Air Pollution Affects Life Expectancy, Worse Than Smoking and Terrorism: Study

Washington: The effect of pollution on life expectancy in India is worse than that of HIV / AIDS, smoking and even terrorism, according to a study that Indians would live another 4.3 years if the country meets WHO guidelines. According to the new Air Quality Life Index (AQLI), developed by researchers at the University of Chicago in the United States, airborne particle pollution can reduce air pollution. average life expectancy of 1.8 years per person. The AQLI reveals that India and China, which account for 36% of the world's population, account for 73% of all years of life lost due to particle pollution.

In India, people would live on average 4.3 more years if the country has met the WHO guideline – lengthen average life expectancy at birth from 69 to 73 years . AQLI makes particle pollution the biggest threat to human health in the world, with life expectancy effects exceeding that of devastating communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and HIV / AIDS as well as behavioral destructors such as smoking, and even war.

AQLI reports these results in concrete terms that can be reported by most people. "People around the world breathe in air that poses a serious risk to their health, but this risk is communicated in a very opaque and confusing way, reflecting the concentrations of atmospheric pollution in color, such as red, brown, orange and green, "said Michael Greenstone, professor at the Energy Policy Institute of the University of Chicago (EPIC).

"My colleagues and I have developed the AQLI, where the" L "stands for" life ", to address these shortcomings – concentrations of air pollution and converts them to perhaps the most important measure that exists: life expectancy, "he said. The AQLI is based on two studies that quantify the causal link between long-term human exposure to particle pollution and life expectancy.

Seventy-five percent of the world's population, or 5.5 billion people, live in areas subject to particulate pollution beyond WHO guidelines. In the United States, about one-third of the population lives in areas that do not comply with the WHO guideline. Those living in the most polluted counties in the country could hope to live another year if the pollution was in line with the WHO guideline.

At the global level, the AQLI reveals that particulate pollution reduces the average life expectancy of 1.8 years, making it the biggest threat to human health. In comparison, first-hand cigarette smoke causes a reduction in the global average life expectancy of about 1.6 years. Other risks to human health have even less important effects: alcohol and drugs reduce the life expectancy by 11 months; unsafe water and sanitation take off 7 months; and HIV / AIDS, 4 months.

Conflicts and terrorism take 22 days. Thus, the impact of particle pollution on life expectancy is comparable to that of smoking, twice as much as that of alcohol and drugs, three times that of smoking. unsafe water, five times that of HIV / AIDS and more than 25 times that of conflict and terrorism. . "While people can stop smoking and take steps to protect themselves from illness, they can not do anything individually to protect themselves from the air they breathe," Greenstone said. "AQLI informs citizens and policy makers about particle pollution that affects them, as well as their communities, and reveals the benefits of policies to reduce particulate pollution," he said. declared.