Air pollution costs Lanka $16m. annually - Study

By Rukshana Rizwie

A new World Bank study has found that exposure to ambient and household air pollution could cost the country a staggering loss of 7.5 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) annually.

The study cited that in 2013 alone, exposure to air pollution cost the world's economy $5.11 trillion in welfare losses.

The researchers say that air pollution which is especially severe in some of the world's fastest-growing urban regions is a drag on development. They rationalized that illness and premature death reduces the quality of life and thereby causing a loss of productive labour.

The losses were the highest in South Asia, East Asia and the Pacific in terms of magnitude, at 7.4 percent and 7.5 percent of the regional gross domestic product (GDP). Losses to Sri Lanka's annual GDP at 7.75% amount to $16.366 million.

The study also reveals that air pollution costs have grown since 1990. "Welfare losses nearly doubled and labour income losses increased by 40 percent, despite countries having made great gains in economic development and health outcomes.

In low-income countries, declines in death rates were more than offset by population growth and greater total exposure to polluted air. In middle-income countries, total exposure and health impact also increased," the report said.

The study also found that air pollution was especially severe in some of the world's fastest-growing urban regions, where the combination of more people, more vehicles, and energy derived from dirty fuels, construction, improper management of wastes, and other factors have elevated exposure.

"Exposure has increased most quickly in the developing countries of South Asia and East Asia and the Pacific, reaching 46 micrograms per cubic meter (µg/m3 ) and 42 µg/m3, respectively, or about three times the guideline value of 15 µg/m3 recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the level below which adverse health effects have not yet been observed."

Air pollution has emerged as one of the world's leading health risks. Each year, more than 5.5 million people around the world die prematurely from illnesses caused by breathing polluted air. Those illnesses include lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, acute respiratory infections, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases such as bronchitis and emphysema.