Pollution led to over 23.5 lakh premature deaths in India in 2019: Lancet study

It’s the highest among all countries globally, says report

NEW DELHI: India saw over 23.5 lakh premature deaths due to pollution of all types — including 16.7 lakh fatalities caused by air pollution — in 2019, the highest among all countries globally, according to a new study published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal.

The majority of air pollution-related deaths — 9.8 lakh — in India were caused by ambient PM2.5 pollution — tiny pollution particles in the air that are two-and-onehalf microns or less in width, the researchers said.

Another 6.1 lakh were due to household air pollution, they said. Globally, pollution of any kind was responsible for nine million deaths in 2019 — equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide. Air pollution — both household and ambient — was responsible for the greatest number of deaths at 6.67 million worldwide.

“The health impacts of pollution remain enormous, and low-and middle-income countries bear the brunt of this burden. Despite its enormous health, social and economic impacts, pollution prevention is largely overlooked in the international development agenda, said study lead author Richard Fuller, from Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, Geneva, Switzerland.