Dare To Breathe! India’s Air Pollution Levels Among The Deadliest

Air pollution is sometimes called “the invisible killer” because the fine particle contaminants suspended in the air that we so often breathe are usually hard to see. Recently NASA released images that show that the smog engulfing south Asia has grown so big that one can see it from space. Sightseers’ photographs from the Taj Mahal, meanwhile, provided a chilling demonstration, at ground level, of the extent to which visibility had fallen due to the smog.

Particulate matter, visible or not, is devastating to human health as they enter not just our lungs, but also our bloodstreams and impact every organ in the human body. The impacts on children are particularly grave: among children under five, exposure to air pollution is linked to the death of more than 700,000 children. As well as premature birth, low-birth weight, asthma and lung diseases and pollution can result in long-term developmental issues that can ricochet down a child’s entire life course in terms of educational attainment.

The poorest populations often live or work in closest proximity to pollution sources. They also lack the resources to adopt coping mechanisms, such as buying household air purifiers, or, more drastically, leaving high-pollution zones during spikes, or to switch to lower emissions heating and cooking sources.

Only seven countries in the world met safe air pollution levels in 2023, reveals a new report by Swiss air quality tech company IQAir. The World Air Quality Report draws on data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations across 134 nations, territories and regions. Of these, 124 were found to breach safe levels of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter), according to the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines. These microscopic particles, measuring less than 2.5 microns in diameter, can be inhaled deep into our lungs and even reach bloodstreams.

They have been linked to heart and lung diseases, high blood pressure, increased asthma risk, depression and anxiety, and premature death. The seven countries that met the safe guideline of five micrograms per cubic metre of air or less were Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand. Puerto Rico, Bermuda and French Polynesia also fell within safe levels. In Europe, Iceland had the cleanest air, followed by Estonia and Finland. The countries with the worst air quality were concentrated in south and central Asia, home to the top 10 most polluted cities in the world.

Bangladesh took the unenviable top spot with over 15 times higher than the WHO PM2.5 annual guideline. Pakistan came in second, with levels 14 times above safe standards. It was followed by India, with PM2.5 levels 10 times above the limit. The country is also home to the four most polluted cities in the world, with industrial Begusarai in the northeast being the worst of the lot. Tajikistan and Burkina Faso were the fourth and fifth most polluted countries, both with PM2.5 levels nine times above safe standards.

For the first time in the history of IQAir’s six reports, Canada was the most polluted country in North America, being home to the region's 13 most polluted cities. Efforts are urgently needed to “manage the causes of trans-boundary haze and cut our reliance on combustion as an energy source”, according to Aidan Farrow, a senior air quality scientist at Greenpeace International.