Atmospheric pollution is a serious problem in many countries, including India, and it is generally considered as an urban issue. To fill the knowledge gap about particulate pollution and its adverse health effects in rural India for well-informed region-specific policy interventions, we present new insights on the rural pollution of India in terms of PM. Here, we analyse PM pollution and its associated health burden in rural India using satellite and reanalyses data for the period 2000–2019. We observe a gradual and consistent rise of atmospheric pollution in rural areas of India. The highest PM levels are observed in Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP) during winter and post-monsoon seasons (107.0 ± 17.0 and 91.0 ± 21.7 μg/m, respectively). A dipole reversal in seasonal trends between winter and post-monsoon seasons is found for black carbon (BC) and organic carbon (OC) in the rural IGP. The rural North West India (NWI) experiences elevated PM concentrations due to dust storms, while the rural hilly region (HR) in the Himalaya remains the least polluted region in India. The highest PM associated cardiopulmonary mortality in 2019 is observed in the rural IGP districts (1000–5100), whereas the highest mortality due to lung cancer at district level accounts for 10–60 deaths. The highest mortality attributed to PM is observed in districts of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The priority-wise segregation of states as per World Health Organisation (WHO) Interim targets (ITs), as assessed in this study, might be helpful in implementation and development of policies in phases. We, therefore, present the first detailed study on the PM pollution in rural India, and provide valuable insights on its distribution, variability, sources and associated mortality, and emphasize the need for addressing this issue to protect public health.

中文翻译：

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阐明 2000 年至 2019 年印度农村地区颗粒物污染的变化及相关健康影响

大气污染是包括印度在内的许多国家的一个严重问题，并且通常被认为是一个城市问题。为了填补印度农村地区颗粒物污染及其对健康不利影响的知识空白，以便采取明智的区域特定政策干预措施，我们提出了有关印度农村颗粒物污染的新见解。在这里，我们利用卫星分析了印度农村地区的 PM 污染及其相关的健康负担，并重新分析了 2000 年至 2019 年期间的数据。我们观察到印度农村地区的大气污染逐渐持续上升。印度恒河平原 (IGP) 的 PM 浓度最高出现在冬季和季风后季节（分别为 107.0 ± 17.0 和 91.0 ± 21.7 μg/m）。在农村 IGP 中，发现黑碳 (BC) 和有机碳 (OC) 的冬季和季风后季节趋势出现偶极反转。由于沙尘暴，印度西北部农村地区 (NWI) 的 PM 浓度升高，而喜马拉雅山的农村丘陵地区 (HR) 仍然是印度污染最轻的地区。 2019 年，PM 相关心肺死亡率最高的是农村 IGP 地区（1000-5100），而地区一级肺癌死亡率最高，有 10-60 人死亡。 PM 导致的死亡率最高的是北方邦、比哈尔邦、西孟加拉邦、旁遮普邦、哈里亚纳邦和拉贾斯坦邦。正如本研究评估的那样，根据世界卫生组织（WHO）临时目标（IT）对各州进行优先级划分可能有助于分阶段实施和制定政策。因此，我们首次对印度农村地区的颗粒物污染进行了详细研究，并就其分布、变异性、来源和相关死亡率提供了宝贵的见解，并强调需要解决这一问题以保护公众健康。