Extensive study of air pollution in India

1. WHAT IS POLLUTION?
Pollution is the process of making land, water, air or other parts of the environment dirty and unsafe
or unsuitable to use. This can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural
environment, but the contaminant doesn't need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound and
temperature can be considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment.
Toxic pollution affects more than 200 million people worldwide, according to Pure Earth, a non-profit
environmental organization. In some of the world’s worst polluted places, babies are born with birth
defects, children have lost 30 to 40 IQ points, and life expectancy may be as low as 45 years because of
cancers and other diseases. Read on to find out more about specific types of pollution.
DIFFERENT TYPES OF POLLUTION
Land pollution
Land pollution means degradation or destruction of earth’s surface and soil, directly or indirectly as a
result of human activities. Anthropogenic activities are conducted citing development, and the same
affects the land drastically, we witness land pollution; by drastic we are referring to any activity that
lessens the quality and/or productivity of the land as an ideal place for agriculture, forestation,
construction etc. The degradation of land that could be used constructively in other words is land
pollution.

2. Land Pollution has led to a series of issues that we have come to realize in recent times, after decades of
neglect. The increasing numbers of barren land plots and the decreasing numbers of forest cover is at an
alarming ratio. Moreover the extension of cities and towns due to increasing population is leading to
further exploitation of the land. Land fills and reclamations are being planned and executed to meet the
increased demand of lands. This leads to further deterioration of land, and pollution caused by the land
fill contents. Also due to the lack of green cover, the land gets affected in several ways like soil erosion
occurs washing away the fertile portions of the land. Or even a landslide can be seen as an example.
CAUSES OF LAND POLLUTION
The causes of land pollution can be divided into two categories. The first is manmade and one
that can be controlled. The second is created through natural reactions that are not easily
controlled.
Manmade Land Pollution
Land pollution comes in many manmade forms such as accidental disasters, Brownfields, waste
management and landfills, pesticides and agricultural practices, clear cutting, urban development and
energy production. Each has a long-lasting negative impact on the environment, but each has a solution.
Accidental Disasters
The 2010 BP Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico in just one example of an extreme accident that killed people

3. and aquatic life. The spill impacted environmental and economical sectors and even reached the
shorelines,destroying wetlands and recreational beach proprieties.
Brownfields, a Big Pollution Problem
A Brownfield is land that has been abandoned and often contains hazardous pollutants or substances
left behind by industries and factories. Brownfields can also be old mines as well as former industrial
dump sites. The EPA's (Environmental Protection Agency) Brownfields Program was created to reclaim
these pieces of real estate and through cleanup and redevelopment, make them usable and valuable
pieces of properties once more.
Storm water runoff is a major concern for this type of property since it can create water pollution and
spread pollutants and contaminants to other lands as well as water sources. It's in the community's best
interest to participate in a Brownfields Program, which includes grants as well as valuable information
how a community can practice land revitalization.
Once contaminants are cleaned up, the properties can be reused to alleviate some of the stress placed
on communities for new land development. This recycling of land also encourages the conservation of
pristine lands. According to the EPA, Brownfields Program cleanups increase surrounding residential
property value by as much as three percent. There are more than 450,000 Brownfields throughout the
United States that could benefit through the EPA Brownfields Program. For a community, the benefits
are reaped in more usable lands that equal more property taxes, attract more industry into the area,
which then create new jobs.
Energy production

4. Coal Mining: The mining process requires the displacement of soil and introduces chemicals and other
pollutants into the environment.
Natural Gas: Extracting natural gas creates erosion and disrupts the natural plant and animal life.
Nuclear plants: The production of nuclear power plants have a negative impact not just on the water
used for cooling the reactors, but also create land pollution from the processes.
Oil Refiners: Risks of spills and contaminates can pollute surrounding land.
Waste Management and Landfills
Solid waste management must be handled with a forward thinking process to limit the impact to land
and runoff water. This goal is compounded from illegally dumped chemicals. Underground storage tanks
corrode and leach into the soil and require different storage methods. The debris sent to landfills create
a buildup of deadly methane gas.
Pesticides and Agricultural Practices
Harmful chemicals used in agriculture collect in the soil and eventually create contaminated land as well
as water runoff that finds its way into streams and rivers to other land and eventually the oceans.
Logging and Clear Cutting

5. Irresponsible methods of harvesting trees can lead to soil erosion and serious land changes. According
to the EPA, the practice of clearing land to make room for agriculture was the highest between the
1830s and 1950s. The biggest threat to forests today is the clearing for urban developments.
Unpaved Roads
One of the most overlooked causes of land pollution, but probably one of the worst is unpaved roads.
These roads erode very easily and once the process begin, they deteriorate very quickly. Chunks of the
dirt road falls into ditches and when it rains, fill very quickly, which can lead to the flooding of these
roads and creating further erosion. Any oil and gas within the roadbed is carried by the water to a river,
stream or other land, typically to crop fields or grazing pastures.
The unpaved roads within forests can create the worst type of erosion and land pollution since most of
the road grades are usually severe or steep. It's important to note that even road construction can
create severe land pollution by displacing soil with the use of heavy equipment that disturbs the
roadbed and surrounding soil.
Naturally Occurring Land Pollution
Many natural processes can create soil pollution. They include:
Erosion: The natural processes of erosion can lead to severe pollution as sediment finds its way into
streams, rivers and oceans. As the sediment dumps into the oceans, it can upset fragile aquatic
eco-systems and marine life.
Floods: A raging river swollen by rain or a heavy snow thawing too quickly create land pollution. Rivers
that run over the banks into communities sweep away automobiles, homes, propane tanks and
hundreds of other pollutants that eventually find their way into the soil once the waters recede.
Forest fires: Lightning strikes can create massive forest fires as easily as one created by a careless
camper or passerby. Fire destroys entire forests and impacts the wildlife dependent upon the vegetation
for its sustenance.
Heavy metals: Many people are surprised to learn that soil can be contaminated from natural elements
such as heavy metals that include lead, arsenic, chromium, selenium and cadmium. These can also leach
into water supplies; however, the instances are fairly rare.
Radon: This is a serious pollutant gas that appears naturally in soil as a result of the uranium breakdown
process. When inhaled, this gas can cause lung cancer.
Storm erosion: Natural disasters such as earthquakes, tornadoes and hurricanes destroy manmade
structures and carry contaminates and hazardous materials into waterways and oceans. These
pollutants disrupt the natural order of marine life and aquatic systems.

6. Water pollution
Water
pollution is the contamination of natural water bodies by chemical, physical, radioactive or pathogenic
microbial substances. Adverse alteration of water quality presently produces large scale illness and
deaths, accounting for approximately 50 million deaths per year worldwide, most of these deaths
occurring in Africa and Asia. In China, for example, about 75 percent of the population (or 1.1 billion
people) are without access to unpolluted drinking water, according to China's own standards.[1]
Widespread consequences of water pollution upon ecosystems include species mortality, biodiversity
reduction and loss of ecosystem services. Some consider that water pollution may occur from natural
causes such as sedimentation from severe rainfall events; however, natural causes, including volcanic
eruptions and algae blooms from natural causes constitute a minute amount of the instances of world
water pollution. The most problematic of water pollutants are microbes that induce disease, since their
sources may be construed as natural, but a preponderance of these instances result from human
intervention in the environment or human overpopulation phenomena.
SOURCES OF WATER POLLUTION
There are various classifications of water pollution. The two chief sources of water pollution can be seen

7. as Point and Non Point.
Point refer to the pollutants that belong to a single source. An example of this would be emissions from
factories into the water.
Non Point on the other hand means pollutants emitted from multiple sources. Contaminated water
after rains that has traveled through several regions may also be considered as a Non point source of
pollution.
CAUSES OF WATER POLLUTION
1. Industrial waste: Industries produce huge amount of waste which contains toxic chemicals
and pollutants which can cause air pollution and damage to us and our environment. They
contain pollutants such as lead, mercury, sulphur, asbestos, nitrates and many other harmful
chemicals. Many industries do not have proper waste management system and drain the waste
in the fresh water which goes into rivers, canals and later in to sea. The toxic chemicals have
the capability to change the color of water, increase the amount of minerals, also known as
Eutrophication, change the temperature of water and pose serious hazard to water organisms.
2. Sewage and waste water: The sewage and waste water that is produced by each household is
chemically treated and released in to sea with fresh water. The sewage water carries harmful
bacteria and chemicals that can cause serious health problems. Pathogens are known as a
common water pollutant; The sewers of cities house several pathogens and thereby diseases.
Microorganisms in water are known to be causes of some very deadly diseases and become the
breeding grounds for other creatures that act like carriers. These carriers inflict these diseases

8. via various forms of contact onto an individual. A very common example of this process would
be Malaria.
3. Mining activities: Mining is the process of crushing the rock and extracting coal and other
minerals from underground. These elements when extracted in the raw form contains harmful
chemicals and can increase the amount of toxic elements when mixed up with water which may
result in health problems. Mining activities emit several metal waste and sulphides from the
rocks and is harmful for the water.
4. Marine dumping: The garbage produce by each household in the form of paper, aluminum,
rubber, glass, plastic, food if collected and deposited into the sea in some countries. These
items take from 2 weeks to 200 years to decompose. When such items enters the sea, they not
only cause water pollution but also harm animals in the sea.
5. Accidental Oil leakage: Oil spill pose a huge concern as large amount of oil enters into the sea
and does not dissolve with water; there by opens problem for local marine wildlife such as fish,
birds and sea otters. For e.g.: a ship carrying large quantity of oil may spill oil if met with an
accident and can cause varying damage to species in the ocean depending on the quantity of oil
spill, size of ocean, toxicity of pollutant.
6. Burning of fossil fuels: Fossil fuels like coal and oil when burnt produce substantial amount of
ash in the atmosphere. The particles which contain toxic chemicals when mixed with water
vapor result in acid rain. Also, carbon dioxide is released from burning of fossil fuels which
result in global warming.

