Bangladeshis lose over 1.8-yr lifespan to air pollution: Scientists

M Humayun Kabir: Air pollution shortens an average Bangladeshi’s life by 1.87 years, say scientists.
They also suggest that better air quality could lead to a significant extension of human lifespan around the world, reports UNB.
This is the first time data on air pollution and lifespan has been studied together in order to examine the global variations to find out how they affect the overall life expectancy, according to a new study that uses data from the Global Burden of Disease Project.
It said that average human life is about one year shorter because of PM2.5 ambient air pollution, with lives shortened by 1.5 to 2 years in the most polluted Asian and African countries.
These fine particles can enter deep into the lungs, and breathing PM2.5 is associated with increased risk of heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases and cancer, said the report.
Currently, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that, worldwide, seven million people die every year from exposure to such pollution with most deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries, chiefly in Africa and Asia.
Researchers said that if PM2.5 concentrations worldwide were limited to the WHO air quality guideline concentration of 10 microgrammes per square cubic metre, the global life expectancy would be on average 0.59 year longer.
PM2.5 is released from tailpipes of vehicles, coal-fired power plants, fires, agriculture and industrial emissions. Events like dust storms and wildfires produce large amounts of the particulate matter, too.
Bangladesh placed top among 185 countries in terms of average years of life expectancy lost due to exposure to PM2.5.
In Bangladesh, if PM2.5 levels were to be reduced from the current 98.6 microgrammes per cubic metre to 10, 15, 25 or 35 microgrammes/cu.m, the study estimated that the potential increments in life expectancy would be between a year and about half a year.
The team used data from the Global Burden of Disease Study (GBD) to measure PM2.5 air pollution exposure and its consequences in 185 countries. GBD is a collaboration of over 1,800 researchers from 127 countries.
“The fact that fine particle air pollution is a major global killer is already well known,” said Joshua Apte.
Right now, 95 percent of the global population are exposed to levels of PM2.5 that exceed the World Health Organization’s (WHO) recommended level, the authors write.
The study also found that death rate from air pollution has increased. They calculated 3.5 million people died globally from breathing PM2.5 in 1990 while 4.2 million were killed by the same type of air pollution in 2015.