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New Delhi, Dec 14 – Long-term exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in India is significantly increasing mortality risks, with every 10 micrograms per cubic meter rise in annual PM2.5 levels associated with an 8.6% increase in mortality risk, according to a study published in The Lancet Planetary Health.
The study revealed that exposure to PM2.5 pollution concentrations exceeding the World Health Organization’s (WHO) annual guideline of 5 micrograms per cubic meter contributes to approximately 1.5 million deaths annually in India. This highlights the severe public health impact of air pollution across the country.
Alarming Levels of PM2.5 Exposure
India’s 1.4 billion people live in regions where PM2.5 levels consistently surpass the WHO’s recommended threshold. “High levels of annual PM2.5 exposures are causing a huge mortality burden, not just in cities that dominate headlines during pollution episodes, but across the entire country,” said Suganthi Jaganathan, a doctoral researcher at Ashoka University’s Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART).
The study showed that between 2009 and 2019, around 25% of all deaths in India—equivalent to 1.5 million deaths annually—could be linked to PM2.5 levels exceeding the WHO guideline. Alarmingly, even exposure levels below India’s National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) were associated with approximately 0.3 million deaths per year.
Unequal Risks Across Pollution Levels
The research revealed that mortality risk rises sharply even at lower levels of PM2.5 exposure, indicating that reducing air pollution to meet WHO guidelines could substantially lower health risks. However, the risk plateaued at extremely high concentrations, emphasizing the urgent need to tackle pollution at all levels.
“Delhi may get the headlines, but this is a problem all over India,” said Joel Schwartz, Professor at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and principal investigator for the CHAIR-India consortium. “Nationwide efforts are essential. Coal-burning power plants need scrubbers, crop burning must be limited, and urgent measures are required to protect population health.”
Nationwide Call to Action
The findings underscore the need for a systematic, long-term approach to air pollution reduction rather than short-term symptomatic measures. Experts emphasized the importance of measures like cleaner energy production, stricter regulations on industrial emissions, limiting crop burning, and improving public awareness about the health risks of air pollution.
Collaborative Research Efforts
The study, part of the CHAIR-India consortium, combined the expertise of Indian institutions like CHART at Ashoka University and the Centre for Chronic Disease Control (CCDC) with global partners, including Karolinska Institutet (Sweden) and Harvard University. Unlike previous studies, this research used a fine spatiotemporal model for India and mortality data from districts nationwide to provide a more comprehensive analysis.
This research paints a stark picture of the mortality burden caused by PM2.5 pollution and underscores the need for urgent, nationwide policy reforms to protect public health and improve air quality across India.
