1. The toxic air pollution is not only reducing the life span of humans given its long-term impacts but is also proving to be fatal to newborns.
2. A study of air pollution’s global impact on newborns, State of Global Air 2020, finds that outdoor and household particulate matter pollution contributed to the deaths of more than 1,16,000 Indian infants in their first month of life in 2019.
3. However, the study found progress in reducing household air pollution exposures but levels stagnant for outdoor PM2.5.
4. The study said more than half of these deaths were associated with outdoor PM2.5 and others were linked to the use of solid fuels such as charcoal, wood, and animal dung for cooking.
5. Long-term exposure to outdoor and household air pollution contributed to over 1.67 million annual deaths from stroke, heart attack, diabetes, lung cancer, chronic lung diseases, and neonatal diseases in India in 2019.
6. For the youngest infants, most deaths were related to complications from low birth weight and preterm birth.
7. Air pollution has now become the largest risk factor for deaths among all health risks, according to the annual State of Global Air 2020 report published by the Health Effects Institute (HEI).
