“Air pollution from respirable particulate matter (PM2.5) could be responsible for 10,000 to 30,000 premature deaths in Delhi — up to 80 deaths each day — authors of an international study released on Tuesday indicated. Scientists who conducted the study, published in the Environmental Science and Technology journal, said most of these deaths were due to heart attacks and strokes, and not very many because of respiratory diseases. The study, Addressing Global Mortality from Ambient PM 2.5, found that more than 45% of these premature deaths in Delhi could be avoided if the city met the national ambient air quality standard for PM2.5. In fact, if the city’s air could be cleaned up to the safe standards set by the World Health Organization, as much as 85% these deaths could be avoided, the experts said… The study is authored by Joshua S Apte from the University of Texas, Julian D Marshall from the University of Minnesota, Aaron J Cohen from Health Effects Institute and Michael Brauer from University of British Columbia. It found as many as 2.1 million deaths per year could be prevented globally if air quality met the WHO guideline of 10 micrograms per cubic metre.” The Times of India. Read it on delhiair.org.
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