Air pollution, especially the presence of particulate matter in the air, is shortening the life expectancy of Bangladeshis by seven years on average, a study says.

Anant Sudarshan, South Asia director of Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, presented the findings of the study at a webinar on Tuesday.

According to the study, the most polluted areas of the country are Dhaka and Khulna divisions, where average residents are exposed to the pollution that is eight times more than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guidelines.

With the recent developments, Bangladesh currently is the most polluted out of 234 countries in the world. Every area in Bangladesh has exceeded the pollution level, according to both the WHO guidelines and the country’s own national standards.

In two decades (1998-2018), the increase in air pollution had cut 3.4 years off the lives of the average Bangladesh residents. In 1998, life expectancy was cut short by 2.8 years due to air pollution, while it stood at 6.2 years in 2018.

Meanwhile, pollution in South Asia is also on the rise. People living in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan could see their lives cut short by 5 years on average, after being exposed to pollution levels that are now 44% higher than they were two decades ago.

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