The New Nation - Internet Edition

WHILE environmental degradation poses a threat to human health, it is indoor air pollution that has been identified as the greatest threat, especially to women and children who remain most of the time indoors. The concentration of harmful particles in the kitchen air in Bangladesh is reportedly 10-15 times higher than at outdoors. While outdoor concentration is about threes times the WHO standard in urban areas, it is 30-35 times indoors. Indoor pollution threatens 60 percent of the country's total under-five child population with high rate of death or disability.

According to a study, indoor air pollutants infect almost 88 percent of the population. Deaths and asthma attacks due to various forms of indoor pollution are three times higher nationwide than for outdoor pollution. The use of biomass for cooking and inadequate ventilation is mainly responsible for indoor air pollution. Firewood and fossil fuels create several harmful substances including carbon monoxide, polycyclic organic matter and formaldehyde concentrate in the air inside houses. Slum dwellers are sometimes found burning most harmful substances like scrap polythene, plastic and rubber substances for cooking and repelling mosquitoes. Faulty construction of houses and inadequate ventilation are also responsible for indoor pollution.

People having a clear idea about the problem can effectively work for a better living environment. They need to be made aware of the causes of indoor pollution and their remedies. Architectural designs and building plans should provide for adequate ventilation. Exposure to indoor pollution has a class bias. Slum dwellers and the poor in most cases cook in the very room they live. They are the most vulnerable people. Decrease of indoor pollution for these people is proportional to reduction of their poverty. Concerted efforts must be made to combat this silent killer.