Events of CSEC
Patna, August 22. The idea that lung cancer is largely caused by smoking is a misnomer as a large cohort of 1,637 non-smoking females have been found to be afflicted with it in Patna’s Mahavir Cancer Sansthan Hospital. Dr. Mousumi Gupta, Research Lead of the Centre for Studies on Environment and Climate (CSEC) at Asian Development Research Institute(ADRI) presented this significant finding today, which has emerged from research done by ADRI in collaboration with Mahavir Cancer Sansthan. The topic of her talk dealt with the status of non-smoking female lung cancer in Bihar. She said that the study was done on patients from the year 2015 to 2023 and most of them had been exposed to indoor air pollution. There seems to be a direct correlation between the intensity of PM 2.5 air pollutants and the incidence of lung cancer. PM 2.5 concentrations were found to be shockingly greater than 1000µg/m3 in the kitchens of rural houses in Bihar where the acceptable WHO standard is 25 µg/m3. She also stated that females in the age group of 41 to 60 years show the highest number of lung cancer cases in Bihar. This could be due to indoor air pollution contributors like cooking oil emissions or biomass fuel smoke. Well-ventilated kitchens would be a way out.
This hypothesis of PM 2.5 being linked to lung cancer was also backed by Professor Dr. Ashoke Ghosh, Head of Research at MCS who sounded the warning bell with respect to the current alarming state of air pollution in the world in general and Bihar in particular. He reported that India is the third most polluted country in the world with air pollution being a major contributor. Deaths of 8.1 million persons per year due to air pollution are very comparable to the impact of Covid-19 at its horrifying peak. He urged the people to take up the responsibility of tackling this menace by direct participation as citizens.
Earlier, the Member-Secretary of ADRI, Dr. Ashmita Gupta delivered the Welcome Address. Dr. Sunil Kumar Gupta of CSEC-ADRI delivered the Vote of Thanks.
A total of 60 participants, both online and in the in-person mode took part in this event. Dr. Abhinav Srivastava and Dr. Arun Kumar of MCS; Dr. Navin Kumar of Patna Cancer Centre; and Dr. Sanchita Mahapatra of ADRI were also present on the occasion.