Toxic air caused 38 lakh deaths in India in 10 years

According to today's report, breathing in India is no longer merely a means of survival, but is gradually becoming a cause of death. A significant study conducted by the Karolinska Institute of Sweden has revealed shocking figures, showing that between 2009 and 2019, 38 lakh people lost their lives in India due to air pollution. The primary cause behind these premature deaths is reported to be the concentration of extremely fine particles known as PM 2.5 in the air.

According to the research, the national standard for PM 2.5 in India has been set at 40 micrograms per cubic metre, but the actual situation is much more severe. The World Health Organization (WHO) standards are stricter, according to which a concentration of only up to 5 micrograms per cubic metre is considered safe. If calculations are made based on these stricter criteria, the death toll could reach 1.66 crore. This figure is approximately 25 per cent of the total deaths during the entire study period, which means that one in every four deaths in India could be directly linked to polluted air.

Explaining the horror of PM 2.5 particles, the report stated that these particles are so fine that their diameter is 2.5 micrometres or less. For comparison, most bacteria are at least 5 microns wide, while the diameter of a red blood cell is approximately 6 microns. The thickness of a human hair is about 70 microns. These particles are so small that they can reach the deepest parts of the lungs through inhalation and from there mix into the blood and spread throughout the body. The Karolinska Institute's research found that every 10 micrograms per cubic metre increase in PM 2.5 leads to an 8.6 per cent increase in the mortality rate. This effect has been observed in 655 districts of India.

The most worrying aspect is that India's entire population lives in areas where PM 2.5 levels are much higher than the safe levels prescribed by the WHO. These polluted particles can travel hundreds of kilometres, causing pollution to spread across vast geographical areas rather than remaining just a problem for a single city. Previously, air pollution was considered only a problem for large metropolises, but the situation is now changing. Burnihat, a small industrial town located on the Assam-Meghalaya border, has now become India's most polluted place, where the annual PM 2.5 level was recorded at 133.4 micrograms per cubic metre. This figure is 3.3 times higher than the national standard and even higher than Delhi's 104.9 micrograms per cubic metre.

According to a report by the Central Pollution Control Board and IQAir, levels of 91.7, 87.2, 84.7, 83.6, and 83.4 micrograms per cubic metre were recorded in Gurugram, Sri Ganganagar, Faridabad, Greater Noida, and Muzaffarnagar, respectively. These figures clarify that industrial areas and rapidly urbanising small towns are now becoming the new centres of crisis. According to a report by the Centre for Science and Environment, PM 2.5 levels have also worsened in metropolises such as Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai during the winter season of 2024-25. A four-year study by Respirer Living Science found that PM 10 levels in 11 metropolises remained continuously above the national standard of 60 micrograms per cubic metre. According to experts, this is not occasional pollution, but a continuous process throughout the year, due to which the urban population remains in contact with these dangerous particles for long periods.

The Karolinska Institute is a leading medical university in Sweden, considered one of the world's most prestigious research centres. This institution is primarily known for conducting research globally in the fields of medical science and public health.