Indias poorest 9 times more likely to die of air pollution than the rich: study

<p>Air pollution impacts&nbsp;our life in more ways than we&nbsp;can count.&nbsp;From chronic asthma, lung problems, cardiovascular disease, cognitive disruption, infertility,&nbsp;pregnancy loss to irregular and painful periods &ndash; the perils of air pollution exposure have been widely researched and proven in studies.&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/blame-air-pollution-for-your-painful-period-cramps-say-scientists-1626329158637>Blame air pollution for your painful period cramps, say scientists</a></strong></p> <p>But in India, there is one group that is&nbsp;disproportionately&nbsp;impacted by&nbsp;a two-pronged attack&nbsp;of air pollution. A new study&nbsp;says&nbsp;that the poorest households in India are at risk from both inhaled&nbsp;smoke&nbsp;produced by solid fuels&nbsp;used&nbsp;for cooking, and much higher&nbsp;exposure to vehicular and industrial emissions.&nbsp;</p> <p>Published in the journal&nbsp;Nature Sustainability, the study&nbsp;estimates that mortality risk&nbsp;due to&nbsp;this double&nbsp;burden&nbsp;is&nbsp;at least nine times higher for the poorest in India.&nbsp;Nearly 70 per cent of the Indian population still depends on solid fuels for cooking&nbsp;which contributes to&nbsp;household air pollution (or HAP).&nbsp;</p> <p>While in developed countries,&nbsp;fossil fuel use for power, industry and land transportation are the leading contributors to PM2.5 pollution, in India, HAP&nbsp;makes up 40 per cent of overall outdoor pollution, noted the study.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>But with 35 of the world&rsquo;s&nbsp;50&nbsp;most polluted cities in India,&nbsp;the&nbsp;contribution to air pollution from urban households is still much higher. In fact, the contribution of the highest-income group to indirect emissions is many times greater than that from the &lsquo;poorest 10 per cent of households.&rsquo;&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>SEE MORE&nbsp;<a href=https://www.editorji.com/story/30-deaths-in-india-caused-by-air-pollution-from-fossil-fuels-harvard-study-finds-1612953225450>30% deaths in India caused by air pollution from fossil fuels, Harvard study finds</a></strong></p> <p>The research suggests that while industry‐wide controls can reduce inequity&nbsp;in ambient pollution exposure, as of now, the use of clean cooking fuels is the most effective way to reduce the number of premature deaths from air pollution in India.&nbsp;</p> <p>All in all, the findings add to the mounting evidence&nbsp;proving&nbsp;that&nbsp;the&nbsp;burden&nbsp;of environmental disruption&nbsp;remains the highest on the group&nbsp;with&nbsp;the least actual contribution.</p>