Bangladesh is the world's most polluted country, the particulate air pollution (PM2.5) shortens the average Bangladeshi resident's life expectancy by 4.8 years, World Health Organization (WHO) report revealed.
"If Bangladesh was to reduce particulate pollution to meet the WHO guideline, residents in Dhaka-the most populous district in Bangladesh-would gain 5.6 years of life expectancy. In Chittagong-the country's second most populous district-residents would gain 5.2 years. Even if pollution levels in Dhaka and Chittagong were to meet Bangladesh's national standard, life expectancy in these districts would increase by 2.6 and 2.3 years, respectively," the new global report said that released on Wednesday.
This data shows that particulate pollution is the world's greatest external risk to human health. Its impact on life expectancy is comparable to that of smoking, more than four times that of high alcohol use, more than five times that of transport injuries like car crashes, and more than six times that of HIV/AIDS.
"While particulate pollution takes 4.8 years off the life of the average Bangladeshi, tobacco use takes off 2 years and child and maternal malnutrition takes off 1.4 years, it said adding that some areas of Bangladesh fare much worse than others, such as the Gazipur and Narsingdi districts, where air pollution is shortening lives by more than 6 years," it founds.
Bangladesh's 166.4 million people live in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level exceeds the WHO guideline and 96.8 per cent of the country's population lives in regions that do not meet the country's own national standard of 35 µg/m³. Even in the least polluted district of Sylhet, particulate pollution is 6.7 times the WHO guideline.
In 2022, particulate pollution was 22 per cent lower relative to 2021-a contrast to the increasing trend between 2015-2021. If the reduction in 2022 is sustained, an average Bangladeshi resident would live one year longer compared to what they would if they were exposed to the average pollution levels over the last decade.
It said that air pollution remains the "Greatest External Risk to Human Health", however, a third of the world's population lives in South Asia regions do not meet the and if those countries did meet their own benchmarks, these 3 billion people would live an average of 1.2 years longer.
In some of the most polluted districts of the country spread across the states of Dhaka and Chittagong, 75.9 million residents or 45.6 per cent of Bangladesh's population are on track to lose 5.4 years of life expectancy on average relative to the WHO guideline.
While pollution slightly dipped due largely to a trend reversal in South Asia, more than three-quarters of countries around the world have not set or are not meeting national pollution standards.
Though global pollution was slightly lower in 2022, its burden on life expectancy remains, according to new data from the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI).
If the world were to permanently reduce fine particulate pollution (PM2.5) to meet the World Health Organization's (WHO) guideline, the average person would add 1.9 years onto their life expectancy-or a combined 14.9 billion life-years saved worldwide.
"While air pollution remains a global problem, its largest impacts are concentrated in a relatively small number of countries-cutting lives short several years in some places and even more than six years in some regions," says Michael Greenstone, the Milton Friedman Distinguished Service Professor in Economics and creator of the AQLI along with colleagues at the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC).
While 37 out of 94 countries with standards aren't meeting them, more than half of all countries and territories have not set a standard at all. Together, 77 per cent of countries and territories worldwide have either not met or do not have a national standard.
Global pollution declined in 2022 due almost entirely to a trend reversal in South Asia. While pollution had been on the rise for more than a decade, it declined by 18% in one year.
Even with the decline, the region remains the most polluted in the world, accounting for 45% of total life years lost due to high pollution.
The average person living in these countries would gain 3.5 years onto their lives if pollution were permanently reduced to meet the World Health Organization guideline.
