The Lancet Planetary Health Journal published the results of a new study on the effects of pollution in India and the rest of the world. Pollution of various types caused 23.5 lakh premature deaths in India. Of these, 16.7 lakh deaths were due to air pollution; the highest for any individual country globally and accounting for a sizeable proportion of the 9 million pollution linked deaths worldwide.
China and India lead in these alarming figures, with 2.2 and 2.4 million respectively with a rise of 55 per cent since 2000. It remained the same in 2019 as in 2015, probably because an increase was offset to some extent, by a reduction in pollution deaths from primitive indoor stoves, and deaths from contaminated water from human and animal waste.
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Dr Lynn Goldman, Dean of the George Washington University School of Public Health, said the figures were conservative and the total deaths actually due to pollution were probably higher. This is because no death certificate will mention the cause of death as pollution. It will state heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, other lung issues and diabetes; which are all “tightly correlated” with pollution by numerous epidemiological studies, as pointed out by Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Public Health Program and Global Pollution Observatory at Boston College.
Researchers look at the number of deaths by cause, exposure to pollution weighted for various factors, followed by complicated exposure response calculations derived by large epidemiological studies based on thousands of people over decades of study, he said. “It’s the same way scientists can say cigarettes cause cancer and heart disease deaths,” they add.
The majority of air pollution deaths, amounting to 9.8 lakh, were due to ambient PM2.5 pollution; tiny pollution particles 2.5 microns wide. Another 6.1 lakh were due to household air pollution. It is most severe in northern India where the topography and meteorology concentrates pollution from various sources. In New Delhi, air pollution peaks during winter. Last year, the city saw just two days when the air wasn’t considered polluted; the first time in winter months, in four years. The main causes are burning of biomass in households, coal combustion and stubble burning.
It is only since 2015, that it has attracted any attention and funding; but remains grossly inadequate. The WHO has tightened its guidelines for global air quality for health by reducing the PM2.5 values from 10mcg per cu.m. to 5; which means hardly any place in India has “healthy” air quality.
Apart from air pollution, there are 17 lakh deaths from chemical pollutants of which nine lakh are due to lead alone; and even that is thought to be an underestimated value. Lead affects children’s’ IQ with irreversible long-term damage. The introduction of unleaded petrol has had some impact, but there is still significant exposure from lead-acid batteries and e-waste.
Other contributors are lead in paint, lead salts in the pottery industry and even in spices. India alone has 27.5 crore of the world’s 80 crore children affected by lead with blood levels in excess of 5ug/dl, the danger level requiring intervention. This danger level was reduced to 3.5ug/dl in 2021.
It remains indisputable that any long-term plans to reduce pollution have to be aimed at replacing fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy such as solar, wind power and even geo-thermal energy. It takes 400 grams of coal to produce 1 KWH of electricity. Even battery powered vehicles are proving to be of dubious benefit. At present, renewable energy accounts for only 12 per cent of all energy sources; of which hydropower accounts for 58 per cent. This may be explained by the reality that solar and wind power, though competitive in terms of pricing to fossil fuels, require a great deal of infrastructure and therefore large-scale investment.
Presently, only China appears to be giving this issue due attention. Even the rich countries are lagging far behind in this, while most low- and middle-income countries are nowhere near the levels of investment that would enable them to make such an energy transition.
In the initial period of this century, it was the developed countries like Germany, Japan and the US which led the R&D. But soon China took the lead. India made some progress with direct subsidies and credit guarantees provided to producers of solar and wind energy. Regrettably, instead of welcoming these developments, the US actually filed cases against China and India in the World Trade Organization, because their subsidies to these sectors constituted a “breach of the global trade rules”. This is by no means the only example of such irony. Some of the biggest pesticide producers are EU-based, where bans are in place. Yet, the sales in developing countries remain unaffected.
China’s lead in R&D is reflected in owning the largest number of renewable energy patents. It is the largest investor in clean energy, both for the domestic market and export; with projects in many parts of the developing world, including in South and South-East Asia. Today it is the world’s largest producer of solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and electric vehicles.
This degree of concentration of patents and knowledge is a matter of concern in some quarters. China currently provides more than 85 per cent of the world’s rare earths, and two-thirds of the global supply of rare metals and minerals like antimony and baryte, essential for the manufacture of electric car batteries, satellites, weapons, wind turbines and solar panels.
Most governments have either ignored or reacted passively to such hegemony in a key area of development for the world’s future. It can and will influence power equations and should raise eyebrows.
(The writer is a founder member of Voluntary Health Association of India – VHAI)
