Asia had highest number of premature deaths in the world for decades due to air pollution: NTU study
Southeast Asia was most vulnerable to the simultaneous occurrence of three types of weather patterns, which worsened the effects of fine particulate matter pollution.
The Singapore skyline is seen shrouded in haze on Sep 14, 2015. (File photo: AFP/Roslan Rahman)
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SINGAPORE: An increasing amount of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air over the last four decades could be linked to the premature deaths of 135 million people globally, according to a recent study led by Nanyang Technological University (NTU) researchers.
The study estimated that Asia had the highest number of premature deaths worldwide – 98.1 million – that were caused by PM2.5 pollution between 1980 and 2020.
PM2.5 is the predominant pollutant during periods of transboundary haze. The particles, which are about 30 times smaller than an average strand of hair, are particularly harmful to people’s health when inhaled.
They come from vehicle emissions, industrial processes, as well as natural sources such as wildfires and dust storms.
NTU said on Monday (Jun 10) that the study also found certain weather phenomena – such as El Nino – worsened the effects of PM2.5 by intensifying the concentration of particles in the air.Â
This in turn led to a 14 per cent spike in premature deaths.Â
In the study, premature deaths refer to fatalities that occur earlier than expected based on average life expectancy, resulting from preventable or treatable causes such as diseases or environmental factors.
“We see an obvious increasing trend for different kinds of disease, including asthma, COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease),” said Associate Professor Steve Yim from NTU’s Asian School of the Environment and Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKCMedicine), who led the study.
“So this is what we find very important - this signal of the urgency that we should mitigate the air pollution problem not only in one country, but globally,” he told CNA’s Singapore Tonight on Monday.
HIGHER RISK OF LUNG CANCER, HEART DISEASE
PM2.5 particles can penetrate deep into individuals’ lungs due to their tiny size, leading to health problems that especially affect vulnerable groups like children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions.
On top of that, those exposed to polluted air for a long time could develop heart disease, stroke or even lung cancer unrelated to tobacco usage.
The NTU study found that PM2.5 pollution led to the premature deaths of 49 million people in China. The figure was 26.1 million in India.
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Japan also recorded significant numbers of premature deaths attributable to PM2.5 pollution, ranging from 2 to 5 million each.
LKCMedicine dean Joseph Sung, who co-authored the study, noted: “We are seeing more and more people who have never been smoking, particularly females, that might get this disease and the trend seems to be rising over the past decades.”
By recognising such patterns, healthcare providers can better prepare for the possibility of more patients seeking treatment for pollution-related ailments, added Professor Sung, who is also the university’s senior vice-president of health and life sciences.
The study estimated that a third of premature deaths that occurred from 1980 to 2020 were associated with stroke.
Another third were associated with ischemic heart disease, while the rest were linked to COPD, lower respiratory infections, and lung cancer.
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9 MAJOR AIR POLLUTION EPISODES ANNUALLY
Meanwhile, the researchers found that 363 major air pollution episodes happened around the world over the past four decades, with an average of nine episodes every year.
The duration of an air pollution episode ranged from two to nine months. 2002 had the greatest number of episodes at 15, followed by 2004 and 2006 which experienced 14 each.
Researchers looked at how changes in air quality were affected by climate patterns, including the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, Indian Ocean Dipole, and North Atlantic Oscillation weather patterns.
They estimated that these three phenomena simultaneously caused about 7,000 more premature deaths worldwide every year.
The Southeast Asian region was the most vulnerable to these phenomena, which coincided in 1994, 1997, 2002 and 2015.
About 3,100 more people died prematurely in the region each year from the higher impact of pollution worsened by the weather patterns, the researchers found.
They used data from a NASA-managed dataset, which provides monthly information about the concentration of PM2.5 on the Earth’s surface.
The researchers also used data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a public health agency based in the United States, on global deaths and occurrences of pollution-linked diseases.
SINGAPORE-FOCUSED STUDY
Moving forward, the research team will conduct more detailed studies to better understand local air pollution patterns, and further detail how climate patterns influence the formation and reduction of PM2.5.
The study was part of NTU’s S$50 million interdisciplinary climate research programme - the Climate Transformation Programme – that was launched last year. The programme is led by NTU’s Earth Observatory of Singapore and funded by the Education Ministry.
Assoc Prof Yim told CNA that NTU is also working on a Singapore-focused study to understand how climate change affects air pollution in the country.
Work began in December last year, with preliminary results likely to emerge at the end of 2024 or early 2025, he added.
