Air Pollution: Time to act before it's too late

Air is an ever-present force surrounding us, though it remains invisible to the unaided eye. Despite its invisibility, we constantly experience its presence and recognise its fundamental role in sustaining life.

Air pollution represents a critical global issue due to its detrimental impacts on public health and economic productivity. In numerous parts of the world, air pollution has emerged as the leading threat to human health.

This issue is especially severe in urban areas, where city dwellers increasingly suffer from respiratory and other airborne illnesses caused by rising emissions, contributing to a significant increase in mortality rates.

A major contributor to air pollution is particulate matter (PM) present in the atmosphere. Exposure to PM2.5 has been found to negatively affect cognitive performance in adults, with the most pronounced impact observed among individuals in their prime working years.

According to State of Global Air (2024), in 2021 alone, air pollution caused 8.1 million deaths worldwide, making it the second leading cause of death including children under five. Over seven lakh deaths in this age group were attributed to air pollution, representing 15% of all global child fatalities.

Today, air quality remains a major environmental issue and an ongoing challenge in many urban areas of developing countries. According to IQAir (2025), in 2023, South Asia was identified as the most polluted sub-region globally, with the Air Quality Index (AQI) of 164, 160, and 147 for Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India, respectively.

Bangladesh is among the most polluted countries in terms of air quality, and prolonged exposure to these high pollution levels has serious consequences for public health. While being one of the world's fastest-growing economies, it is also among the most polluted countries, facing serious health threats from poor air quality that result in thousands of deaths each year.

Air pollution in Bangladesh leads to numerous premature deaths and causes billions of days of illness annually. The economic burden of these health impacts was estimated at 8.3% of the country's GDP for that particular year.

According to Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) report (2025), this severe pollution has become the top risk factor for mortality in Bangladesh, reducing average life expectancy by 5.5 years.

Bangladesh's annual average PM2.5 level of 79.9 µg/m³ is more than double the national standard of 35 µg/m³ and 15 times higher than the WHO guideline of 5 µg/m³, making air pollution the top cause of premature deaths and reducing average life expectancy.

According to State of Global Air (2024), in 2021, air pollution-related Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) led to 15,000 deaths, while 19,100 children under five died from Lower Respiratory Infections (LRIs) linked to polluted air.

Furthermore, over 40% of Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) cases in Bangladesh are attributed to air pollution, one of the highest rates globally.

The major contributors to air pollution in our country are emissions from vehicles and industries. A study by the World Bank (2022) reports that in Bangladesh, on average 13.9% of respondents experience LRIs, with the highest proportion (16.1%) living near brick kilns followed by respondents living in construction sites and areas with major construction and traffic (14.2%), and those who are exposed to persistent traffic (12.4%).

Dhaka, the capital and commercial hub of Bangladesh, is experiencing this crisis with particular severity. As reported in the Air Quality Life Index (AQLI) Report (2024), Dhaka has an average AQI of 225, categorised as "very unhealthy" while Narayanganj, another densely populated and commercially important city in Bangladesh, records an even higher average AQI of 345, placing it in the "hazardous' category.

It is, therefore, high time the government took proper measures to deal with air pollution and reduce airborne diseases particularly in densely polluted urban areas like Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, etc.

People in our country bear the external costs of protecting themselves from air pollution by wearing masks and also incur medical costs for the airborne diseases, which is unacceptable. As the polluters do not consider the external costs in their production process, which are ultimately passed on to the general people.

So, we suggest imposing economic instruments, such as: imposing taxation on the pollution generation activities and take social control measures, such as: relocating highly polluting industries far from the residential areas.

Additionally, the government should allot specific funds in national budget of our country and demonstrate its commitment to solve the air-quality problems by increasing environmental expenditure on air pollution reduction by expanding green spaces, adopting air purifier technologies, and ensuring the implementation of proper regulation.

Moreover, brick kilns, industries, transportations, and construction sites are the most leading sources of air pollution, releasing huge emissions, dust, particulate matter, and volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere.

To address these challenges, policymakers should enforce strict regulations on brick kilns, highly polluting industries, transportation, and construction activities by promoting the use of cleaner and more efficient technologies and encourage sustainable building practices.

Apart from that, the government can impose the effective implementation of 3Ps (Polluter Pays Principle) in order to reduce and regulate the huge negative externalities by brick kilns, industries and construction sites. The implementation of 3Ps can be seen in our neighbouring countries like India, Thailand, etc.

Lastly, public awareness campaigns are also vital in tackling air pollution, particularly in high polluting cities. Such initiatives, led by government agencies, health authorities, and community organisations, can educate citizens about the severe health risks of air pollution and inspire collective actions.

Improvement in air quality will bring several advantages, such as higher gross national income, lower healthcare expenses, and environmental sustainability.

Based on the above observations, we can say that air pollution has now become a long-term issue and is working as a silent killer. In order to ensure sustainable economic development of our country, we need to keep in mind that environment and economy are complementary to each other.

Hence, economic development at the cost of natural resources will be unethical and unsustainable.

Dr Wasim Akram is an Assistant Professor and Md Mominul Islam is a Lecturer at the Department of Economics in Southeast University.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.