Indoor Air Pollution

Indoor Air Pollution
 

News: According to a study, India’s poor indoor air quality can impair cognitive development in children under two years when brain growth is at its peak.
 

Background:
 The State of Global Air 2020 report found that over 116,000 infants in India died within a month of birth in 2019 due to air pollution, outdoor and indoor.
 Every third child in Delhi has impaired lungs making them vulnerable to metabolic diseases.
 

Key Findings:
 Poor air quality was found in households that used solid cooking materials such as cow dung cake.
 Very small particulate fragments (PM 2.5) in the air are a major concern as they can move from the respiratory tract
into the brain.
 Infants (<2 years) from these houses had lower visual memory scores and slower visual processing speeds.
 As children grow up in polluted environments, their developing organs and bodies are affected.
 It can have long-term consequences in life of children such as lower economic productivity, increased burden on
healthcare and mental health systems.
 

What can be done?
 Improved ventilation in houses especially those which rely on traditional way of cooking.
 Modification in design of cooking stove which doesn’t release smoke (Unnat Chulha Abhiyan)
 Change in pattern of fuel use (PM Ujjwala Yojana, National Biogas and Manure Management Programme, GOBARdhan Scheme)