Lancet Report on Pollution and Health

On 17th May, 2022, a report titled ‘Pollution and health: a progress update’ was published in The Lancet Planetary Health journal. The report, which is an update to The Lancet’s 2015 study, takes into account data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019.

  • According to the report, pollution continues to be the biggest environmental health hazard, resulting in millions of premature deaths globally every year.

India-specific Findings: In India, more than 23 lakh people died prematurely due to pollution in 2019. India saw 16.7 lakh air pollution-related deaths in 2019. The majority of such deaths, 9.8 lakh, were caused by PM2.5 pollution. (Note: PM 2.5 refers to fine inhalable particles that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller.)

  • PM2.5 pollution is well above WHO guidelines in 93 per cent of areas in India. The world health body had recently lowered its global air quality guideline value for PM2.5 from 10 microgram per cubic metre to 5 microgram per cubic metre.

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