Air pollution: Infant deaths, adult fatalities, and health risks!
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Air pollution is a rising health hazard and in the metro cities of India it is particularly bad if not worse. Haziness is observed everywhere and people are breathing this ill-making air day in and day out. Is it worth it? A study has revealed that this air pollution caused 1.16 infant deaths in India in the year 2019 alone.
The global study of air pollution impact on infants
A global study has shown that 1.16 lac infants in India died in 2019 due to the ill-effects of air pollution on their lungs and body. These deaths contributed to fatalities in less than a month old babies. Household and outdoor particulate matter was the main culprit causing these premature deaths.
State of Global Air 2020 report states that more than half of these deaths were due to outdoor pollutants PM2.5 and the rest were due to solid fuels used for cooking or heating the house such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung. Some of these babies were also preterm and with low birth weights. HEI President Dan Greenbaum said:
"An infant's health is critical to the future of every society, and this newest evidence suggests an especially high risk for infants born in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa,"
"Although there has been slow and steady reduction in household reliance on poor-quality fuels, the air pollution from these fuels continues to be a key factor in the deaths of these youngest infants,"
Pregnant ladies with air pollution exposure deliver preterm and LBW babies that have higher deaths in the neonatal period.
Air pollution and health risks
The same study also revealed that this air pollution also was a health risk. It also led to deaths due to stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic respiratory diseases. These deaths along with neonatal deaths amounted to a total of 1.67 million deaths annually in India in 2019.
This report published by Health Effects Institute (HEI) added that air pollution posed the largest risk for death among all health risks. The HEI is an independent, nonprofit research institute that is funded jointly by the US Environmental Protection Agency, industry, foundations, and also by development banks.
South Asia and air pollution
The menace of air pollution in South Asia is large. It is a challenge that needs a proper, systematic, adequate, and prompt management. Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and Nepal are all in the top 10 countries that needs to do something urgently for the high air pollution. In 2019, all 4 had high PM2.5. These countries have witnessed a rising PM2.5 in the decade from 2010 to 2020.
Household pollutants have been drastically brought down with the use of clean energy source. The outdoor air pollution has led to a rise in heart and lung diseases and now Covid-19 has caused more deaths in this vulnerable individuals.
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