Assessing the costs of ozone pollution in India for wheat producers, consumers, and government food welfare policies.

We assess wheat yield losses occurring due to ozone pollution in India and its economic burden on producers, consumers, and the government. Applying an ozone flux-based risk assessment, we show that ambient ozone levels caused a mean 14.18% reduction in wheat yields during 2008 to 2012. Furthermore, irrigated wheat was particularly sensitive to ozone-induced yield losses, indicating that ozone pollution could undermine climate-change adaptation efforts through irrigation expansion. Applying an economic model, we examine the effects of a counterfactual, "pollution-free" scenario on yield losses, wheat prices, consumer and producer welfare, and government costs. We explore three policy scenarios in which the government support farmers at observed levels of either procurement prices (fixed-price), procurement quantities (fixed-procurement), or procurement expenditure (fixed-expenditure). In pollution-free conditions, the fixed-price scenario absorbs the fall in prices, thus increasing producer welfare by USD 2.7 billion, but total welfare decreases by USD 0.24 billion as government costs increase (USD 2.9 billion). In the fixed-procurement and fixed-expenditure scenarios, ozone mitigation allows wheat prices to fall by 38.19 to 42.96%. The producers lose by USD 5.10 to 6.01 billion, but the gains to consumers and governments (USD 8.7 to 10.2 billion) outweigh these losses. These findings show that the government and consumers primarily bear the costs of ozone pollution. For pollution mitigation to optimally benefit wheat production and maximize social welfare, new approaches to support producers other than fixed-price grain procurement may be required. We also emphasize the need to consider air pollution in programs to improve agricultural resilience to climate change.

Health impact assessment of Delhi's outdoor workers exposed to air pollution and extreme weather events: an integrated epidemiology approach.

This study is an assessment of the effects of outdoor air pollution and extreme weather events on the health of outdoor workers in Delhi, including auto rickshaw drivers, street vendors, and sweepers. To carry it out, a cross-sectional and perception-based epidemiological research design was used, and the primary tool used for data collection was a questionnaire. Two hundred twenty-eight people participated in the survey, and a pulmonary function test (PFT) was performed on 63 participants. Most of the respondents from different occupational groups complained about headaches/giddiness, nausea, and muscular cramps during extreme heat events due to the physically demanding nature of their jobs in the outdoor environment. Furthermore, autorickshaw drivers reported the highest prevalence of ophthalmic symptoms, such as eye redness (44%) and eye irritation (36%). In comparison, vendors reported a higher prevalence of headaches (43%) and eye redness (40%) due to increased exposure to vehicular emissions. Among sweepers, musculoskeletal problems like joint pain (40%), backache (38%), and shoulder pain (35%) were most prevalent due to occupation-related ergonomic factors. In addition, the majority of autorickshaw drivers (47%), vendors (47%), and sweepers (48%) considered that air quality had a severe impact on their health. PFT results showed that most respondents had restricted lung function. Binary logistic regression analysis showed that lung function impairment had a significant association with smoking (p = 0.023) and age (0.019). The odds ratio for smoking, which was around 4, indicated that respondents who smoked had a nearly four times greater risk of developing lung impairment. The study also highlighted the need for using personal protective equipment and developing guidelines to reduce their exposure level.