9. 7. Chemical fertilizers and pesticides: Chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used by farmers to
protect crops from insects and bacterias. They are useful for the plants growth. However, when
these chemicals are mixed up with water produce harmful for plants and animals. Also, when it
rains, the chemicals mixes up with rainwater and flow down into rivers and canals which pose
serious damages for aquatic animals.
8. Leakage from sewer lines: A small leakage from the sewer lines can contaminate the
underground water and make it unfit for the people to drink. Also, when not repaired on time,
the leaking water can come on to the surface and become a breeding ground for insects and
mosquitoes.
9. Global warming: An increase in earth’s temperature due to greenhouse effect results in
global warming. It increases the water temperature and result in death of aquatic animals and
marine species which later results in water pollution.
10. Radioactive waste: Nuclear energy is produced using nuclear fission or fusion. The element
that is used in production of nuclear energy is Uranium which is highly toxic chemical. The
nuclear waste that is produced by radioactive material needs to be disposed off to prevent any
nuclear accident. Nuclear waste can have serious environmental hazards if not disposed off
properly. Few major accidents have already taken place in Russia and Japan.
11. Urban development: As population has grown, so has the demand for housing, food and
cloth. As more cities and towns are developed, they have resulted in increase use of fertilizers
to produce more food, soil erosion due to deforestation, increase in construction activities,
inadequate sewer collection and treatment, landfills as more garbage is produced, increase in
chemicals from industries to produce more materials.
12. Leakage from the landfills: Landfills are nothing but huge pile of garbage that produces
awful smell and can be seen across the city. When it rains, the landfills may leak and the leaking
landfills can pollute the underground water with large variety of contaminants.
13. Animal waste: The waste produce produce by animals is washed away into the rivers when
it rains. It gets mixed up with other harmful chemicals and causes various water borne diseases
like cholera, diarrhea, jaundice, dysentery and typhoid.
14. Underground storage leakage: Transportation of coal and other petroleum products
through underground pipes is well known. Accidentals leakage may happen anytime and may
cause damage to environment and result in soil erosion.
Water pollutants also include both organic and inorganic factors. Organic factors include
volatile organic compounds, fuels, waste from trees, plants etc. Inorganic factors include

10. ammonia, chemical waste from factories, discarded cosmetics etc. The water that travels via
fields is usually contaminated with all forms of waste inclusive of fertilizers that it swept along
the way. This infected water makes its way to our water bodies and sometimes to the seas
endangering the flora, fauna and humans that use it along its path.
Air pollution
The air we breathe has a very exact chemical composition; 99 percent of it is made up of nitrogen,
oxygen, water vapor and inert gases. Air pollution occurs when things that aren’t normally there are
added to the air. A common type of air pollution happens when people release particles into the air
from burning fuels. This pollution looks like soot, containing millions of tiny particles, floating in the air.
Another common type of air pollution is dangerous gases, such as sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide,
nitrogen oxides and chemical vapors. These can take part in further chemical reactions once they are in
the atmosphere, creating acid rain and smog. Other sources of air pollution can come from within
buildings, such as secondhand smoke.
Finally, air pollution can take the form of greenhouse gases, such as carbon dioxide or sulfur dioxide,
which are warming the planet through the greenhouse effect. According to the EPA, the greenhouse

11. effect is when gases absorb the infrared radiation that is released from the Earth, preventing the heat
from escaping. This is a natural process that keeps our atmosphere warm. If too many gasses are
introduced into the atmosphere, though, more heat is trapped and this can make the planet artificially
warm, according to Columbia University.
TYPES OF AIR POLLUTION
Smog:The first type of the air pollution is the smog. It is defined as when the smoke present in the
atmosphere after emitting from different sources is combined with the fog present in the air, a mixture
formed that is referred to as smog. Basically different types of factories or the industries are responsible
for the formation of the smog. when the industries do their production from different materials, they
can use different types of chemicals for the cleaning, refining or some kind of production processes, as a
result these chemicals can produce different types of toxic materials that can emits in the form of the
smoke from the chimney of the factory and form a bond of with the fog and cause different harmful
diseases. Living in the smog is equal to the living with smokers; it can cause serious respiratory diseases.
Green House Effect:Another type of the air pollution is the green house effect. It is that type of air
pollution that is formed due to the contamination of several important gases with the air. it is
characterized when the gases called as green house gases when move upward and combine with the
atmosphere and then return back to the earth and destroy different types of things such as crops,
plants, human lives, livestock etc. These gases are basically six in number and they are; methane,
sulphur, nitrogen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen and ozone. Basically the pollution is raised due to the
burning of fossil fuel. it is very harmful for the human skin and can also cause some kind of cancer.
Accidental air Pollution: It is the type of pollution that is characterized due to the causes that are
accidentally in nature. Commonly it is defined as the type of air pollution that is generated due to the
different types of fuel consumption by the vehicles or when the forest are burnt different types of gases
are evolved that are mixed with the air and pollute the air. Some times this pollution is also spread due
to the plant leakage or different types of blasts in the furnaces of the manufacturing plants.
Industrial Air Pollution: Another type of air pollution that pollutes the environment as a result of the
industrial processes is called as industrial pollution. Commonly it is characterized due to the working of
the thermal plants and also the different plants that are used to manufacture different types of
fertilizers or pesticides. The reactions that are used to produce different types of building material such
as cement or steel etc also encourage the production or toxic materials for producing air pollution. On
the whole the air pollution due to the industrial wastes is called as industrial air pollution. Different type
of atomic units also contributes in that type of pollution.
Transport Related Air Pollution:It is that type of air pollution that is characterized due to the smoke
emitting by different types of vehicles used for transportation. As fuel such as petrol or diesel burnt in
the engine can emit different types of poisonous gases in the form of smoke. This pollution can cause
different types of harmful diseases.
AIR POLLUTANTS, TYPES AND CLASSIFICATION

12. Air pollutants come in the form of gases and finely divided solid and liquid aerosols.Aerosols are loosely
defined as “any solid or liquid particles suspended in the air”.Air pollutants can also be of primary or
secondary nature.Primary air pollutants are the ones that are emitted directly into the atmosphere by
the sources (such as power-generating plants).Secondary air pollutants are the ones that are formed as
a result of reactions between primary pollutants and other elements in the atmosphere, such as
ozone.Possibly one of the most important characteristics of air pollutants is their transboundary nature -
they can easily travel and affect the areas far away from their points of origination.
GASEOUS AIR POLLUTANTS
Renowned author Jeremy Colls identifies the following three main types of gaseous air pollutants:
1.Sulfur dioxide (SO2)
2.Oxides of nitrogen (NOx = NO + NO2)
3.Ozone (O3)
Sulfur dioxide and nitric oxide (NO) are the primary air pollutants, and ozone is a secondary pollutant
(though there are negligible direct emissions of the gas itself).
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is both a primary and secondary air pollutant.
Other important gaseous pollutants are: ammonia, carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds
(VOCs) and persistent organic pollutants (POPs).
Sulfur Dioxide (SO2)
Sulfur dioxide is a colorless gas with a pungent, suffocating odor. It is a dangerous air pollutant because
it is corrosive to organic materials and it irritates the eyes, nose and lungs.
Anthropogenic Sources of Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
Sulfur is contained within all fossil fuels, and is released in the form of sulfur dioxide (SO2) during fossil
fuel combustion. Fossil fuel combustion accounts for almost all anthropogenic (human-caused) sulfur
emissions.
Sulfur contents in fossil fuels range between 0.1% and 4% in oil, oil by-products and coal, and up to 40%
in natural gas (when immediately extracted from the well; however, the sulfur is efficiently removed
during the processing of gas before distribution ; therefore, combustion of natural gas is not a major
source of sulfur emissions.

13. Below is a breakdown of all the significant sources of sulfur dioxide emissions
Energy Production
1.Electric power generation
2.Petroleum refining
3.Other combustion
Commercial and residential use
Combustion for industry use
Production processes
Extraction and distribution of fossil fuels
Transport
1.Road transport
2.Other Transport (such as aviation, ships, trains).
Currently, the most important sources of sulfur dioxide emissions (as a result of fossil fuel combustion)
are electric power generating plants.

14. The biggest sulfur dioxide emitters: US, China and Russia.
In fact, you may be surprised to learn that just one Siberian city in Russia – Norilsk – produces 1% of the
total global emissions of sulfur dioxide. In 2007, Norilsk was considered to be one of the most polluted
places on Earth.
Natural Sources of Sulfur Dioxide Emissions
There are also significant sulfur emissions generated by natural sources.
The main natural sulfur emissions come in the reduced forms of sulfur compounds such as:
1.hydrogen sulfide (H2S)
2.carbon disulfide (CS2)
3.carbonyl sulfide (COS)
In organic forms:
1.methyl mercaptan (CH3SH)
2.dimethyl sulfide (DMS) (CH3SCH3)
3.dimethyl disulfide (DMDS) (CH3SSCH3)
Most of these compounds get oxidized to sulfur dioxide or to sulfate aerosols in the atmosphere.
Marine phytoplankton produce dimethyl sulfide (DMS) which is then oxidized to SO2 in the atmosphere;
decay processes in soil and vegetation produce H2S (as one of sulfur compounds); and SO2 is emitted
into the atmosphere by volcanoes.Around 90% of all natural sulfur emissions come in the form of
DMS.Most recently the natural sources have been by far surpassed by anthropogenic sources. Natural
sources have been estimated to produce around 24% of all sulfur dioxide emissions, whereas
human-caused emissions made up around 76%.
AIR POLLUTION IN INDIA
Air pollution is the fifth leading cause of death in India after high blood pressure, indoor air pollution,
tobacco smoking and poor nutrition, with about 620,000 premature deaths occurring from air
pollution-related diseases. Like China, India faces an unprecedented public health crisis due to air
pollution, the Centre for Science and Environment's (CSE) analysis of government data and the Global
Burden of Disease report's data on India has shown. The green think tank released its own assessment
and the global study's India specific data on Wednesday warning that the number of premature deaths
due to air pollution had increased six fold over the last 10 years. Air pollution is now the seventh leading
cause behind the loss of about 18 million healthy years of life in India due to illness. It comes after

