Indian Minister - No direct link between air pollution and lung disease
There is no direct correlation between higher Air Quality Index (AQI) levels and lung diseases, with no ‘conclusive data’ to establish such a link, Minister of State for Environment and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh told the Rajya Sabha on Thursday (December 18, 2025).
He, however, conceded that air pollution is one of the ‘triggering factors’ for respiratory ailments and associated diseases.
Mr. Singh was responding to a question from BJP parliamentarianLaxmikant Bajpayee, who has a degree in Ayurveda. He sought to know if the government was ‘aware’ of studies and medical tests that linked “prolonged hazardous AQI levels” in Delhi/ National Capital Region to lung fibrosis, and an irreversible reduction in lung capacity.
He also wanted to know if the lung elasticity of citizens of Delhi/ NCR had reduced by half compared to that of residents in cities with ‘good’ AQI levels; and if the government had any ‘solution’ to save Delhi residents from pulmonary fibrosis, COPD, emphysema, reduced lung function and continuously declining lung elasticity.
The Minister, however, only gave a single-sentence response on the absence of ‘direct correlation’.
In response to a related question from Congress MP Randeep Surjewala, Mr. Singh reiterated—as he did in earlier weeks— that ‘no conclusive data’ existed to establish a direct correlation of death ‘exclusively’ by air pollution and that health effects from air pollution were a “synergistic manifestation” of food habits, occupational habits, socioeconomic status, medical history, immunity and heredity.
But, the Minister elaborately explained the steps taken by the government to address air pollution — the establishment of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in 2020 and how it had issued “95 statutory directions ” to abate air pollution in the region.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court termed the CAQM’s actions a “total failure” at curbing pollution in Delhi NCR.
There is a wealth of medical literature, including studies in India, that have linked air pollution levels to rising cases of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Epidemiologists have historically relied on ‘associative studies’ to check for correlations between substances and their health effects.
For instance, the landmark Doll and Hill studies were among the first to establish a link between smoking and lung cancer.
While these relationships are relatively easy to establish from medical data, the impact of air pollution is far more subtle, works over longer periods and cannot be established directly.
A well-known study in India in 2011 ( Air Qual Atmos Health, Siddiqui et al,) compared the lung activity and respiratory disease profile of children in Delhi to counterparts in rural West Bengal and Uttaranchal (the latter with much cleaner air) to show that a much larger proportion of those in Delhi had noticeable respiratory problems.
