India recorded 95.6 deaths per one lakh people due to PM2.5 exposure in 2019
NS The World Health Organization (WHO) recently updated its air pollution guideline limits from the standards set in 2005. The 24-hour average concentration of PM2.5 (particulate matter less than 2.5 µm in diameter) has been revised down from 25 µg/m3 to 15 µg/m3. In India, according to the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS), last revised in 2009, the average daily PM2.5 limit is much higher at 60μg/m3. In 2021, in most Indian cities, pollution levels exceeded the WHO’s 2005 guideline limit on most days. If the current WHO standards are considered, then the number of cities violating the limit of the guideline increases further. worryingly, Deaths on the rise due to high levels of pollution in India.
different standards
While WHO’s latest global air pollution standard allows an average PM2.5 concentration of only 15μg/m3 over a 24-hour period, India’s permissible limit is 60μg/m3. A look at how other parameters set by WHO compare with Indian standards.
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pollution-related deaths
The chart depicts the number of deaths, standardized by age, recorded due to PM2.5 exposure per 100,000 people in BRICS countries between 1990 and 2019. Such deaths are increasing in five countries only in India. In 2019, 95.6 deaths per one lakh people were recorded in India due to exposure to PM2.5.
air quality in cities
The table shows the % of days when the average daily PM2.5 level is within the new WHO limit (<=15) से कम था, नई और पुरानी WHO सीमा (>15 but <=25) के बीच, पुराने WHO और भारतीय शहरों में NAAQS सीमा (>25 but <=60) और NAAQS सीमा (>60) is higher. The daily pollution data between January 1, 2021 and September 27, 2021 was considered for the analysis. In 2021, Delhi’s ITO station recorded an average daily PM2.5 concentration of more than 60μg/m3 on 68% of the days, while only 2.2% of such days were observed at Chennai’s Velachery.
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Source: WHO, NAAQS, CPCB, State of Global Air
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