Pollution causes over 200,000 deaths in Bangladesh in 2019

Pollution caused over 215,000 premature deaths in Bangladesh in 2019, ranking the country the sixth among of its kind. 

India topped the list with 2,357,267 deaths, says a study. 

The study titled Pollution and Health: a Progress Update was published in medical journal The Lancet on Thursday.

The report was based on the data from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD) which showed that pollution remained responsible for approximately nine million deaths a year globally.

According to the report, at least 215,824 died in 2019 due to air, water, and lead pollution and occupational hazards.

Air pollution accounts for nearly 75 percent of the nine million deaths, it said.

It further said:"The poor air quality was the main contributor to such deaths while water and lead pollution and occupational hazards are the other causes."

Nearly 175,000 people died due to air pollution alone while over 30,000 deaths occurred because of water pollution, it added.

The poor air quality of Bangladesh often makes global headlines due to fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning, emissions from  brick kilns and development works.

The World Air Quality Report 2020, released in March last year, said the average annual PM 2.5 concentrations in the country was 77.1 micrograms per cubic metre, which was more than two times the WHO recommended limit.