7 PM | Household Air Pollution | 25 January, 2019

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Indoor Air Pollution:

• The OECD defines indoor air pollution as “chemical, biological and physical contamination of indoor air.”
• Indoor air pollution can be 10 times more dangerous than outdoor air pollution because contained areas enable potential pollutants to build up more than open spaces and without ventilation arrangement the situation becomes worse.
• Pollutants with the strongest evidence for public health concern include particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide (CO), ozone (O3), nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and sulphur dioxide (SO2). Health problems can occur as a result of both short- and long-term exposure to these various pollutants.

Household air pollution: Pollutants

• Around 3 billion people cook and heat their homes using polluting fuels (i.e. wood, coal, dung, kerosene) and inefficient technologies.
• Carbon monoxide – Cooking and heating with polluting fuels and technologies produces high levels of household air pollution which includes a range of health damaging pollutants such as fine particles and carbon monoxide.
• Smoke: Pollutants emitted by the incomplete combustion of solid fuels or kerosene for cooking, heating and lighting are associated with serious health risks.
• Other indoor air pollutants include building materials, home products, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and naturally occurring gases like radon.

Reasons for indoor pollution

• Access to affordable, clean alternatives: Rural parts of the developing world, people rely on polluting energy sources for cooking and heating because they lack access to affordable, clean alternatives such as solar, electricity, and biogas
• Construction Guidelines: Faulty construction, complex building systems, deferred maintenance, guidelines enhance the chances of Indoor pollution
• No routine toxicity testing: Many of toxic compounds released from building materials, household furnishings, and a wide range of consumer products have not been subject to routine toxicity testing.
• Labelling regulations: The lack of strict labeling regulation for many constituents of household products also limits an individual’s options to control exposure through consumer choices.
• Environmental Degradation: Increased humidity and excessive precipitation will lead to dampness in indoor environments and may exacerbate problems with mold which is hard to control

Impact of Indoor Air Pollution

• Impact on Health
  • Household air pollution is one of the leading causes of disease and premature death in the developing world.
  • Exposure to smoke from cooking fires causes 3.8 million premature deaths each year, mostly in low- and middle-income countries.
  • In India, Indoor air pollution from solid fuels accounted for 3.5 million deaths and 4.5% global daily-adjusted life year (DALY) in 2010; it also accounted for 16% particulate matter pollution
  • Globally, the total mortality burden from indoor and ambient air pollution is ranked only fourth behind dietary risks, tobacco and high blood pressure.
  • The most affected groups are women and younger children, as they spend maximum time at home
  • Household air pollution also causes non-communicable diseases including stroke, ischemic heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer.
• Impact on Environment:
  • In addition to the direct impacts on human health of indoor emissions from cooking and heating using solid fuels, these indoor emissions can add to ambient air pollution.
  • In India, for example, the contribution of indoor air pollution to ambient air pollution is estimated to vary between 22 and 52 per cent
• Impact on Economy:
  • In 2013, it was estimated that exposure to ambient and indoor air pollution cost the world’s economy about US$ 5.11 trillion in welfare losses.
  • In South and East Asia this cost is equivalent to 7.4 and 7.5 per cent of their gross domestic product (GDP) respectively.

Various Initiatives taken to control Indoor Pollution:

• National cook stove programme of China – From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, several Chinese government agencies collaborated on the National Improved Stove Program (NISP) to bring cleaner stoves to 129 million households, covering approximately 65 per cent of China’s population.
• National Programme for Improved Chulhas – India has also introduced several cook stove programmes to help the approximately 100 million (out of 240 million) households lacking access to modern cooking options
• Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana -. India’s Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas launched this initiative in 2016 and has facilitated access to 35 million liquid petroleum gas (LPG) connections for 100 million energy-poor households.
• Global Alliance for Clean Cook stoves – A Non-Profit Organization focuses on improving health and environment through the development of a clean cooking market. Its ambitious but achievable goal is to foster the adoption of clean cook stoves and fuels in 100 million households by 2020
• Programme on Household Air Pollution – WHO has developed a comprehensive programme to support developing countries which focuses on research and evaluation, capacity building, evidence for policy-makers, and databases to control household pollution.
• Clean Household Energy Solutions Toolkit (CHEST) The WHO is developing a toolkit (CHEST) for planning household energy policies and programmes at both national and local levels.

Recommendation to control Indoor air pollution:

• Public awareness: One of the most important steps in prevention of indoor air pollution is education, viz., spreading awareness among people about the issue and the serious threat it poses to their health and wellbeing. People should also be educated about the use of alternative cleaner sources of energy to replace direct combustion of biomass fuel.
• Change in pattern of fuel use: At present, majority of low income families rely solely on direct combustion of biomass fuels for their cooking needs as this is the cheapest and easiest option available to them; however, this could be rectified by promoting the use of cleaner energy sources such as Gobar gas which utilizes cow dung to produce gas for cooking
• Modification of design of cooking stove: The stoves should be modified from traditional smoky and leaky cooking stoves to the ones which are fuel efficient, smokeless and have an exit (e.g., chimney) for indoor pollutants for example stoves designed by National Biomass Cook stoves Initiative, of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy under a Special Project on Cook stove during 2009-2010.
• Improvement in ventilation: During construction of a house, importance should be given to adequate ventilation; for poorly ventilated houses, measures such as a window above the cooking stove and cross ventilation though doors should be instituted.
• Intersectoral coordination and global initiative: Indoor air pollution can only be controlled with coordinated and committed efforts between different sectors concerned with health, energy, environment, housing, and rural development.

Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/an-inside-problem-household-air-pollution-delhi-aqi-5554219/