A study has linked a significant number of deaths resulting from air pollution to international trade, accounting for 14–18 percent of the 5.1 million annual mortalities from fine particulate matter across the world. India is among the most affected countries in this regard.
Observing that air pollution can travel long distances, affecting neighbouring countries and even regions far away from the source, the study pointed out that with 90K-94.3K deaths, India topped the list of countries whose emissions cause the largest number of these transboundary pollution-related mortalities, followed by Pakistan with 38.5K–40.3K, China with 37.9K–40.5K, Turkey with 35.7K–37.4K and Saudi Arabia with 33.8K–36.8K deaths.
The study, conducted by experts from the University of Illinois, USA, University of Edinburgh, UK, and University of Minnesota, USA, was published by Nature Communications, an international peer reviewed journal, on April 17.
Countries causing the largest number of production-based mortalities include China with 950K-959K deaths, India with 436K-453K, Indonesia with 112K-120K, Japan with 84.4K-89.1K and Brazil with 74.7K-81.6K deaths.
For consumption-based mortalities the figures are China with 670K-844K, India with 344K-356K, the United States with 239K-246K, Japan with 99.3K-114K and Indonesia with 84.7K-99.6K deaths.
Stating that ambient air pollution is a major global cause of mortality and international trade redistributes air pollution-related health burdens, the researchers said that consumption-related pollution tends to be relatively more concentrated in global industrial exporters such as China and India.
Of the 2.82-2.91 million mortalities out of 5.1 million caused by exposure to particulate matter from economic activity, the demand for exports was responsible for 40-48 per cent. For about 80 per cent of countries, the majority of mortalities caused by their consumption of goods and services occur outside of their borders. The largest exceptions to this are China, Indonesia, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, India and the Philippines, which each domestically bear more than two-third of the global mortalities caused by their consumption.
The largest net exporters of mortalities include the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Germany, while the largest net importers are China, India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, the researchers observed.