15. indoor air pollution, tobacco smoking, high blood pressure, childhood underweight, low nutritional
status, and alcohol use. CSE's own assessment of the air pollution data generated by the government
painted the grim facts that are leading to the public health crisis. "Close to half of cities are reeling under
severe particulate pollution while newer pollutants like nitrogen oxides, ozone and- air toxics are
worsening the public health challenge," CSE estimates say. Half of the urban population breathes air
laced with particulate pollution that has exceeded the safety standards. As much as one third of urban
population is exposed to critical level of particulate pollution. Smaller cities are among the most polluted
in the country. The data is a damning indictment of India's supposed growing urban regions. Out of the
180 cities that are monitored for only two towns — Malapuram and Pathanamthitta — in Kerala meet
the low pollution norms (pollution levels remaining at 50% below the standard) for all pollutants. About
78% cities (141 cities) exceed the standard set or particulate matter of size below 10 microns (PM10).
As many as 90 cities have critical levels of PM10 and of this, 26 cities have most critical levels of PM10,
exceed the standard by more than 3 times. Gwalior, West Singbhum, Ghaziabad, Raipur, and Delhi are
top five critically polluted cities. The data analysis shows the situation is only getting worse with time.
"The PM10 monitoring network has doubled between 2005 and 2010 - it has increased from 96 to 180
cities. During this period the cities with low level of pollution has fallen from 10 to 2 and the number of
critically polluted cities have increased from 49 to 89 cities. In 2005 about 75% of cities exceeded the
standard. In 2010, a total of 78% of cities are exceeding the standard," CSE said. Warning that vehicular
pollution will continue to be the most important reason for concern in coming years as cities grow and
get more densely populated, CSE has advocated that the National Ambient Air Quality Standards should
be made legally binding. It has criticized the new Auto Fuel Policy Committee that is to set the
benchmarks for up to 2025 for fuel quality used by vehicles. It has warned that the committee is not
mandated to link the fuel standards to air pollution levels and keep public health as a parameter when
setting the schedule for improvement in technology.
(TIMES OF INDIA)

16. Noise pollution
Even though humans can’t see or smell noise pollution, it still affects the environment. Noise pollution
happens when the sound coming from planes, industry or other sources reaches harmful levels.
Research has shown direct links between noise and health, including stress-related illnesses, high blood
pressure, speech interference and hearing loss. For example, a study by the WHO Noise Environmental
Burden on Disease working group found that noise pollution may contribute to hundreds of thousands
of deaths per year by increasing the rates of coronary heart disease. Underwater noise pollution coming
from ships has been shown to upset whales’ navigation systems and kill other species that depend on
the natural underwater world. Noise also makes wild species communicate louder, which can shorten
their lifespan.
Light pollution

17. Most people can't imagine living without the modern convenience of electric lights. For the natural
world, though, lights have changed the way that days and nights work. Some consequences of light
pollution are:
Some birds sing at unnatural hours in the presence of artificial light.
Scientists have determined that long artificial days can affect migration schedules, as they allow for
longer feeding times.
Streetlights can confuse newly hatched sea turtles that rely on starlight reflecting off the waves to guide
them from the beach to the ocean. They often head in the wrong direction.
Light pollution, called sky glow, also makes it difficult for astronomers, both professional and amateur,
to properly see the stars.
Plant's flowering and developmental patterns can be entirely disrupted by artificial light.
According to a study by the American Geophysical Union, light pollution could also be making smog
worse by destroying nitrate radicals that helps the dispersion of smog.
Turning on so many lights may not be necessary. Research published by International Journal of Science
and Research estimates that over-illumination wastes about 2 million barrels of oil per day and lighting
is responsible for one-fourth of all energy consumption worldwide.

18. Effects Of Air Pollution

19. Mortality and Morbidity
The
harmful effects of air pollution on human health have been recognized for centuries. It is estimated, that
globally 8,000 people die every day from diseases related to air pollution exposure. Each year 60,000
deaths in the United States and 500,000 deaths in China occur due to air pollution. Several
epidemiological studies have established a direct relationship between the pollutants and health
hazards ranging from morbidity (illness) to mortality (death from illness).
 Excess mortality:
The London fog incident in 1952 conclusively established an association between air pollution
and increased mortality (Logan, 1952). Since then, several epidemiological studies in the USA
and Europe have established a clear relationship between air pollution exposure and excess
mortality. Air pollution is associated with increased risk of acute respiratory infections, the
principal cause of infant and child mortality in developing countries. Each 10μg/m3
increase in
annual average PM2.5 level may lead to 4%, 6% and 8% rise in the risk of all-cause,
cardio-pulmonary, and lung cancer mortally respectively. An increase in PM10 by 10μg/m3
has
been reported to cause 0.76% excess deaths from cardiovascular causes and 0.58% excess
mortality from respiratory diseases.

20.  Particulates and health impact:
Mortality and morbidity associated with air pollution are primarily due to the toxic effects of
particulates. Associations have also been reported with gaseous air pollutants viz. ozone,
nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and carbon monoxide. Compared with particulates, however,
the relationship between gaseous pollutants and mortality is less
consistent.
 Direct relationship between death air pollution level:
Dockery and his co-workers (1993) showed an association between mortality rates and PM10
levels not only from lung cancer but also from cardio-pulmonary diseases. They estimated 3.4%

21. excess deaths from respiratory diseases and 1.4% from cardiovascular diseases for every
10μg/m3 increase of PM10. The overall increase in mortality was calculated as 1% for every
10μg/m3 rise in
 Most deaths are from heart diseases:
The association between air pollution exposure and adverse health outcome has been
summarized by Dockery (2001). He noted that although the relative risk for effects of particles is
greater for respiratory than for cardiovascular deaths, the actual number of deaths are greater
for cardiovascular than for respiratory causes.
 Increased morbidity:
Besides mortality, air pollution could initiate and/or aggravate several diseases. Excess
morbidity is often reflected in absenteeism from school and work, restricted activity spent at
home, more attendance to outpatient medical services; emergency visits to clinics and
hospitalization. Air pollution-related pulmonary diseases for which hospital admissions are
usually required are acute bronchitis, pneumonia, emphysema, bronchiectasis, chronic airway
obstruction and attacks of asthma. Besides lung diseases, air pollution is significantly associated
with cardio-vascular diseases.
Air pollution and rise in the prevalence of respiratory
symptoms:
Symptoms are a form of signals that act as an indicator of any underlying illness or disease.
Epidemiological studies on respiratory and mental health are generally based on collection of data on
the prevalence of respiratory and neurobehavioral symptoms to get an estimate of the disease.
 Allergic rhinitis:
It is an inflammation of the membrane lining the nose and throat due to allergic reaction. The
presence of rhinitis is indicated by itchy sensation in the nose, frequent sneezing, watery eyes,
and running nose. The symptoms are commonly found following exposure to high level of
particulate air pollution and benzene. Diesel exhaust particle have been identified as the major
contributing factor to allergy.
 Sore throat:
If the function of muco-ciliary escalator is impaired by high pollution exposure, the mucous is
not cleared from the airways. The retained mucous traps inhaled pathogens resulting in damage
to the airways, thickening and scarring of epithelium leading to fibrosis. This is associated by
sore throat, an indicator of pharyngitis and tonsillitis, and respiratory or right heart failure.

22.  Chronic cough, bronchitis, sinusitis:
Cough is an important symptom frequently reported following exposures to air pollution. It is
a reflex response to irritation from mucous or any foreign particle in the upper respiratory tract.
When cough is accompanied by production of sputum it is termed productive or wet cough,
whereas cough without sputum is known as dry cough. Cough may be caused by inflammation
of the upper airways as a result of viral infections like common cold and influenza. Severe cough
may indicate damage to the lungs caused by inflammation associated with pneumonia and
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). COPD is often indicated by morning cough
producing sputum, frequent chest infection, especially during winter producing yellow or green
sputum, wheezing particularly after cough, and shortness of breath even after mild exertion.
 Chest tightness, dyspnoea:
These symptoms along with rhinitis, nose and throat irritation and lung function abnormalities
have been observed in workers from a shoe manufacturing plant in Croatia where benzene level
was higher than allowable limit. High prevalence of cough with phlegm and rhinitis were
recorded among traffic policemen in Bangkok. Similarly high vehicle traffic resulted in asthma,
cough and wheeze in children who were additionally exposed to environmental tobacco smoke
in Germany.
 Bronchial asthma:
It results from intermittent narrowing of the airways and consequent shortness of breath. Its
early symptoms are wheezing, tightening of chest, shortness of breath, difficulty in exhaling and
dry persistent cough. Although asthma is genetically controlled, exposure to air pollution can
increase the risk of asthma attacks. A strong association between severe asthma symptoms and
breath concentration of benzene has been demonstrated in children. Asthma and
bronchoconstriction have been linked to cumulative exposures to exhaust from diesel-fuelled
engines and occupational exposures to VOCs.
 Lung function impairment:
Breathing and gas exchange is achieved by the lungs, chest wall, diaphragm, central nervous
system and the pulmonary circulation acting in concert. Pollutants from vehicular exhaust could
reach deep inside the lungs and result in the destruction of the alveoli or the proximal airways
resulting in the malfunctioning of any of the components, thereby hampering the balance. There
are two major patterns of abnormal lung function, namely restrictive and obstructive lung
function.
Pulmonary function can be affected by several factors including genetic predisposition, weather,
season, the time of the day, the basic respiratory health of the subject, smoking status, allergens
and air pollution [Schoenberg et al., 1978]. Lung function is a very important indicator of the

