Nepal Air Quality Index (AQI) and Air Pollution information | IQAir

How polluted is Nepal?

Nepal is a landlocked country located in south Asia. It has a wide array of different
geographical terrain within it, with large amounts of beautiful and pristine
mountain ranges and valleys. Whilst these areas lend themselves to creating a
wonderful image of Nepal, its geographical features also assist in the
elevation of its already high pollution readings. It finds itself situated
directly in between India and China, two economic giants in their own right as
well as being the world’s top contributors to air pollution.

Bangladesh is also located within 30km from its southeastern region, another country that
suffers from heightened pollution levels. additionally, the numerous mountain
ranges and valleys create pollution sinks for cities such as Kathmandu, the capital city and economic heart
of Nepal. Within these pollution sinks are areas where large amounts of dust,
vehicular fumes and other smoke sources can gather, and due to them coalescing
within the city limits which are surrounded by valleys and mountain ranges,
they often accumulate over long periods of time due to lack of strong winds and
other meteorological effects that would assist in the removal of built up
pollution in the air.

In terms of its PM2.5 levels, Nepal came in over 2019 with a reading of 44.46 μg/m³. This
number puts it into the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket, which as the
name implies, the air has potential health issues for those that are sensitive
to pollution, including young children, the elderly, those with respiratory
conditions as well as pregnant mothers.

The unhealthy for sensitive groups rating requires a PM2.5 reading of anywhere between 35.5
to 55.4 μg/m³ to be classed as such. This puts Nepal’s reading right into the
middle of this group, as well as making it the 8th most polluted
country worldwide in 2019, coming in just behind other countries such as
Bahrain (46.80 μg/m³) and Indonesia (51.71 μg/m³).

This 8th place position is not an ideal spot for Nepal to find itself in, in regards to
the quality of its air and the safety of its citizens, as well as the plethora
of tourists that make their way into Nepal each year, although of note that
during the year of 2020, due to covid-19 these tourist numbers were drastically
reduced, having some negative effects of Nepal’s overall economy.

Kathmandu also came in with a similar number over the year of 2019, with a PM2.5 reading
of 48 μg/m³. This means it was also placed into the unhealthy for sensitive
groups bracket, with some of its months seeing huge spikes in pollution levels,
subject to high levels of smoke, haze, dust and other noxious fumes.

So, in finishing, whilst Nepal has many areas that would see crystal clear air
quality, particular in the numerous mountain towns and villages across the
country, it stands to reason that the more populated areas are indeed suffering
from some high levels of pollution.

What are the main causes of pollution in Nepal?

There are numerous causes of pollution across the country, many of which stem from a lack
of regulations regarding operations such as factories and construction sites,
open burning as well as the fuels used in the many vehicles found in Kathmandu
and other cities. To address the issue of vehicles first, it can be seen that
many of the numerous motorbikes, cars and buses are quite aged and
deteriorated, yet due to an ingrained ingenuity to keep old things alive and
running, many of them are still moving up and down the country despite having
engines that put of vast amounts of black soot and other toxic pollutants that
arise from poorly combusted fossil fuels, in particular diesel. This finds no
regulation amongst its use, or indeed in Nepal’s particular case, massive
overuse.

Another element that has contributed to the levels of polluted was the catastrophic 7.8
magnitude earthquake that occurred in 2015, levelling many historic areas and
domiciles across the capital city, leading to a massive spike in dust pollution,
much of which still remains till this day due to the lack of proper cleanup
conducted by the country. Many of the affected areas still lie in ruins due to Nepal
not having the infrastructure needed to repair such massive amounts of damage.

As a result, the previously mentioned dust finds itself in every corner of the capital,
permeating the roads where it is ground up into even more fine particulate
matter and sent billowing into the atmosphere. This creates larger readings of
PM2.5 and PM10 in the air, which can have highly damaging effects when
respired, as well as mixing with other chemicals from exhaust fumes and factory
emissions to create even more harmful compounds and other forms of material.

Open burning of refuse and waste is another highly pertinent issue, with the country of
Nepal acknowledging that cracking down on this could occur quite easily with
little resources or time being put into it, but as it stands it has yet to be
enforced. Due to a lack of proper garbage collection and disposal
infrastructure, large amounts of the population, both in the capital and in
other cities as well as rural areas, take to lighting their refuse on fire in
order to get rid of it.

These piles contain everything from wood or other similar dead organic materials, to highly
toxic manmade materials such as rubber, plastics and even metals. These
contribute massively to pollution levels across the country, with burning also
becoming an even more salient point during the winter months, when large
amounts of wood and coal are burnt for the warming of homes, as well as being
burnt year-round for cooking and other such small-scale local practices.
However much of a small scale they are though, they eventually add up to
disastrous levels when practiced by large amounts of the population, causing
far worse readings of US AQI as well as heightened PM2.5 and PM10 levels, the
effects of which will be discussed in short.

What are the health effects of breathing polluted air in Nepal?

When observing some of the more polluted months caught on record in Nepal, certain
ones such as January 2019 in Kathmandu stand out. This month came in with a
PM2.5 reading of 102.7 μg/m³, putting it into the higher end of the ‘unhealthy’
ratings bracket, which requires a reading of anywhere from 55.5 to 150.4 μg/m³
to be classed as such. This is an extremely high rating of pollution, and when
health effects are concerned on the general population, the higher the levels
of pollution that are present, the more likely that these health effects will occur.

