Effects
The effects of air pollution in India are only getting worse as the years go by. The worsening effects can only be the result of the increasing amount of air pollution in India. Air pollution is the 5th biggest cause of death in India. In 2010, air pollution (both indoor and outdoor) took the lives of 1.5 million people in India, which is six times greater than the amount of deaths from air pollution in 2000. Approximately 1/6 of 3.2 million deaths due to outdoor air pollution came from India. High blood pressure is one of the top five leading causes of death in India and six percent of high blood pressure deaths are a direct result of air pollution. Therefore, not only can the air in India take lives, it can also lead to other life threatening diseases.
The air in India can cause many diseases to anyone that breathes it in. A number of diseases have been linked to air pollution, such as cardiovascular diseases, respiratory infections and cancer. Particulate matter build up is the main cause of heart and lung diseases in India. In fact, twenty percent of lung cancer is caused by air pollution and thirteen percent of hospitalized children die from acute respiratory infections. Also, high vehicular pollution is linked to the increase of children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). The World Health Organization has declared that there is a direct link between diesel exhaust and cancer. How can one of life’s basic, essential, needs be so fatal? How is it possible that people are dying from what they need to survive? If nothing is done about the growing air pollution, life in India can only get worse.