23. adverse effects of air pollution on the lungs since impaired lung function has been identified as
an independent risk factor for morbidity and mortality from heart diseases.
Systematic Effects of Air pollution:
 Cardiovascular changes:
There are reports that indicate air pollution may affect blood pressure. Indeed, high blood
pressure (hypertension) is common among persons cumulatively exposed to high level of air
pollution. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure at least 140 mm Hg, diastolic blood
pressure at least 90 mm Hg, or both. Elevated plasma viscosity, increased heart rate (>80
beats/min), reduced heart rate variability, and increased risk of arterial hypertension have been
reported in association with chronic air pollution exposure. Increase in heart rate in response to
air pollution has been shown to be most marked in individuals who have high blood viscosity.
Hypertension is one of the predictors of cardiovascular mortality with relative risk of up to 2.0 or
more
Air pollution exposure and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are intimately related, and it is a
growing concern worldwide. CVD associated with air pollution are angina, cardiac insufficiency,
hypertension and myocardial infarction (MI) i.e. heart attack. Studies conducted from the late
nineties have consistently shown that PM10 is associated with overall hospital admissions for
CVD. Air pollution has been associated with sudden death in patients with stable angina and
myocardial infarction. This makes CVDs the most prominent cause of death from air pollution
exposure. A study in Delhi, reported a higher risk of CVD and deaths at a younger age
compared to places with lesser pollution.
 Hematotoxicity of air pollution:
Air pollution exposure is associated with a multitude of haematological alterations.
 Neutrophilia:
DEP is a potent stimulus for release of neutrophils from the bone marrow and the transit from
blood to the airway tissues. Acute exposure to ambient particles accelerates the transit of PMN
from marrow to the circulation, whereas chronic exposure expands the size of the bone marrow
pool of PMN. The transit of neutrophils and other inflammatory cells from the blood into tissue
occurs in a highly regulated manner involving sequential upregulation of several adhesion
molecules on the endothelial cells and their respective ligands in the leucocytes, along with

24. release of chemoattractant from the epithelial and inflammatory cells. Moreover, chronic low
dose exposure to air pollution with intermittent acute high-dose exposures may elicit a response
that is different from acute response.
 Altered platelet count:
Exposure to DEP has been associated with markedly elevated platelet number in peripheral
blood, i.e. thrombocytosis. Thrombocytosis has been described as an acute phase reaction
and has been linked to a range of inflammatory lung disorders. Thrombocytosis, especially in
elderly people compromised with cardiovascular function, may increase their risk of
developing strokes and coronary vessel thrombosis, thereby increasing cardiovascular
mortality and morbidity. An increased mean platelet volume is an indicator of larger and more
reactive platelets, and persons with these changes are at higher risk of myocardial infarction.
 Hematotoxicity of benzene:
Volatile organic compounds (benzene, toluene and xylene) are haematotoxic, and exposures
to these pollutants are associated with higher prevalence of haematological abnormalities like
alterations in WBC, RBC and platelet count in children. Rapidly proliferating stem cells in the
bone marrow are most vulnerable to benzene toxicity. Benzene cause bone marrow
suppression, decreased erythrocyte, haemoglobin and haematocrit levels leading to anaemia,
suppression of WBC counts (leukopenia), and reduction in platelet number
(thrombocytopenia). Suppression of all three elements (RBC, WBC and platelets) is called
pancytopenia. Benzene exposure often leads to pancytopenia. Pancytopenia accompanied
by necrosis of the bone marrow, is diagnostic of aplastic anaemia caused by benzene. Bone
marrow dysplasia including dyserythropoiesis, eosinophilic dysplasia and abnormal
cytoplasmic granulation of neutrophilic precursors have been reported following occupational
benzene exposure.
 Immunotoxicity of air pollution:
Small number of T-lymphocyte resides in the bronchial tissue of normal subjects: CD4+ cells
predominate in the submucosa and CD8+ cells in the epithelial. Following DEP exposure among
human volunteers, T-lymphocytes, mostly CD4+ cells, infiltrate the submucosa and bronchial
epithelium. The number of B lymphocytes in the bronchial tissue did not change, but their
numbers increased in the Broncho alveolar lavage fluid with a corresponding decrease in the
blood, suggesting trafficking of circulating B-cells to the bronchial lumen following DEP
exposure.
In recent decades, increased prevalence of allergic conditions has been observed in developed
countries. Although lifestyle, exposure to infection, and diet are important confounders, a
strong link between industrialization and allergy has been established. The underlying

25. mechanisms of hypersensitivity involved pollutant mediated stimulation of interleukin-5
production, immunoglobulin-E synthesis, eosinophil recruitment and bronchial hyperactivity.
 Reproductive toxicity:
Particulate matter can significantly increase the adverse reproductive outcomes in both males
and females. Studies show relatively low level of air pollution (higher than 40 µg PM10/m3)
result in intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) in the first gestational month in females and YY8
disomy in the sperms. Exposures to ambient air pollutants have also been associated with
adverse birth outcomes. Investigation for the effects of air pollutants on birth weight mediated
by reduced fatal growth among term infants who were born in California showed Ozone
exposure during the second and third trimesters and CO exposure during the first trimester
were associated with reduced birth weight and an increase of IUGR.
Air pollutants viz. benzene exerts toxic effects on mammalian foetuses. Disruption of embryonic
development following exposure of pregnant women to aromatic hydrocarbons is well
recognized. Benzene exposure induces a decrease in mean gestational age. Exposures to low
level of benzene in work places interrupt the function of hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian axis and
affect normal levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), pregnandiol-3-glucuronide (PgD) and
oestrone conjugate (EIC) with shortened luteal phase in female workers. Benzene has been
detected above the maximum allowable concentration in semen of workers exposed to organic
solvents, and the change has been attributed to abnormal pregnancy outcome among wives of
the benzene-exposed workers.
 Neurotoxicity:
Besides physical health, air pollution exposure may lead to impairment of mental health,
because toxic effects of particulate matters on central and peripheral nervous system has been
reported. Difficulties with recall, response, concentration, and sleep disorders suggest central
nervous system impairment due to vehicular emission. Benzene produced discrete changes in
norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) turnover in certain areas of the hypothalamus. Tyrosine
hydroxylase is the key enzyme for biosynthesis of catecholamine and the hypothalamus is one of
the major association centres in the central nervous system. Inhalation of benzene in high doses
(>500 ppm) affects the functions of all these centres at an inhalation.
DEP selectively damages dopamine neurons through the phagocytic activation of microglial
NADPH oxidase and consequent oxidative insult. Several environmental toxicants promote or
interfere with neurotransmitter function and evoke neurodevelopmental abnormalities by
disrupting the timing or intensity of neurotrophic actions. This developmental neurotoxicity
extends to late phases of brain maturation including adolescence.

26.  Genotoxic effects of air pollution:
Besides affecting the respiratory system, exposure to vehicular emission may cause genetic
changes as long-term adverse health effect. Urban atmospheres contain complex mixtures of air
pollutants including mutagenic and carcinogenic substances such as benzene, diesel soot, heavy
metals and PAHs. Different chemical agents or their metabolites may cause DNA strand breaks,
impairment of DNA repair system, dysregulation of cell cycle and induction of programmed cell
death i.e. apoptosis. DNA strand break usually occurs when reactive oxygen species interact
with DNA. Diesel exhaust particles, urban particulate cause DNA damage.
Chromosomal aberration and sister chromatid exchange have been reported following in vitro
exposure of benzene metabolites to bovine lymphocytes. In human the loss or gain of a whole
chromosome (aneuploidy) is common in the development of leukaemia and other cancers.
Chromosome 5 and 7 are highly sensitive to loss (monosomy) following hydroquinone and
benzenetriol exposure in vitro whereas chromosomes 8 and 21 are highly sensitive to gain
(trisomy).
 Air pollution and cancer incidence:
There are a large number of carcinogens present in automobile exhausts, industrial and
household emissions. For example, cigarette smoke contains nearly 4,200 chemicals and 44 of
these chemicals are carcinogenic. The most important environmental carcinogens are benzene
and benzo-pyrene. Benzene is a Class 1 carcinogen (confirmed human carcinogen) while
benzo-pyrene and diesel exhaust particles belong to Class 2A (probably carcinogenic to humans)
human carcinogens. The association between chronic benzene exposure and development of
human leukaemia has been established by epidemiological and case studies (IARC 1982), most
of which have dealt with industrial exposures. Of the two major classes of leukaemia (myeloid
and lymphoid), the most consistent evidence for causal relationship in humans has been found
between benzene exposure and myeloid leukaemia.
Carcinogenicity of benzene results from its cellular metabolism. It is particularly carcinogenic to
the hematopoietic system. Chronic exposure to benzene results in progressive decline of
hematopoietic function inducing leukaemia, aplastic anaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes.
Damage to macromolecules resulting from benzene metabolites and disrepair of DNA lesions
may lead to changes in hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) that give rise to leukemic clones.
Cumulative benzene exposures are strongly associated with acute myeloid leukaemia and to a
lesser extent with acute and chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. It affects the bone marrow through
the action of its highly reactive metabolites, especially p-benzoquinone.

27. Additive and synergistic effects of airborne pollutants
Following inhalation, air pollutants act on the target tissues in unison rather than individually. The
pollutants may also react with each other and some of the compounds generated in the process may be
more toxic than the primary pollutants.
The additive or cumulative response to a mixture is the sum of the effects induced by the individual
components of the mixture. Conceptually, the additive effect occurs only when the action of each
pollutant is independent. When a pollutant does not elicit a response when acting alone but increases
the effect of another co-occurring pollutant, the effect is called potentiation. Synergism refers to any
combination of action in which the result is more than which would be attained if the actions were
entirely independent of each other. In other words, in a synergistic process the whole is greater than the
sum of its parts. As for example smoking and exposure to vehicular emission or air pollution result in a
greatly increased probability of lung cancer compared to the risk of either smoking or asbestos exposure
alone.
Human exposure to complex mixtures of air pollutants is a challenge to the toxicologists and
epidemiologists because of the enormous range of variations and confounding factors making exposure
assessment, study design and data interpretation difficult. Therefore, it is debatable whether the
observed changes in human subjects could be attributed to benzene alone. To explore these points’
parallel experiments need to be conducted in experimental animals under controlled laboratory
conditions where the animals are exposed to measured doses of benzene in drinking water and also
inhalation. Comparing the health response following controlled benzene exposure to those obtained
from vehicular emission exposed population, can give an insight into the possible health effects of
benzene from vehicular emission.

