One-fourth of air pollution-linked deaths in India are due to residential emissions where solid biofuel combustion contributes to the ambient fine particulate matter PM2.5, the first global source apportionment study said. The study, published in Nature Communications, analysed number of deaths, which could be attributable to exposure to air pollution from specific sources in 2017 and ’19.
It identified 15 polluting sources with residential emissions from biofuels burning (indoor air pollution due to emission from cooking, heating) resulting in one-fourth of the PM2.5 share, followed by industry (14.8%) and energy (12.5%) in 2017 and 2019.