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Air pollution: largest environmental health threat in Bangladesh

Air pollution the biggest environmental killer in the world and in Bangladesh (Global Burden of Disease Study)

WHO: Air pollution is officially classified as a carcinogen and labeled “a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths”

Air pollution increases vulnerability to COVID-19

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Payra: Largest planned coal power cluster in South Asia, 2nd largest in the world

Country	Area	Proposed capacity, MW	Population density /km2
China	Shaanxi	8640	275
Bangladesh	Barisal	7300	458
Turkey	Kahramanmaras	7000	52
Egypt	Red Sea	6600	20
Bangladesh	Rangpur	6000	1180
China	Shaanxi	5320	120
China	Shaanxi	5320	121
China	Xinjiang	5280	1
Mongolia	Govisumber	5280	3
Turkey	Konya	5000	19

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Current air pollution levels alarmingly high

PM2.5 air pollution levels were two times as high as Bangladesh standards already before any coal plants were in operation

WHO guideline

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The power plants would expose millions to elevated pollution levels

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Threat of mercury contamination

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Threat of mercury contamination

The plants would emit an estimated 600-800kg/year of mercury into the air

1/3 of this would be deposited into land and freshwater ecosystems in the region, 170-290 kg per year

Risk of mercury contamination of fish in an area of 1,500km2 to the north and northeast of the plants, with a population of approximately 1,500,000 people

Area	Direct deposition rate, mg/ha/yr	Total deposition into area, kg/yr
Andarmanik River Hilsha Sanctuary	33.5 - 1288.2	0.3
Tentulia River Hilsha Sanctuary	11.6 - 196.6	7.0
Shahbazpur Hilsha Sanctuary	5.6 - 64	4.1
Meghna and Padma River Sanctuaries	11.5 - 46.8	2.9
Sundarbans	1.1 - 22.5	3.6
Total for all protected areas		34.1

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Projected cumulative health impacts, over 30 years of operation

Outcome	Pollutant
deaths	Total	34,636
asthma emergency room visits, adults	PM2.5	35,503
asthma emergency room visits, children	PM2.5	25,154
new cases of asthma in children	NO2	14,454
preterm births	PM2.5	39,042
work absence (sick leave days), million	PM2.5	25.6
years lived with disability, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	PM2.5	37,432
years lived with disability, diabetes	PM2.5	3,075
years lived with disability, stroke	PM2.5	16,952

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How air pollution worsens the COVID-19 pandemic

The high levels of air pollution in Bangladesh are currently putting the population at an elevated risk from the unfolding COVID-19 epidemic.

Air pollution increases the risk of many pre-existing conditions that make COVID-19 more severe and deadly: Hundreds of thousands of Bangladesh citizens were already suffering from chronic diseases and disabilities because of their past exposure to air pollution, and this is making them more vulnerable to COVID-19

Likely the risk of infection is affected by the impact of air pollution on the immune system, and the respiratory symptoms for infected people are made worse by air pollution - there is evidence of this for respiratory infections in general but not yet for COVID-19.

Disease	Deaths	Years Lived with Disability
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease	30.5%	15.0%
Diabetes mellitus	8.5%	11.2%
Ischemic heart disease	9.7%	2.0%
Lower respiratory infections	18.1%	18.0%
Stroke	6.0%	4.2%
Lung cancer	15.7%	15.5%

Contribution of air pollution to selected COVID-19 risk factors in Bangladesh (Global Burden of Disease Study 2017).

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Key findings

Bangladesh and Barisal are already suffering from high levels of air pollution, increasing the risk of many chronic diseases, lowering life expectancy and making the country more vulnerable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The seven coal-fired power plants proposed in Payra would constitute one of the largest air pollutant, mercury and CO2 emissions hotspots in South Asia and the world.
The plants would emit an estimated 600-800 kg of mercury per year into the air

one third would be deposited into land and freshwater
mercury deposition potentially dangerous in an area with 500,000 - 1,500,000 inhabitants
several protected Hilsa fisheries would be put at risk.

The plants would be responsible, over an operating life of 30 years, for a projected

18,000-35,000 air pollution-related deaths
71,000 asthma emergency room visits
15,000 new cases of asthma in children
39,000 preterm births
26 million days of work absence (sick leave)
57,000 years lived with disability related to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes and stroke

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