Bryan Johnson, a 47-year-old tech entrepreneur, and anti-aging advocate, has ignited a raging controversy concerning the air pollution crisis in India after he abruptly walked out of a podcast with Nikhil Kamath, the co-founder of Zerodha, on account of the bad air quality. Johnson had said he felt a burning in his throat and eyes and had skin rashes, which made him exit midway through the session.
Johnson posted online stating that the air pollution levels were a real public health hazard, and Indians had justified added anger on being subjected to it every day. He cited studies showing long-term exposure to such pollution has caused liver inflammation and fibrosis, blood fat imbalance, and gene dysregulation associated with cancer.
Study Highlights Health Risks of Air Pollution
In a long post on X (formerly Twitter), Bryan Johnson quoted from a study in which mice were exposed for 12 weeks to low-level traffic PM2.5 pollutants. The findings reveal that pollution exposure caused:
✔ Liver inflammation and fibrosis
✔ Blood fat imbalance
✔ Liver protein markers similar to those found in alcohol-related damage
✔ Gene dysregulation associated with cancer
The study showed that even low-level pollution exposure caused systemic damage beyond simply the respiratory system, demonstrating how no level of air pollution is safe.
“Air Pollution is a Bigger Threat Than Cancer”
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Johnson has been outspoken in voicing his concern over air quality in India, which he says poses a bigger threat than cancer. He was aghast at how air pollution appears to have become normalized in India, expressing confusion over seeing people, including infants and children, moving about without masks in the face of well-documented health risks.
He said reducing air pollution in India would add more years to average life expectancy than curing all cancers combined, thus demanding that authorities treat clean air as a public health emergency.
Bryan Johnson’s Recommendations About Pollutants
India would save more years of life by solving air pollution than curing cancer.
Here’s what you can do in polluted environments. pic.twitter.com/2wRbC3UlwF
— Bryan Johnson /dd (@bryan_johnson) January 5, 2025
According to Johnson, here is a list of helpful ways to reduce individual exposure to other pollutants:
1. Monitoring Air Quality; either do it on IQAir or buy an air quality monitor
2. N95 masks should be donned when pollution is present in the air.
3. Upgrade home HVAC systems to air filtration systems of Merv 13 and above.
4. Activate recirculation in cars to avoid dirty air entry.
5. Some partial recirculation reduces PM2.5 and CO2 levels.
6. HEPA Air Purifier for high traffic or polluted parts of the house.
India Strongly Shifts Tutting in
Once again, Johnson’s ordeal has brought the rapidly diminishing air quality in India to the tip of issues that straight talk is called to address by policymakers. His statements serve as a wake-up call for public and Government consideration before it becomes too late since experts are already predicting far-reaching repercussions on health.
Will India go ahead in showing vigor to address one of its greatest environmental issues? The world is watching.
