Air Pollution and Health in India

Wednesday, 20th December 2017

Centre for Policy Research

Bhargav Krishna

Manager (Technical), Centre for Environmental Health, PHFI

Co-Founder, Care for Air

Ambient PM2.5 Variation Over Time

99% of districts above WHO annual exposure guidelines60% above National Ambient Air Quality Standards

Source: Urbanemissions.info 2

Ambient PM has seasonal variations

e.g. Monsoon vs. Winter in Gurgaon

It is also a regional challenge

Monsoon vs. Winter in the Indo-Gangetic Plain

Household Air Pollution

Distribution of 24-hr average kitchen area PM2.5 concentrations in solid fuel using households across states

(Source: Balakrishnan et al. 2013)

India Urban Rural Total (NFHS-4)

Households using clean fuel for cooking

80.6% 24.0% 43.8%

Overall burden from Air Pollution in India (GBD 2015)

~ 1.8 million deaths(1.1 million Ambient; 700,000 Household)

49 million DALYs (#1 of any risk factor)

DALY Rate by State in India from AP Exposure

(Source: India State-Level Disease Burden)

Changes in Risk Factors (GBD 1990 - 2015)