28. Economic valuation of the health impacts due to air pollution
(ECONOMIC COSTS OF AIR POLLUTION WITH SPECIAL
REFERENCE TO INDIA
KSENIYA LVOVSKY
SOUTH ASIA ENVIRONMENT UNIT
WORLD BANK
1
Prepared for the National Conference on Health and Environment Delhi,
India, July 7-9, 1998)
Valuation of a statistical life: general approaches and challenges. Everyday individual
actions in which people trade money against a small reduction in personal safety can be used to infer
the value of a statistical life (VOSL). This is not the same as valuing an actual life, and should not be
interpreted as such. Instead it involves valuing ex-ante changes in the level of risk people face and
then aggregating them. Since the exact identity of those at risk is unknown, valuing ex-ante changes
in the level of risk is the appropriate policy context.
The literature on the VOSL, or Willingness-To-Pay (WTP) to avoid a statistical premature death, is relatively
well-developed and there exist several analyses in which the empirical estimates, mainly from the US, are
reviewed, such as Fisher et al. (1989), Miller (1990), Viscusi (1992, 1993) and TER (1995). The two most
complete surveys of the existing literature suggested a mean VOSL of US$ 3.6 million (IEI, 1992) to US$ 4.8
million (US EPA, 1997) in 1990 dollars.
There is also a substantial literature on the valuation of life that relies on so-called ‘Human Capital’ approach.
Human capital is the present value of future labor income. The human capital and the WTP approach are not
entirely unconnected. More specifically, theory shows that human capital provides a lower bound to WTP (see
for example, Cropper and Sussman, 1990). However, the 'consumer surplus' from living can be shown to
exceed human capital by manytimes (compare the human capital mortality cost estimates in Table A.3
in Annex with the WTP estimates of US$ 3.6 - 4.8 million). Seemingly straightforward, the
application of human capital approach to developing countries can still be problematical due to
distorted wages, cross-subsidization of public services, difficulties with valuing various homemaking
services, high unemployment rates, etc. Given the wide disparity between the two measures it is
preferable to concentrate on the task of transferring the WTP estimates into the context of lives-lost
through poor air quality in countries with different income levels.
Attempting to stay on the conservative side within a range of reasonable estimates, this paper uses
the lower value of US$ 3.6 million for the US WTP to avoid a statistical premature death. This value,

29. however, can and should be only used as the basis for initiating the benefit transfer process which
involves a series of adjustments that are described below.
There are several uncertainties which complicate the transfer of available WTP estimates into the
context of premature deaths caused by air pollution in developing countries. A set of problems stem
from the fact that the existing results refer almost exclusively to lives lost as a result of accidents at
work rather than air pollution. More specifically, it is argued that remaining life-years of those who
die in occupational accidents is much greater than those who die as a result of poor air quality.
Further it is argued that those who are most at risk are already suffering from some underlying
condition that may affect the values to ba attached their lives. It is also argued that the contextual
effects are important and finally there is the issue of latency to consider. Finally (and most
importantly in quantitative terms), income levels differ greatly between the surveyed populations and
the 'target' populations of the developing countries that requires a significant adjustment in the
US-based VOSL. Since the assumed VOSL determines the damage cost estimates which emerge
from air pollution studies, these issues should be carefully interpreted in the approaches adopted to
placing a monetary value on the health outcomes of exposure to air pollution.
Age effects, underlying health conditions and social costs. If age effects are important in determining
VOSL and if the age profile of respondents to VOSL questionnaires does not match the age profile of those at
risk from poor air quality, then the effect of applying these VOSL estimates to the air pollution context will
introduce a bias. Labor market studies, upon which the VOSL estimates are usually drawn, measure
compensation for risk of instaneous death for people of about 40 years old and thus value approximately 35
years of life (Viscusi, 1993). The study of Philadelphia in the US found that the excess mortality due to air
pollution almost entirely falls on the age group of 65 and older (Schwartz and Dockery, 1992b), and other
studies that utilize age-specific mortality (except for Cropper et al., 1997) indicate that the vast majority of
deaths related to higher concentrations of particulates occur in the over-65 age category (Fairley, 1990;
Saldiva, 1992; Ostro et al., 1996; Sunyer et al. 1996). Because death from air pollution reduces life-years by
less than 35 years on average, the question is how a difference in age distribution of those involved in WTP
studies and those primarily affected by pollution should change the respective estimate of VOSL.
A possible approach was outlined by Moore and Viscusi (1988) who present a study of risk in the context of
the labor market, in which one of the explanatory variables is not the risk of death but the expected loss of
discounted life years. Comparison, for example, of the remaining years of life for the average respondent of
labor market studies and the average person from the age group ofover 65 in the USA (35 and 10 years
lost, respectively) at a 10% discount rate gives an adjustment factor of 0.64.
A particular benefit of this approach for the purposes of our analysis is that it addresses a concern regarding the
uncertainty of transferring the results of dose-response studies into a different context, highlighted by the
Cropper et al. (1997) study of air pollution in Delhi. The study found that, though mortality risk due to
exposure to particulates (measured as TSP) in Delhi considerably lower than in the US, the respective number
of life years lost is similar to that in the US. This result is not merely coincidental - a greater number of
life-years lost per an average death from air pollution occurs precisely due to the same age distribution of
deaths and major mortality causes that may account for a lower air pollution-related mortality risk for the
entire population. Thus, the use of the central estimate from PM10-based mortality studies, as suggested in the
previous section, in combination with the VOSL adjusted for a number of life years lost will result in a more
robust assessment of the mortality costs in cases like Delhi.

30. What is further important and advocated in this paper, is the need for aligning the economic
approaches to valuing sickness and premature death with the concept of Disability-Adjusted Life
Years (DALYs). DALYs are a standard measure of the burden of disease (WDR 1993; Murray and
Lopez, 1996) that combines life years lost due to premature death and fractions of years of healthy
life lost as a result of illness or disability. A weighting function that incorporates discounting is used
for years of life lost at each age to reflect the different social weights that are usually given to the
illness and premature mortality at different ages. Thus, it is possible to link the VOSL obtained from
labor market studies with the corresponding number of DALYs lost in order to estimate the implicit
value per DALY, and then to adjust the respective VOSL according to an average number of DALYs
lost in air pollution studies (as well as in any other specific study).
According to the age distribution of DALYs, the VOSL from US labor market studies that represent
people of around 40 years old corresponds to 22 DALYs lost while an average death of 65 year old
(assumed to be a mean age of those fatally affected by particulates) corresponds approximately to 10
DALYs lost. This implies that a value per DALY in the US is $ 164,000 and the WTP to avoid a
premature death due to air pollution should be scaled down to 45 percent (=10/22) of the mean
VOSL, or a value of US$ 1.6 million. This is a far greater adjustment as opposed to 64 percent based
on a simple discounting of life years lost at 10% rate. The reasons for such difference are: (a) in
using a much lower discount rate while calculating DALYs; (b) in the different social values
assigned to a year of life at different ages; and (c) in the different weights given to the healthy years
and years lived with disability, whose portion in the total years lost due to premature death increases
at older ages. The incorporation of the latter factor in the DALY measure is important because it
addresses another issue in the debate over the relationship between the mean VOSL and the value of
an average death caused by air pollution; namely, the WTP of the chronically sick.
It is widely believed that those who succumb to the effects of poor air quality are likely to be suffering from
some underlying health condition and that a number of acute deaths from exposure to particulates merely
represent the “harvesting effect”. From the perspective of our approach to adjusting the mean VOSL, the issue
of underlying health conditions translates into the question of whether people who die from air pollution
causes have more severe disabilities (across all healthstates) than other people from the same age group
(65+ for rich countries) and, thus, whether the number of DALYs lost associated with such a death
would be smaller than for an average death from this age group. Unfortunately, there is no
information for a definite answer; however, the difference is unlikely to be near as substantial as for
the mean VOSL.
Contextual effects, latency effects, and the valuation of changes in life expectancy.
It is generally accepted that the value that individuals place on the avoidance of risk depends upon the nature
of the risk. Current VOSL estimates do not account satisfactorily for the characteristics of different risks.
Moreover most if not all estimates are calculated in the context of the job or transport related risks, so these
differences should certainly be considered when trying to transfer existing value of life estimates to
environmental policy analyses. One major difference between risks posed by air pollution and risks posed by
traffic or occupational accidents is that the former are involuntary. Increases in controllable risks are likely to
prompt greater avertive activity; thus, reducing the exposure of the individual up to the point where the
additional costs of the avertive behavior equal the expected benefits at the margin. This explains why an
increase in controllable risks may be valued less than uncontrollable risks. The extent to which this
under-values the cost of air pollution is uncertain.

