Tirunelveli — Pollution Health Impact
119 days of CPCB data (2024–2024), translated through WHO 2021, Berkeley Earth and EPIC AQLI methods. Based on CPCB station data, 2016–present.
Tamil Nadu · Live Tirunelveli AQI →
Living in Tirunelveli is the population-level health-equivalent of smoking 0.8 cigarettes a day — roughly 302 cigarettes a year. On average, that chronic exposure shortens life expectancy by about 1.3 years per resident.
Cigarette-equivalence (Berkeley Earth 2015) and life-years lost (EPIC AQLI) are peer-reviewed communication heuristics, not clinical diagnoses. Full sources linked on the methodology page.
Headline impact numbers
Cigarettes/day by year
Annual average cigarette-equivalent.
Clean-air days (NAQI ≤ 50) by year
Days when NAQI stayed in the “Good” band.
Which WHO tier did Tirunelveli meet?
24-hour PM2.5 compliance vs WHO 2021 targets.
- AQG17 days (14.3%)
- IT-498 days (82.4%)
- IT-34 days (3.4%)
- IT-20 days (0.0%)
- IT-10 days (0.0%)
- Above IT-10 days (0.0%)
WHO AQG (15) · IT-4 (25) · IT-3 (37.5) · IT-2 (50) · IT-1 (75) µg/m³ (24-hour PM2.5).
Life-years lost, by disease
Applying WHO's global attribution (68/14/14/4) to Tirunelveli's 1.3 year estimate.
- Heart + stroke: 0.9y
- COPD: 0.2y
- Child ALRI: 0.2y
- Lung cancer: 0.1y
Worst and best months
Drill into full monthly pattern on the seasonal Tirunelveli page →
High-risk days for vulnerable residents
- Days above WHO IT-3 (37.5 µg/m³) — pregnancy & infant risk elevated
- 0 (0.0%)
- Days above WHO IT-1 (75 µg/m³) — high risk for children under 5
- 0 (0.0%)
Source: WHO 2021 AQG interim-target risk framework; WHO 2024 ambient-air fact sheet identifies children under 5 and pregnant residents as the most vulnerable groups.
How Tirunelveli compares to nearby cities
- Dirtier peerMadikeri1.1 cigs/day · 1.9 y lost · +0.3 vs Tirunelveli
What the numbers say
Overview
Tirunelveli's air pollution translates to about 0.8 passive cigarettes per resident per day. That's 302 cigarette-equivalents annually, inhaled without choice.
The data story
EPIC's AQLI research attributes about 1.3 life-years lost per person from this chronic exposure. The WHO Air Quality Guideline was met on just 17 of 119 days (14.3%); 0 days (0.0%) exceeded even the 75 µg/m³ Interim Target-1 threshold.
Why this pattern
The burden concentrates in October — when the average cigarette-equivalent climbs to 1.0/day — and eases in September (0.7/day). Globally, WHO attributes 68% of PM2.5 deaths to heart disease and stroke, with the remainder split across COPD, childhood ALRI, and lung cancer.
What to do with this
Cigarette-equivalence is a communication tool, not a medical verdict. Still, the direction is clear: time indoors with a HEPA unit and a good-fit mask outdoors during the 0 days (0.0%) above WHO IT-3 meaningfully lowers exposure — especially for pregnant residents and children under 5.