September 19, 2025
Overview:
Air pollution is a major public health challenge in India; it has serious impacts on health and economic productivity. Most studies and policies have focused on fine particulate matter (PM2.5), since it is strongly linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease. But air pollution is not just about PM2.5. Other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO) and ozone (O3), are also common in Indian cities and may affect how well people work, especially in service industries such as call centers, where productivity is measured daily.
This One Health Trust collaborative study explores how different kinds of air pollution affect daily work productivity in call centers across five Indian cities.
The Question:
Do pollutants such as CO and O3 also have an effect on workplace productivity, and how much?
The Findings:
The researchers found that all three pollutants, PM2.5, CO, and O3, were linked to lower productivity, measured by the number of calls handled per shift. One standard deviation increases in PM2.5 reduced productivity by 11.8 percent, CO by 10.6 percent, and O3 by 6.0 percent.
When total productivity losses were added up, CO emerged as the largest contributor, accounting for more than half of the losses, an even greater impact than PM2.5.
These findings suggest that focusing only on PM2.5 overlooks a major part of the problem. Policies that also focus on CO and O3 could lead to far greater improvements in worker productivity and overall well-being.
Read the article in the Journal of Environmental Economics and Management here.
