Health and environmental consequences of crop residue burning correlated with increasing crop yields midst India’s Green Revolution

The Green Revolution (GR) significantly enhanced crop yields in India, contributing to socio-economic development. However, increased crop yields led to more crop residue burning, causing adverse environmental and health consequences. This study assesses the impact of this burning on benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) pollution, a carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon. A significant increase in BaP emission and contamination from crop residue burning was observed from the mid-1960s to the 2010s, coinciding with growing crop yields during the GR. The agricultural BaP emission-driven lifetime lung cancer risk (ILCR) in India increased 2.6 times from the mid-1960s to 2014, with 57% of the population exposed to BaP levels exceeding the national standard. Reducing open crop residue burning is identified as a key strategy to mitigate BaP contamination and health risks.

Tao Huang, Jianmin Ma, Shijie Song, Zaili Ling, Robie W. Macdonald, Hong Gao, Shu Tao, Huizhong Shen, Yuan Zhao, Xinrui Liu, Chongguo Tian, Yifan Li, Hongliang Jia, Lulu Lian, Xiaoxuan Mao