31. Another important characteristic of air pollution is that it often presents latent rather than contemporaneous
risks. Cropper and Sussman (1990) convincingly demonstrate that the willingness to pay for a reduction in
future risks are to be discounted at the consumption rate of interest. An additional complexity, however, is that
it may be difficult to separate out issues relating to the quantity of life from those relating to the quality of life
for latent risks. Individuals may experience several years of pain before they die. Considering the pain and
suffering of a prolonged terminal illness one might expect that the WTP to reduce these sorts of risks would be
rather greater than to reduce risks of a death following an automobile accident.
This issue of latency has particular importance to air pollution studies when one considers the findings
reviewed in the previous section that the majority of premature deaths from particulate concentrations were
from chronic rather than acute disorders. The prevalence of latent effects of exposure to particulates over acute
effects as revealed by chronic exposure studies along with the controversy of valuing “harvested” deaths from
the acute exposure studies has led to a search for another approach to measure the impact of air pollution on
human health and mortality risk. Such an approach can be seen in quantifying and valuing changes in life
expectancy of the exposed population caused by variations in the air quality. This approach deals with both
chronic effects and the "harvesting" effect by making comparisons between the average life expectancy of
individuals exposed to different concentrations of particulates over a long term.
The life expectancy approach involves (Thurston et al., 1997): (a) estimating the change in life
expectancy by age group implied by the change in ambient particulates; (b) establishing a WTP for
the change in life expectancy by age group; and (c) multiplying these two values with each other and
by the population in each age group, and adding up. The major problem here is the lack of empirical
evidence regarding a WTP for an increase in life expectancy. Currently, only one study (Johannesson
and Johansson, 1996) conducted a contingent valuation survey in respect to changes in life
expectancy, with a large number of uncertainties attached to it, so that an extensive further research
is needed.
Generally, the approach to valuing changes in life expectancy as a result of long-term exposure to
air pollution seems very promising, not only because it addresses the uncertainties of adjusting the
WTP to avoid contemporaneous risks at the prime age to the air pollution context, but also due to a
high political sensitivity of the VOSL concept. It may be more politically acceptable to explicitly
incorporate the value of a change in average life expectancy in the design of environmental policies
than the VOSL.
Valuation of acute morbidity effects. Air pollution also affects human morbidity, and the valuation of
illness and disability is very important to assessing the social costs of air pollution and cost-benefit analysis of
control measures. The literature on WTP to avoid the morbidity effects is very limited in scope and based
entirely within the United States. An alternative, often employed for valuing morbidity, is the Cost Of Illness
(COI) approach, which uses estimates of the economic costs of health care and lost output up to recovery or
death. These comprise the sum of direct costs (hospital treatment, medical care, drugs, and so on) and indirect
costs, which is the value of output lost, usually calculated as the wage rate multiplied by lost hours, and often
using an imputed wage for home services (see Cropper, 1982). Although the COI approach is often viewed as
easily applicable to any country, subsidized and/or inadequate medical services and drug supply in many
developing countries make it difficult to calculate the economic costs of health care. More importantly, COI
will underestimate WTP because it fails to account for the disutility of illness. Since the disutility of illness is
likely to be a major component of WTP, the COI approach cannot ever be entirely satisfactory. As a result,
most preceding work on valuing the health effects of air pollution uses a combination of the WTP approach
where estimates are available and the COI approach where it is not.

32. One approach that has emerged to deal with the paucity of WTP literature and the inadequacy of the COI
literature is to integrate the health-status index literature with the available WTP literature. The health-status
index literature attempts to measure individuals' perceptions of the Quality of Well-Being (QWB) on a cardinal
scale from 0 (death) to 1 (perfect health). Any health state can be evaluated by considering its impact upon
various symptoms, its effect upon social activity, physical activity and mobility, and its duration. By these
means, the conceptually appropriate WTP values can be obtained for each and every morbidity impact that has
been described in the health-status index literature and investigated in the air pollution literature, given the
established correlation between WTP values and QWB scores. In making such extrapolations, it is important to
distinguish between acute effects and chronic effects, because the very fact of irreversibility of a poor health
state adds a significant component to WTP for avoiding this health state, that will not be captured by WTP
estimates to avoid temporary acute disorders. This approach has been taken in a paper by TER (1996) and is
followed in this paper. Table A.2 in the Annex contains the adopted base valuation parameters. It should be
noted that the WTP estimates are consistent with and rather close to the COI estimates, available for some
morbidity outcomes.
Valuation of chronic bronchitis. Chronic bronchitis (CB) is the most severe morbidity endpoint, for
which the dose-relationship is established (Abbey et al, 1993), that may last from the beginning of the illness
through the rest of the individual’s life. Therefore, the valuation of this illness should be done separately from
the other morbidity effects, related to air pollution.
There are two studies that provide estimates of WTP to avoid chronic bronchitis, using the contingent
valuation analysis (Viscusi et al., 1991; and Krupnick and Cropper, 1992). Based onthese studies, the recent
US EPA review of the costs and benefits of cleaner air (USEPA, 1997) recommends the mean WTP of US $
260,000 (in 1990 dollars). This is regarded as a reasonable value relative to COI estimates for chronic
bronchitis, reported by Cropper and Krupnick, 1990. Specifically, the WTP estimate of US $ 260,000 is from
3.4 to 6.3 times the full COI estimates, depending on age (from 30 to 60 year old). It is, however, important to
keep consistency in a ratio between the VOSL and WTP to avoid a chronic illness. Since the US EPA 1997
report uses the VOSL of US $ 4.8 million while this study adopts a lower estimate of US $ 3.6 million, we
downsized the WTP to avoid a new case of CB accordingly and used the base value (before an adjustment for
income) of US $ 195,000 in our calculations.
Income effects. One of the fundamental issues of valuing the reductions in risk is that the
WTP rises with income. Given that the existing VOSL estimates are taken almost exclusively from
the US there is a clear need to adjust the VOSL for income effects before applying the results to
developing countries. The literature on the income elasticity of WTP for reducing the risk of insults
to health however is extremely limited. A simple average of the three available studies yields an
income elasticity of 0.7 (Jones-Lee et al., 1985; Biddle and Zarkin, 1988; Viscusi and Evans, 1990).
It is important to note, however, the acute sensitivity of the social costs of ill-health to the value of this
parameter. The difference in the income adjustment for India between the use of elasticity of 0.4 or 1.1 is
nearly 20 times. To maintain a degree of conservatism in this valuation exercise, a higher income elasticity of
1 for both the VOSL and morbidity cost estimates is used for all calculations in this paper. The finding that the
income elasticity of demand for medical goods and services is shown, by cross sectional analysis of per capita
expenditures in the 1980 International Comparisons Project, to be 1.05 lends support to this decision9
.
Key messages and observations. The analysis of methodological issues highlights that future
work intended to reduce the uncertainty associated with the estimates of the economic costs due to
air pollution should focus on determining the values of morbidity and mortality impacts in India

33. and other developing countries. Alternatively, in many cases the aggregate measures like DALYs
that do not involve the direct costing of the health effects due to air pollution can be used for ranking
the priority areas and mitigation options.
An important observation from this review is an increasing convergence between the approaches to
assessing the burden of ill-health being devised by economists and public health specialists. This is
evident from both: (a) an attempt to combine the measure of DALYs with the age- and
context-specific VOSL; and (b) integration of the WTP to avoid illness with the health-status index.
This tendency should be strongly supported as it serves to promote a greater acceptance of the
aggregate measures of the burden of disease, provide for consistent assessmentof environmental
health priorities and unite public efforts to reduce the risk of exposure to environmental
hazards.
When different health end-points of air pollution exposure are brought to one denominator through
the valuation exercise, premature deaths account for about 40 percent of the health costs and various
illnesses provide for the larger 60 percent. Chronic bronchitis and acute respiratory symptoms are the
largest contributors to the economic costs, associated with morbidity. Chart 3 details the composition
of the air-pollution related health costs by cause as based on the assumptions of this analysis. This,
again, points to the need for more studies that would assess and value major morbidity outcomes.
A dominant share of the social costs of sickness in the total health damages due to air pollution can be used to
strengthen the dialog with policy makers, as it reduces the reliance on arguments that are surrounded by the
controversy of valuing a statistical life. Also, the portion of these costs that represents morbidity closer relates
to economic losses in productivity. If the costs of acute mortality together with one-fifth of the CB cost are
taken as a rough proxy for such losses, then the productivity impacts would be somewhat 40 percent of the
total health costs. For 12 largest Indian cities, it implies annual productivity losses at the magnitude of US $
800 million (with the total social costs of ill-health of US $ 2 billion per year).
5. Health impacts and priorities for pollution control: a case of Mumbai
Mumbai is one of the urban agglomerations in the six cities study, mentioned above, and this section will
discuss the results of the analysis for this city with a particular objective to illustrate how the assessment of
the health impacts can be used for setting pollution control priorities.
As part of the study, a special model has been developed that links these impacts to: (a) emissions from
various economic sectors or sources, and (b) fossil fuel use in each sector. The five most damaging fuels --
coal, fuel oil, diesel, gasoline, and wood -- were examined. The study was designed as a rapid cross-country
exercise and was intended to analyze the evidence for the six cities as a whole rather than the details for each
individual city. This should be kept in mind during the discussion of the results for Mumbai that follows. The
magnitude of damages in the absolute terms will be true only to the extent to which the assumed health effects
and economic values match the Mumbai conditions; however, the relative priorities across pollution sources
do not depend upon these assumptions (they depend, though, on the validity of the standardized dispersion
model and emission inventory, but not to the extent that may reverse the broad conclusions).
The total annual health damages from combustion of various fuels in Mumbai, based on 1992 inventory,
amounted to US $ 150 million. Table 3 shows the shares of three major groups of combustion sources in
these damages: vehicles; large power utilities and industries; and small boilers and stoves used by
small-scale industries, commerces and households, as well as details the sectoral composition of damages
for specific health effects.

