15% of deaths in Delhi linked to air pollution: Study

New Delhi, Nov 2: One in every seven deaths in Delhi in 2023 was linked to air pollution, according to the latest Global Burden of Disease (GBD) data released by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME), Times of India reported.

An analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) found that ambient particulate matter pollution remained the single largest risk factor for deaths in the capital, accounting for nearly 15% of all fatalities—around 17,200 deaths—last year.

“In 2023, 9.4% of Delhi’s total disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were attributable to particulate pollution, the highest in the country. This equates to nearly 4.9 lakh years of healthy life lost due to polluted air,” TOI quoted Manoj Kumar, an analyst at CREA, as saying. The study found that after air pollution, the other major contributors to mortality in Delhi were high systolic blood pressure (12.5%), high fasting plasma glucose (9%), high cholesterol (6%) and high body-mass index (5.6%).

Experts say that while pollution-linked deaths are difficult to quantify precisely, the health impacts of Delhi’s toxic air are undeniable.