively unpolluted metropolises. The problem is felt all over the world. "Our results, which are based on data from 2008 to 2019 in major Indian cities, show that around 7% of deaths are attributable to daily exposure to PM2.5 particles, commonly referred to as fine particles," says Jeroen de Bont, one of The lead authors of the study, published in Lancet Planetary Health, looked at ten major Indian cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Calcutta, Hyderabad, Madras, and Shimla the amount of fine particles observed in each of these cities, using modeling that distinguishes between different sources of air pollution, such as transport or waste burning.As a pollution threshold, they use the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, according to which not to exceed 15 micrograms of PM2.5 per cubic metre.In total, they estimate that 7.2% of deaths in the period studied, or about 33,000, were related to exposure to fine particles. The subject is crucial in India, one of the countries most exposed to pollution with these particles that favor a series of pathologies, from strokes to lung cancer. Notably, deaths related to these particles are already high in the least polluted cities on the list, such as Mumbai and Calcutta. But, even if the Indian authorities set targets for improving air quality, they use a threshold much higher than that of the WHO: 60 micrograms per cubic meter. "By lowering these thresholds and respecting them, we could save tens of thousands of lives a year," estimates Joel Schwartz, another author of the study. Until then, people are forced to make do as they can.