Pollution cuts life expectancy by more than eight years in north India: report

A study by the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute (EPIC) revealed that microscopic air pollution is lowering life expectancy by nearly ten years in India. 

People living in the states of Uttar Pradesh 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 #pollution has a more devastating impact on life expectancy than communicable diseases like tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, behavioral killers like cigarette smoking, and even war.

Learn more:https://t.co/4BfG2v2JYk pic.twitter.com/6cilGhfPqx

— Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) (@UChiAir) June 10, 2022

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 #AQLI, residents of Delhi could see up to 10 years added to their lives if pollution were reduced to meet the @WHO guideline and up to 7 years if #pollution met India’s national standard.

Learn more with our India Fact Sheet: https://t.co/iBCFq7hkAo pic.twitter.com/Xtssp2mGMz

— Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) (@UChiAir) June 6, 2022

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.