When examining PM2.5, it is described as particulate matter that is 2.5 micrometers
or less in diameter. Due to its incredibly small size, it has a whole host of
highly negative effects when inhaled (which is why it is used as such an
important component in calculating the overall levels of pollution levels, or
air quality index).

When inhaled, these small particulate matters such as black carbon or finely ground gravel or
silica dust, can cause scarring to the lung tissues that lead to an overall
reduction in full lung function. Material with carcinogenic properties can
penetrate deep into the lungs and accumulate, leading to heightened instances
of cancer. These tiny particles can also cross over into the bloodstream via
the air sacs in the lungs, wreaking havoc on an individual’s health by causing
damage to blood vessels as well as organs such as the liver and kidneys (along
with affecting reproductive health).

Further conditions can include ones such as ischemic heart disease, arising from when
inadequate amounts of oxygen reach the heart tissues, leading to a
deterioration in function. Further heart complications can include arrythmias, increased
instances of heart attacks and problems related to blood pressure regulation.

These are to name but a few of the health issues of being exposed to high levels of smoke
and haze-based pollution. The plastic and other synthetic materials being burnt
in the open fires can cause irritation to the nose, eyes, mouth and airways, as
well as causing irreversible changes to the nervous system that can lead to
chronic fatigue, cognitive impairments and headaches, all of which have a
salient effect on a young and growing population.

Babies that are exposed whilst in the womb have an increased chance of miscarriage, or
being born prematurely or with a low birth weight, thus heightened pollution
levels lead directly to higher rates of infant mortality, as well as large
amounts of the population having their lives cut short due to health problems stemming
from air pollution.

When is pollution at its worst In Nepal?

The levels of pollution in Nepal correlate heavily with changes in weather, with the colder
and drier months seeing the absolute worst levels of pollution across all the
registered cities, whilst the monsoon season brings with it some respite in
terms of pollutants found in the air, due to the rains highly prominent effect
of washing chemicals and dust out of the air, as well as washing away
accumulations that have gathered on the ground across the city.

Observing the data taking over 2019 across all cities, it is apparent that pollution levels
start to rise just as the monsoon season comes to an end, which happens to fall
on October. A marked increase in PM2.5 readings are seen across the four
cities, whilst in contrast September’s readings often come in remarkably
cleaner. To look at some of these statistics, Kathmandu came in with a reading
of 11.8 μg/m³ in August, its cleanest reading out of the entire year. This was
followed in September by a reading of 13.1 μg/m³, a slight increase that was
enough to put it up by a ranking, but at the absolute lowest end of the
‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ bracket.

Patan, the second most polluted city in Nepal, came in with a PM2.5 reading of 7.1 μg/m³
in September 2019, making it fall nicely within the World Health Organizations
(WHO’s) target goal for great air quality of 0 to 10 μg/m³, demonstrating that
Patan had an extremely good quality of air over September. Other cities with
similar readings were Kirtipur with a reading of 6 μg/m³ in August and 6.4 μg/m³
in September.

Now in contrast to the next month, Kathmandu’s October reading came in at 30.6 μg/m³,
a number nearly three times that of the previous month. The same occurred in
Patan, with its 7.1 μg/m³ jumping up to 22.3 μg/m³ in October, and once again a
similar story in kirtipur, with its reading of 6.4 jumping to 12.4 μg/m³,
almost double of the previous month. This is statistical proof that Nepal
begins its AQI decline towards the end of the year, with peaks in pollution
levels occurring in December through to January. To summarize, the months that are the cleanest
in regards to air quality in Nepal are July through to September, and the
dirtiest months are November, December and January, times when preventative
measures such as wearing of particle filtering masks and avoiding outdoor
activities if possible, become of increased importance.

Of note is that Kathmandu, due to being the capital city, saw elevated readings of PM2.5 well
into May, before dropping rapidly in June. For those wishing to travel to Nepal,
as well as its inhabitants already living there, these are all important
factors to take into consideration, although due to the monsoon season, large
increases in waterborne illnesses also become prominent, something of note for
people that have Nepal as a destination.

Is the quality of air in Nepal improving?

Looking at the air quality data over the last few years, it appears that Nepal made a
marked improvement from 2018 to 2019, with a PM2.5 reading of 54.15 μg/m³ being
recorded as an average over 2018 as compared to 44.46 μg/m³ in 2019. Whilst
this shows an improvement over the course of one year, when observing data
taken from the capital city, Kathmandu, it also shows a similar trend of worse
air quality in 2018 being improved upon in more recent times. However, when the
data from 2017 in Kathmandu is observed, a reading of 45.9 μg/m³ was recorded,
which is a better number than the one that was taken in 2019.

This gives a level of uncertainty as to whether pollution levels in Nepal are improving, or
just fluctuating between similar levels of pollution. It will take many
improved initiatives in the coming years, such as the cracking down on open
burning fires, as well as the gradual removal and phasing out of diesel fuels
and the ancient vehicles populating the roads. Facing massive economic growth,
Nepal will be in a position where its pollution levels may have a long way to
go before improving, so as it stands for now, the differences between numbers
of PM2.5 are hard to differentiate between being actual improvements or just
the aforementioned fluctuations in numbers. With the implantation of the
cleanup initiatives, Nepal may yet see improved levels of US AQI as well as
lower PM2.5 readings in a hopeful future.