Chronic air pollution shortens the average life expectancy of Bangladeshis by 6.9 years, according to a global study that says Bangladesh is the world’s “most polluted country”.
Some areas of Bangladesh fare much worse than average, with air pollution cutting lives short by nearly nine years in Dhaka, the country’s most polluted city, the University of Chicago’s Energy Policy Institute said in its latest Air Quality Life Index.
The researchers used satellite data to measure levels of PM2.5, hazardous floating particles that damage the lungs, reports bdnews24.com with details from Reuters.
If global PM2.5 levels were reduced to the five micrograms per cubic metre recommended by the World Health Organization, average life expectancy would rise by an average of 2.2 years, according to the study released on Tuesday.
In no region of the world is the opportunity for improved health and life expectancy greater than in South Asia, which includes four of the five most polluted countries in the world.
In Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan, the AQLI data reveal that the average person would live five years longer if pollution were reduced to meet the WHO guideline.
Due to South Asia’s high population and pollution concentrations, the region accounts for 52 per cent of total life years lost globally due to particulate pollution exceeding the WHO guideline.
While India contains the most polluted air in some of its regions, the most polluted country overall in the world is Bangladesh. According to new and revised satellite-derived PM2.5 data, Bangladesh had pollution concentration of 75.8 micrograms per cubic metre in 2020. That’s a 13.1 per cent increase in pollution during a year when Covid-19 lockdowns were in place.
While this is a significant increase over the 2019 level of 67 micrograms per cubic metre, pollution in Bangladesh has remained consistently high over the past decade, fluctuating between 63 and 77 micrograms per cubic metre. That’s 12 to 15 times higher than the WHO guideline.
The researchers do not find the increase in South Asian air pollution over time “surprising”. Over the last two decades, industrialisation, economic development, and population growth have led to skyrocketing energy demand and fossil fuel use across the region. In India and Pakistan, the number of vehicles on the road has increased about four-fold since the early 2000s. In Bangladesh, the number of motor vehicles roughly tripled from 2010 to 2020.
In Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan combined, electricity generation from fossil fuels tripled from 1998 to 2017.
Crop burning, brick kilns, and other industrial activities have also contributed to rising particulates in the region.
