‘Home emissions cause 25% pollution deaths’

NEW DELHI: One-fourth of air pollution-linked deaths in India are due to residential emissions where solid biofuel combustion contributes to the ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5, the first global source apportionment study said. The study, published in Nature Communications, analysed number of deaths, which could be attributable to exposure to air pollution from specific sources in 2017 and ’19.

It identified 15 polluting sources with residential emissions from biofuels burning (indoor air pollution due to emission from cooking, heating) resulting in one-fourth of the PM2.5 share, followed by industry (14.8%) and energy (12.5%) in 2017 and 2019.




The total attributable deaths due to PM2.5 in the country are estimated at 866,566 and 953,857 in 2017 and 2019, respectively. The analysis underlined that one-fourth of these deaths could be avoided by eliminating solid biofuel combustion, primarily used for residential heating and cooking.

The study claimed that globally, 1 million deaths were avoidable in 2017 by eliminating fossil-fuel combustion, with coal contributing to over half. It also noted that China and India with 58% of total global ambient PM2.5 mortality burden together accounted for the largest numbers of attributable deaths.

The analysis has been done based on a global chemical transport model with newly available high-resolution (1 km × 1 km) satellitederived PM2.5 exposure estimates, and national baseline burden estimates updated from the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study 2019.

“This study provides both a global perspective of the relative importance of different sources and a starting point for the many countries of the world who have yet to address air pollution as a health concern,” said Michael Brauer, lead researcher on the study.

The study also noted that sources vary at the sub-national scale, highlighting the importance of developing regional air quality mitigation strategies.

Citing examples, it said while residential emissions are the largest source of average PM2.5 exposure and attributable mortality in China and India, areas surrounding Beijing and Singrauli (Madhya Pradesh) have relatively larger contributions from the energy and industry sectors.

Though India had always expressed doubt over such air pollution-linked death figures saying these were the estimates based on “models, simulations and extrapolations”, it did not deny air pollution as “one of the triggering factors for respiratory ailments and associated diseases”.