An increase of 10 μg per cubic meter in the two days moving average of PM10 concentration (average over the current and previous day) was associated with increases of 0.44% in daily all-cause mortality, 0.36% in daily cardiovascular mortality, and 0.47% in daily respiratory mortality, revealed a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

 The corresponding increases in daily mortality for the same change in PM2.5 concentration were 0.68%, 0.55%, and 0.74%.  These associations remained significant after adjustment for gaseous pollutants.

Associations were stronger in locations with lower annual mean PM concentrations and higher annual mean temperatures.

The study included almost 60 million deaths from 652 cities in 24 countries.

Take home trick: Every 20 rise in PM 10/2.5 levels increases the mortality by 1%.

Dr KK Aggarwal

President CMAAO, HCFI and Past National President IMA