Delhi’s Anand Vihar sees 999 AQI: How much should it be?

Shea Woodrow 3rd November 2023

*Delhi has seen extremely poor quality air since Sunday.*

The AQI is a yardstick that is used to easily convey the quality of air to the public. Air pollution is categorised as being ‘good’, ‘satisfactory’, ‘moderate’, ‘poor’, ‘very poor’ and ‘severe’. The AQI at or below the ‘moderate’ category is considered satisfactory

The Air Quality Index in Delhi’s Anand Vihar touched a massive 999 on 2 November.

The AQI in Delhi was recorded at 343 this morning, according to System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR)-India. PTI

According to the website AQIcn.org, the AQI hit that high at 2 pm on Thursday afternoon. By late afternoon, the AQI was above 400 in several parts of Delhi.

The National Capital has experienced extremely poor air quality since Sunday. In October, Delhi’s air quality was the worst since 2020 due to a lack of rain.

Delhi saw the smoky haze shrouding the National Capital thickened on Thursday leaving the skyline obscured the skyline and hiding the sun.

The haze worsened due to a surge in farm fires combining with unfavourable weather conditions.

Doctors have issued warnings about breathing issues being aggravated.

Scientists have warned of a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR over the next two weeks.

An official from the India Meteorological Department reported that visibility reduced to just 500 metres at the Safdarjung Observatory around 7 am, gradually improving to 800 metres as temperatures increased during the day.

Health professionals say it could increase asthma and lung problems in children and the elderly.

But how much should AQI actually be? And what’s the air quality in other cities?

Let’s take a closer look:

What is AQI?

First, let’s take a brief look at the Air Quality Index.

The Air Quality Index is a yardstick used to easily convey the quality of air to the public.

As per the SAFAR website, the organisation monitors several pollutants including PM1, PM2.5, PM10, Ozone, CO, NOx (NO, NO2), SO2, BC, Methane (CH4), Non-methane hydrocarbons (NMHC), VOC’s, Benzene, Mercury.

It does so by observing indicators at a height of around three metres from the ground. This is measured via sophisticated online instruments.

These instruments are operated round the clock, as per SAFAR. The data is recorded at five-minute intervals for quality check and further analysis.

SAFAR says air pollution falls under the following categories:

Good – O to 50
Satisfactory – 51 to 100
Moderately polluted – 101 to 200
Poor – 201 to 300
Very poor – 301 to 400
Severe – 401 to 450

These categories, known as health breakpoints, are selected based on the ambient concentration values of air pollutants and their likely impact on health.

The AQI at or below the ‘moderate’ category is considered satisfactory.

At 3 pm, Delhi’s AQI touched 378. The 24-hour average AQI was 364 on Wednesday, 359 on Tuesday, 347 on Monday, 325 on Sunday, 304 on Saturday, and 261 on Friday.

Several areas within the city, including Punjabi Bagh (439), Dwarka Sector-8 (420), Jahangirpuri (403), Rohini (422), Narela (422), Wazirpur (406), Bawana (432), Mundka (439), Anand Vihar (452) and New Moti Bagh (406), recorded ‘severe’ air quality.

The SAFAR website currently lists the AQI in Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad as being in the “moderate” category.

What does WHO say?

The World Health Organisation in 2021 issued guidelines recommending levels and interim targets for common air pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, O3, NO2, and SO2.

PM2.5 refers to fine particulate matter. It is defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5).

This emission, which is smaller than 2.5 millionths of a meter, can enter the body through the lungs and enter the bloodstream – affecting all major organs.

As per India Today, it recommended limiting average annual concentrations of PM2.5 to five micrograms per cubic meter.

The WHO’s previous guidelines recommended limiting the annual PM 2.5 concentrations to ten micrograms per cubic meter annually.

As per the WHO, PM2.5 exposure can cause cardiovascular and respiratory system diseases such as stroke, lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

It quoted research as showing a link between prenatal exposure to massive levels air pollution to problems with development during childhood, psychological and behavioural problems in young adults including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety and depression.

The WHO said seven million people die annually from air pollution while millions more lose years of their lives.

India Today quoted WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus as saying that “air pollution affects all parts of the body, from the brain to a growing baby in a mother’s womb” even at extremely low levels.

As per the WHO website, while the guidelines are not legally binding or measurements to be met, they are intended to serve as a guide to reduce the impact of air pollution.

Air pollution in India resulted in 1.67 million deaths in 2019 — the largest pollution-related death toll in any country in the world — and accounted for USD 36.8 billion in economic losses, according to a new study by researchers from the Global Observatory on Pollution and Health at Boston College, the Indian Council of Medical Research, and the Public Health Foundation of India.

‘Greatest threat to human health’

A study published in August showed that air pollution is more dangerous to the health of the average person on planet Earth than smoking or alcohol.

The study by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) showed that air pollution is worsening in its global epicentre South Asia though China is fast improving.

EPIC’s annual Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report said that fine particulate air pollution — which comes from vehicle and industrial emissions, wildfires and more — remains the “greatest external threat to public health.”

If the world were to permanently reduce these pollutants to meet the World Health Organization’s (WHO) guideline limit, the average person would add 2.3 years onto his or her life expectancy, according to the data, which has a 2021 cut-off.

Globally, South Asia is the worst impacted region.

Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Pakistan are in order the top four most polluted countries in terms of annualized, population-weighted averages of fine particulate matter, which are detected by satellites and defined as particles with a diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5).

Air pollution concentrations are then fed into the AQLI metric which calculates their impact on life expectancy, based on peer-reviewed methods.

Residents of Bangladesh, where average PM2.5 levels were 74 micrograms per cubic meter, would gain 6.8 years of life if this were brought to WHO guidelines of 5 micrograms per cubic meter.

India’s capital Delhi meanwhile is the “most polluted megacity in the world” with annual average particulate pollution of 126.5 micrograms per cubic meter.

China, on the other hand, “has had remarkable progress in terms of its war on air pollution” which began in 2014, said Hasenkopf.

Its air pollution dropped 42.3 percent between 2013 and 2021. If the improvements are sustained, the average Chinese citizen will be able to live 2.2 years longer.

Source:

Firstpost