34. Table 3. Mumbai: The health impacts of fuel use by a category of combustion sources
City All sources Power plants& Small Vehicles
large boilers boilers&stoves
Cases:
Premature death 2,140 175 1,442 523
Chronic bronchities 7,796 637 5,255 1,905
Respiratory symptoms day 34,036,340 2,780,621 22,940,122 8,315,598
Restricted activity day 10,694,478 873,692 7,207,962 2,612,824
Social costs, '000 US $:
Premature death 71,601 5,849 48,258 17,493
Chronic bronchities 31,396 2,565 21,161 7,671
Respiratory symptoms 30,928 2,527 20,845 7,556
Restricted activity 11,706 956 7,889 2,860
Other effects 1,609 131 1,084 393
Total 147,240 12,029 99,238 35,973
per resident, US$/psn. 12 1 8 3
as a share of income, % 3% 0% 2% 1%
a share by source, % 100% 8% 68% 24%
Source: Author’s calculations.
Turning back to a question of what type of a dose-response relationship for mortality risk should be used for
Mumbai - a meta-analytical estimate from a series of PM10 studies elsewhere or a value from the Delhi study,
it should be noted that the health impacts in Table 3 reflect only an increase in the levels of PM10 (30 ug/m3
annual agglomeration-wide average) that is attributed to the emissions from combustion of various fuels.
These are not the impacts of the overall exposure to the ambient levels of particulates which would be greater.
Because both the pollution mix from fuel burning and a corresponding range of PM10 concentrations
match very well the situations in industrial countries where most dose-response studies were undertaken,
the use of a meta-analytical estimate for the mortality effect is betterjustifiable, and in combination with
the DALY-adjusted VOSL should not bias the respective social costs.
The assessment shows that most of the health damages come from vehicles and small non-mobile sources. The
largest contribution from small boilers and stoves is due to a relatively wide use of highly polluting fuels, such
as wood, coal and heavy fuel oil. The cross-country analysis reveals two principal patterns of sectoral
composition of health and overall environmental damages from fuel use, illustrated by Chart 4. Where coal
and wood are widely used by small sources, these sources of air pollution typically account for the bulk of the
damages (further exacerbated by indoor air pollution from these fuels). Once households and small businesses
switch to cleaner and more convenient fuels, like LPG, kerosene, etc., which is usually coincides with an
increase in traffic volumes, transport becomes the major problem. Mumbai and many other India cities are
currently in transition from one pattern to another.
Chart 4. Two typical patterns of sectoral contribution to the
environmental costs of fuel use
100%
90%

35. 80% Vehicles
70%
60% Small
50% furnaces
40% Large
30% boilers
20%
Power
10%
0%
Coal- Petroleum-
dominated dominated
fuel use fuel use
Source: World Bank estimates. See Lvovsky et al., forthcoming
Priorities for air pollution control should focus on measures that provide largest benefits at a given
cost. Reduction in exposure and associated improvements in health constitute the major portion of
the environmental benefits. Table 4 indicates the relative magnitude of the health benefits that can be
achieved by various control options applied to different pollution sources. The most significant
benefits are to be brought by measures that promote the conversion of small-scale industries and
households from coal and wood to cleaner fuels. Implementing vehicular inspection and maintenance
programs would also lead to substantial improvements in pollution levels and health benefits.
Table 4. Mumbai: Health benefits from pollution control options at different sources
Reduction in:
Total health Premature Respiratory Chronic
Options: costs death symptoms bronchitis
000' US $ cases days cases
Switching small sources from coal to light 56,256 821 13,059,652 2,991
oil/LPG
Switching small sources from wood to light 13,288 196 3,126,987 716
oil/LPG
Inspection & maintenance program for vehicles 11,906 173 2,752,227 630
Reducing sulfur content of fuel oil to 0.5 % 10,395 154 2,458,210 563
Reducing sulfur content of diesel to 0.25 % 8,175 119 1,889,646 433
Source: Author’s calculations.
The next step in priority setting involves the comparison of the benefits with the costs of control
options. This exercise has been done for Bangkok, another city from the six cities study, and is
used here merely for illustration of how the assessment of health impacts can be integrated in the
process of developing a cost-effective pollution control program. Bangkok is a typical example of
the urban air pollution pattern dominated by vehicular emissions and the use of petroleum. In this
city, the least cost program for reducing the exposure levels of PM10 that are specifically linked

36. to fuel use include the following options (listed in order of their cost-effectiveness in terms of
mitigating the adverse health effects):
 Fuel switching (heavy fuel oil to gas) for industrial/commercial boilers and power plants
 Use of gasoline rather than diesel for light duty pickups, trucks, etc.
 Replacement of 2-stroke motorcycles by 4-strokes with stricter emission standards
 Installing new diesel engines in buses and trucks to meet stricter emission standards
(equivalent to those proposed by the EU for 2000 onwards).

37. STATISTICS
Statistics

38. Statistics regarding phenomena such as air pollution are very important, as they provide an objective
measure as to what the status with regard to air pollution is in a specific area, and the statistics can also
be used to set standards and keep air pollution in check.
Some statistics concerned to air pollution in some of the major cities in India are given below -:
• Mumbai
The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Ministry of Environment and Forests coordinated a
study to delineate the status of Particulate Matter levels and investigate their sources in 6 major cities in
India. The study for Mumbai was carried out by NEERI, Mumbai Zonal Center with the support of other
scientists from Nagpur and Delhi. The present study included components like assessment of present air
quality status at seven different sites in Mumbai, quantification of percentage share of air pollutant
emissions attributable to transport, industrial, commercial, residential and other activities. It also
included projected growth trend in emissions for the next 5 and 10 years from various source
categories.
The data for the major pollutants taken from specific monitoring stations across the cities have been
given below

41. An emission inventory was made by the monitoring organization as it is necessary for projections and
modeling of future scenarios. All relevant information and data on emission inventory which were
available through available sources were collected. Thus a demarcation between vehicular, area and
industrial sources was created which is represented in the figure below.

42. The given figure indicates the percentage contributions of small sources for PM emissions.
• Pune
The annual average concentration data for SO2, NOx and RSPM is presented below from 2001 to
2007 for Residential location (Source: CPCB). RSPM and SO2 shows a decreasing trend however
NOx has shown decreasing trend up to 2005 and from the year 2005 it has shown increasing
values for the annual average at Residential Site.

45. • Kanpur
The air pollution data collected for Pune was done by Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur to
identify and inventorize the emission sources in the city.

49. • Bangalore

50. Over the years the profile of Bangalore has changed drastically and is currently better knon as
one of the major IT hubs rather than as a ‘garden city’. With economic development there has
been tremendous pressure on the environment. Deterioration of the air quality in Bangalore can
be attributed to the rapid increase in population and the corresponding fuel consumption
activities like transport, industrial and domestic sectors.

53. • Delhi
Air pollution is one of the major problems faced by many urban centers across the country.
Delhi is no exception as it boasts of all the right mix of sources which can create an unacceptable
urban air pollution scenario. The tremendous increase in the number of vehicles has contributed
significantly to the increase in combustion of petroleum products. The vehicular pollution in

54. Delhi has grown from 64% to 72% in the last decade (1990 – 2000) whereas petrol and diesel
consumption have grown by 400% and 300% respectively in the last two decades. Other sources
such as construction dust, biomass and refuse burning and other unregulated sources are
becoming major inputs in some areas of high pollution levels. All of these factors have together
contributed to making Delhi the most polluted city in the world.

57. National Statistics
National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (N.A.M.P.)
Present status of NAMP : Central Pollution Control Board initiated National Ambient Air
Quality Monitoring
(NAAQM) programme in the year 1984 with 7 stations at Agra and Anpara. Subsequently the
programme was renamed as National Air Quality Monitoring Programme (NAMP). Steadily the
air quality monitoring network got strengthened by increasing the number of monitoring
stations from 28 to 365 during 1985 – 2009. During the financial year 2010 – 11, 93 new stations
were added and the number of stations under operation was raised to 456 covering 190 cities in
26 states and 5 Union Territories as on 31st March 2011. As on 31st October 2011 the number
of stations under operation has been further raised to 503 distributed in 209 cities, 26 states
and 5 UTs.

59. Objectives of NAMP
The objectives of the NAMP are as follows:
 To determine status and trends of ambient air quality;
 To ascertain whether the prescribed ambient air quality standards are violated;
 To Identify Non-attainment Cities;
 To obtain the knowledge and understanding necessary for developing preventive and
corrective measures;
 To understand the natural cleansing process undergoing in the environment through pollution
dilution, dispersion, wind based movement, dry deposition, precipitation and chemical
transformation of pollutants generated.
Parameters monitored under NAMP
Under NAMP three criteria pollutants viz. PM10 (Particulate Matter having an aerodynamic
diameter less than or equal to 10 μm), Sulphur dioxide (SO2 locations. Additional parameters
like Carbon monoxide (CO), Ammonia (NH3 being monitored at selected locations. The other
parameters as notified in revised NAAQS viz. PM2.5 (Particulate Matter having an aerodynamic
diameter less than or equal to 2.5 μm), Benzo(a)pyrene {B(a)P}, Arsenic (As) and (Ni) are slowly
being added in monitoring network under NAMP. The monitoring of meteorological parameters
such as wind speed and direction, relative humidity and temperature were also integrated with
the monitoring of air quality. The monitoring of pollutants is carried out for 24 hours (4-hourly
sampling for gaseous pollutants and 8-hourly sampling for particulate matter) with a frequency
of twice a week, to have 104 observations in a year. The monitoring under the NAMP is being
carried out with the help of State Pollution Control Boards (SPCB), Pollution Control Committees
(PCC) and National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (NEERI), Nagpur and Central
Pollution Control Board (CPCB) head and Zonal Offices. CPCB co-ordinates with these agencies
to ensure uniformity, consistency of air quality data and provides technical and financial support
to them for operating the monitoring station.

