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November 19, 2018

Delhi’s air quality in 2016 decreased life expectancy by 10 years, reveals study

Press Trust of India (PTI) uses EPIC's newly released AQLI to illuminate the causal relationship between air pollution and life expectancy in New Delhi.

During the past two decades, Delhi’s air quality was the “most deadly” in 2016 as it reduced the life expectancy of a resident by more than 10 years, a new study said Monday, asserting that the national capital was the second among 50 most polluted areas of the country. India is today the world’s second most-polluted country, trailing only Nepal, it said and pointed out that loss of life expectancy was the highest in Asia, exceeding six years in many parts of India and China.

According to air quality life index and an accompanying report produced by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC), globally particulate pollution reduces average life expectancy by 1.8 years, making it the greatest global threat to human health. “By comparison, first-hand cigarette smoke leads to a reduction in global average life expectancy of about 1.6 years,” it said.

Continue reading at Press Trust of India