Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

200 million People in India Exposed to Dangerous Levels of Air Pollution, Says Study

The study found that most parts of the world do not meet WHO safety standards.
May 26, 2022
air pollution

At least 200 million people in India live in extreme poverty and are facing dangerous levels of air pollution. This is according to a recent study by World Bank experts. The study also estimates that 47% of the country’s 2.8 billion people are exposed to hazardous quality air. An estimated 1.33 billion people, or 96% of India’s estimated 1.39 billion people, breathe dangerous air, according to a study by World Bank experts.

The study found that most parts of the world do not meet WHO safety standards. 96.4% of the global population is exposed to polluted air. Most people in middle-income countries, such as India and China, are at greater risk. The highest risk is to the poor.

A high proportion of manual and outdoor labour in the low-income population means that they are exposed to increasing exposure to pollutants. The report says that barriers to access, availability and quality of healthcare systems are exacerbating air pollution-related deaths among the poor.

Globally, air pollution alone contributes to 66.7 lakh deaths, according to the report, which updates a previous analysis from 2015. Overall, pollution was responsible for an estimated 90 lakh deaths in 2019 (equivalent to one in six deaths worldwide), a number that has remained unchanged since the 2015 analysis. Ambient air pollution was responsible for 45 lakh deaths, and hazardous chemical pollutants for 17 lakh, with 9 lakh deaths attributable to lead pollution.