At the Indian Clean Air Summit 2024 organized by the Center for Study of Science, Technology, and Policy (CSTEP) in Bengaluru, Dr. Soumya Swaminathan (Principal Advisor, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare) said that research has revealed that most women in Delhi who live in homes are affected by exposure to black carbon. This effect is as much as that of people who travel around the city in auto rickshaws, who are directly exposed to outdoor air pollution.

Exposure to black carbon is having a bad effect on women's health. The report mentions that cities contribute less than 20 percent of the state's total emissions. At the same time, domestic emissions are predominantly between 20 to 40 percent. Speaking on his talk, he said that the National Clean Air Program needs to expand its scope so that these problems can also be solved.

Air pollution is a big threat to health

Dr. Soumya Swaminathan said that air pollution is a big threat to health. Apart from PM2.5 and PM10, black carbon, methane, ozone, and hydrocarbons can damage the environment and heat the atmosphere faster than CO2.

Serious diseases like cancer caused by black carbon

Due to exposure to black carbon, people are getting many serious diseases like respiratory disease, lung cancer, emphysema, asthma, heart disease, etc. Globally, PM2.5 is reducing the life expectancy of people by about 2.3 years on average.

Big economic loss due to air pollution

Speaking, Dr. Soumya said that the effect of air pollution that we are seeing is not limited to health only but it is also causing many big economic losses. Recently, a study published by the World Bank said that in 2019, there was a loss of about 8.1 trillion dollars due to air pollution. You will be surprised to know that this amount is 6.1% of the global gross domestic product (GDP).

The biggest obstacle in switching to clean cooking fuel is economic weakness

Apart from this, Professor Kalpana Balakrishnan (Director, of WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health) said - "I think the biggest obstacle in switching to clean cooking fuel in many homes in the country is economic difficulties." For your information, let us tell you that even today due to poverty in the country, many people use wood, cow dung cakes, etc. to cook food in their homes. This leads to a lot of black carbon emissions.

(PC: Freepik)