Life expectancy down by 2.6 years due to air pollution, finds study

While exposure to outdoor particulate matter (PM) accounted for a loss of nearly one year and six months in life expectancy, exposure to household air pollution accounted for a loss of nearly one year and two months, according to the CSE.

Life expectancy in India has gone down by 2.6 years due to deadly diseases caused by air pollution, according to a recent report by an environment think tank.

Smoke comes out from a Refinery factory at Sewri in Mumbai.(Pratik Chorge/HT File Photo)

The report by the environment organisation Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) revealed that outdoor and household air pollution together are causing deadly diseases. “Air pollution is now the third highest cause of death among all health risks ranking just above smoking in India. This is a combined effect of outdoor particulate matter (PM) 2.5, ozone and household air pollution,” revealed the report.

“Due to this combined exposure, South Asians, including Indians are dying early - their life expectancy has reduced by over 2.6 years. This is much higher than the global tally of reduced life expectancy by an average of 20 months. While globally a child born today will die 20 months sooner on an average than would be expected without air pollution in India they would die 2.6 years earlier,” it read.

While exposure to outdoor particulate matter (PM) accounted for a loss of nearly one year and six months in life expectancy, exposure to household air pollution accounted for a loss of nearly one year and two months, according to the CSE.

“Thus, together Indians lose 2.6 years,” it said.

“The deadly tally broken up by diseases shows that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) due to air pollution at 49 per cent is responsible for close to half of deaths... It is disturbing how COPD, lung cancer and ischaemic heart disease dominate the dubious tally,” it said.