60. Data Analysis and Limitations
The air quality data generated at the monitoring stations are entered into Environmental Data
Bank (EDB) by respective SPCBs and PCCs and transmitted to CPCB where the data is scrutinized
for outliers and gaps in input of data. In case of any gaps the matter is discussed with the
respective agencies and later the data is checked, scrutinized, compiled, processed and analysed
statistically to get the information on the annual mean, standard deviation etc. of the pollutants
and payment is also made to the respective agencies.
While presenting the air quality data in this report following conventions have been followed:
i. If the 24 hours sampling in a day could not be fulfilled at all the locations due to force majeure
like power failure, rainfall etcetera, and the values monitored for 16 hours and more are
considered as the representative values for assessing the ambient air quality for that day;
ii. In case no data is available in a particular month with respect to all the three parameters, the
month has been excluded;
iii. In case, no data is reported for a particular station with respect to all the three parameters,
during entire year, that station has been excluded; and

61. iv. The frequency of monitoring twice a week, 104 days in a year could not be met in some of
the locations. In such cases, 50 days of monitoring in a year is considered adequate for the
purpose of data analysis.
Air Quality Assessment
The air quality of different cities/towns has been compared with the respective NAAQS. The air
quality has been categorized into four broad categories based on an Exceedence Factor (the
ratio of annual mean concentration of a pollutant with that of a respective standard). The
Exceedence Factor (EF) is calculated as follows:
The four air quality categories are:
 Critical pollution (C) : when EF is > 1.5;
 High pollution (H) : when the EF is between 1.0 - <1.5;
 Moderate pollution (M) : when the EF between 0.5 - <1.0; and
 Low pollution (L): when the EF is < 0.5.
It is obvious from the above categorization, that the locations in either of the first two
categories are actually not meeting the standards, although, with varying magnitude. Those,
falling in the third category are meeting the standards as of now but likely to exceed the
standards in future if pollution continues to increase and is not controlled. However, the
locations in Low pollution category have a rather clean air quality and such areas are to be
maintained at low pollution level by way of adopting preventive and control measures of air
pollution.

62. Ambient Air Quality in different cities for the year 2010(residential / industrial / rural / others
& ecologically sensitive
areas)

67. Annual average concentration of pollutants in different States and Union territories

68. Trends regarding air pollution in major cities of India-
A few statistics regarding trends in air pollution in major cities in India has been compiled below.
It includes the area, population and climate concerning the particular city. A figure giving values
of the amount of Nitrogen dioxide, Sulfur dioxide and the SPM over the past decade has been
included for each

69. city.

100. Government Policies

101. THE AIR (PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF POLLUTION) ACT, 1981
No. 14 of 1981
[29th March, 1981]
An Act to provide for the prevention, control and abatement of air pollution, for the establishment, with
a view to carrying out the aforesaid purposes, of Boards, for conferring on and assigning to such Boards
powers and functions relating thereto and for matters connected therewith.
WHEREAS decisions were taken at the United Nations Conference on the Hum an Environment held in
Stockholm in June, 1972, in which India participated, to take appropriate steps for the preservation of
the natural resources of the earth which, among other things, include the preservation of the quality of
air and control of air pollution;
AND WHEREAS it is considered necessary to implement the decisions aforesaid in so far as they relate to
the preservation of the quality of air and control of air pollution;
BE it enacted by Parliament in the Thirty-second Year of the Republic of India as follows :-
CHAPTER I
PRELIMINARY
1. Short title, extent and commencement.

102. (1) This Act may be called the Air (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1981.
(2) It extends to the whole of India.
(3) It shall come into force on such datel as the Central Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, appoint.
2. Definitions.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-
(a) "air pollutant" means any solid, liquid or gaseous substance 2[(including noise)] present in the
atmosphere in such concentration as may be or tend to be injurious to human beings or other living
creatures or plants or property or environment;
(b) "air pollution" means the presence in the atmosphere of any air
(c) "approved appliances" means any equipment or gadget used for the bringing of any combustible
material or for generating or consuming any fume, gas of particulate matter and approved by the State
Board for the purpose of this Act;
(d) "approved fuel" means any fuel approved by the State Board for the purposes of this Act;
(e) "automobile" means any vehicle powered either by internal combustion engine or by any method of
generating power to drive such vehicle by burning fuel;
(f) "Board" means the Central Board or State Board;

103. (g) "Central Board- means the 3[Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution]
constituted under section 3 of the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974;
(h) "chimney" includes any structure with an opening or outlet from or through which any air pollutant
may be emitted,
(i) "control equipment" means any apparatus, device, equipment or system to control the quality and
manner of emission of any air pollutant and includes any device used for securing the efficient operation
of any industrial plant;
(j) "emission" means any solid or liquid or gaseous substance coming out of any chimney, duct or flue or
any other outlet;
(k) "industrial plant" means any plant used for any industrial or trade purposes and emitting any air
pollutant into the atmosphere;
(l) "member" means a member of the Central Board or a State Board, as the case may be, and includes
the Chairman thereof,
4[(m) "occupier", in relation to any factory or premises, means the person who has control over the
affairs of the factory or the premises, and includes, in relation to any substance, the person in posse
ssion of the substance;]
(n) "prescribed" means prescribed by rules made under this Act by the Central Government or as the
case may be, the State government;
(o) "State Board" mleans,-

104. (i) in relation to a State in which the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974, is in force
and the State Government has constituted for that State a 5[State Board for the Prevention and Control
of Water Pollution] under section 4 of that Act, the said State Board; and
(ii) in relation to any other State, the State Board for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution
constituted by the State Government under section 5 of this Act.
CHAPTER II
CENTRAL AND STATE BOARDS FOR THE PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF AIR POLLUTION
6[3. Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution.
The Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution constituted under section 3 of the
Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974), shall, without prejudice to the
exercise and performance of its powers and functions under this Act, exercise the powers and perform
the functions of the Central Board for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution under this Act.
7[4. State Boards for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution to be, State Boards for the
Prevention and Control of Air Pollution.
In any State in which the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974), is in force
and the State Government has constituted for that State a State Board for the Prevention and Control of
Water Pollution under section 4 of that Act, such State Board shall be deemed to be the State Board for
the Prevention and Control of air Pollution constituted under section 5 of this Act and accordingly that
State Board for the Prevention and Control of Water Pollution shall, without prejudice to the exercise
and performance of its powers and functions under that Act, exercise the powers and perform the
functions of the State Board for the Prevention and Control of Air Pollution under this Act.]
5. Constitution of State Boards.
(1) In any State in which the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act, 1974 (6 of 1974), is not in
force, or that Act is in force but the State Government has not constituted a 8[State Board for the

105. Prevention and Control of Water Pollution] under that Act, the State Government shall, with effect from
such date as it may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint, constitute a State Board for the
Prevention and Control of Air Pollution under such name as may be specified in the notification, to
exercise the powers conferred on, and perform the functions assigned to, that Board under this Act.
(2) A State Board constituted under this Act shall consist of the following members, namely:-
(a) a Chairman, being a person, having a person having special knowledge or practical experience in
respect of matters relating to environmental protection, to be nominated by the State Government:
Provided that the Chairman my be either whole-time or part-time as the State Government may think
fit;
(b) such number of officials, not exceeding five, as the State Government may think fit, to be nominated
by the State Government to represent that government;
(c) such number of persons, not exceeding five, as the State Government may think fit, to be nominated
by the State Government from amongst the members of the local authorities functioning within the
State;
(d) such number of non-officials, not exceeding three, as the State Government may think fit, to be
nominated by the State Government to represent the interest of agriculture, fishery or industry or trade
or labour or any other interest, which in the opinion of that government, ought to be represented;
(e) two persons to represent the companies or corporations owned, controlled or managed by the State
Government, to be nominated by that Government;
9[(f) a full-time member-secretary having such qualifications knowledge and experience of scientific,
engineering or management aspects of pollution control as may be prescribed, to be appointed by the
State Governments

106. Provided that the State Government shall ensure that not less than two of the members are persons
having special knowledge or practical experience in, respect of matters relating to the improvement of
the quality of air or the prevention, control or abatement of air pollution.
(3) Every State Board constituted under this Act shall be a body corporate with the name specified by
the State Government in the notification issued under sub-section (1), having perpetual succession and
a common seal with power, subject to the provisions of this Act, to acquire and dispose of property and
to contract, and may by the said name sue or be sued.
6. Central Board to exercise the powers and perform die functions of a State Board in the Union
territories.
No State Board shall be constituted for a Union territory and in relation to -a Union territory, the Central
Board shall exercise the powers and perform the functions of a State Board under this Act for that Union
territory
Provided that in relation to any Union territory the Central Board may delegate all or any of its powers
and functions under this section to such person or body of persons as the Central Government may
specify.
7. Terms and conditions of service of members.
(1) Save as otherwise provided by or under this Act, a member of a State Board constituted under this
Act, other than the member-secretary, shall hold office for a term of three years from the date on which
his nomination is notified in the Official Gazette:
Provided that a member shall, notwithstanding the expiration of his term, continue to hold office until
his successor enters upon his office.
(2) The terms of office of a member of a State Board constituted under this Act and nominated under
clause (b) or clause (e) of sub-section (2) of section 5 shall come to an end as soon as he ceases to hold

107. the office under the State Government as the case may be, the company or corporation owned,
controlled or managed by the State Government, by virtue of which he was nominated.
(3) A member of a State Board constituted under this Act, other than the member- secretary, may at any
time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed,-
(a) in the case of the Chairman, to the State Government; and
(b) in any other case, to the Chairman of the State Board, and the seat of be Chairman or such other
member shall thereupon become vacant.
(4) A member of a State Board constituted under this Act, other than the member-secretary, shall be
deemed to have vacated his scat, if he is absent without reason, sufficient in the opinion of the State
Board, from three consecutive meetings of the State Board or where he is nominated under clause (c) of
subsection (2) of section 5, he ceases to be a member of the local authority and such vacation of scat
shall, in either case, take effect from such as the State Government may, by notification in the Official
Gazette, specify.
(5) A casual vacancy in a State Board constituted under this Act shall be filled by a fresh nomination and
the person nominated to fill the vacancy shall hold office only for the remainder of die term for which
the member whose place lie takes was nominated.
(6) A member of a State Board constituted under this Act shall be eligible for re-nomination 10*****
(7) The other terms and conditions of service of the Chairman and other members (except the
member-secretary) of a State Board constituted under this Act shall be such as may be prescribed.
8. Disqualifications.
(1) No person shall be a member of a State Board constituted under this