Pollution cuts life expectancy by more than eight years in north India: report
Pollution cuts life expectancy by more than eight years in north India: report
Air pollution is removing eight years from the lives of people living in north India, according to a study by the University of Chicago's Institute.
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Air pollution in India is having a devastating impact on people, according to a new report [Getty]
A by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) revealed that microscopic air is lowering life expectancy by nearly ten years in .
People living in the states of and Bihar, home to more than 300 million people, could see their life expectancy drop by eight years.
The same report concluded that air pollution is shortening lives by more than two years around the world.
Working unseen inside the human body, particulate has a more devastating impact on life expectancy than communicable diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, behavioral killers like cigarette smoking, and even war.
— Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) (@UChiAir)
Learn more:
An average person across South Asia would live five years longer if the particulate matter in the air met WHO standards, according to the Air Quality Life Index published by EPIC.
PM 2.5 pollution, which has particles roughly the diameter of a human hair, enter the bloodstream once inhaled. The UN in 2013 defined these particles as cancer-causing agents.
According to the , residents of Delhi could see up to 10 years added to their lives if pollution were reduced to meet the guideline and up to 7 years if met India’s national standard.
— Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) (@UChiAir)
Learn more with our India Fact Sheet:
All of India’s 1.4 billion people live in areas where the particulate pollution level exceeds WHO guidelines, a quarter of which is exposed to levels not seen in any other country.
Pollution levels in India have been skyrocketing over the past few years, and New Delhi was the world’s most polluted capital city in 2021. India has contributed to 44 percent of the increase in global pollution since 2013, according to the Index.
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