It’s a never-ending debate in Asia — whose air quality is worse, China’s or India’s? A new study released by Greenpeace is trying to answer that question according to a February 22, 2016 Washington Post report.

Analysts looked at NASA satellite images and found that measurements of fine particle particulate matter (PM2.5) — the microscopic particles that invade your lungs and can cause cancer and heart disease — improved impressively in China over the past few years while air quality in India has worsened, with 2015 ranking as India’s most polluted year on record.

The satellite images showed that the levels of PM2.5 particles decreased by 17 percent in China from 2010 to 2015 and 15 percent in the United States while rising 13 percent in India, the study found.

For the first time, Greenpeace found, the average Indian citizen was exposed to more particulate matter than the average Chinese. The images from Greenpeace show China’s air quality worsening, then improving — while India’s has steadily worsened.

The study also found that the average annual PM2.5 level for India’s capital, New Delhi, was also higher than in Beijing — an average of 81 micrograms per cubic meter for Beijing, 128 for Delhi and 12 for Washington, D.C. The World Health Organization’s recommended safe level for PM2.5 is 10 micrograms per cubic meter over a 12-month period.

Indian newspapers have run high-profile series on air pollution in recent months and the Delhi government has instituted an odd-even day driving plan this winter to control the worsening air.

What this means to you
A study has found that the average annual PM2.5 level for India’s capital, New Delhi, was higher than in Beijing — an average of 81 micrograms per cubic meter for Beijing, 128 for Delhi.

MIRATECH can help
Contact MIRATECH to learn about particulate matter reduction strategies for your engines.