‘Srinagar Residents Alarmingly Inhaling Pollution Equal to 109 Cigarettes a Month’

Srinagar: Even without lighting a cigarette, residents of Srinagar may be exposing themselves to the equivalent of heavy smoking, as the city’s deteriorating air quality poses serious health risks.

Recent pollution data shared by independent weather forecaster Faizan Arif of independent weather forecasting portal Kashmir Weather, indicates that breathing Srinagar’s air on high-pollution days can be comparable to smoking several cigarettes daily.

According to data available from AQI monitoring platforms, Srinagar’s average PM2.5 concentration has remained close to 80 µg/m³, with the average Air Quality Index (AQI) hovering around 168, placing it in the “unhealthy” category. During the last 24 hours, AQI levels peaked at 180, while PM2.5 concentrations touched 96 µg/m³, reflecting significantly polluted conditions.

As per a widely cited rule of thumb by Berkeley Earth, exposure to PM2.5 levels of 22 µg/m³ for 24 hours is roughly equivalent to smoking one cigarette per day. Applying this measure, breathing Srinagar’s air for a full day at average pollution levels translates to inhaling the equivalent of about 3.6 cigarettes daily amounting to nearly 25 cigarettes a week or around 109 cigarettes in a month.

Experts caution that while this estimate is based on short-term high-pollution data and not long-term annual averages, the health impact remains serious.

“Cleaner days do not negate the damage caused by exposure during highly polluted days,” environmental analysts note. The calculation follows the formula: Cigarettes = (PM2.5 concentration ÷ 22) × (hours of exposure ÷ 24).

The findings, underline the urgent need for stronger measures to curb air pollution and protect public health, as prolonged exposure to such conditions increases the risk of respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, even among non-smokers. (KNC)