More than half of the population
of Asia relies on burning of biomass fuel including wood, crop refuse, animal
dung and heavy garbage to cook their food.
As a result smoke emits while
they cook and it has many harmful gases including carbon dioxide and carbon
monoxide that affect the respiratory system of households.
According to World Health
Organisation nearly 2 million people die of this form of pollution every year
and more than half of them are from poor regions of Asia and Africa.
Women are worst hit of indoor pollution
Womenfolk are the most vulnerable
to this form of pollution because mostly they cook food. They have to be near
to the fireplace for hours that keep emitting smokes.
Secondly little girls are equally
most vulnerable to it. In conservative societies of poor regions they are not
allowed to go out from home without any reason. As a result most of the diseases
related to indoor pollution are reported in women and girls in Asia and Africa.
No exhaust in kitchen
Houses are not built with a
proper plan in poor regions. As a result no any cross ventilation arrangement
is built while constructing a house.
Subsequently the smoke that is
created from fire-place inside the house does not go out and households have to
keep inhaling it. Because of poverty most of the people can’t afford to install
an exhaust to emit the stale air of the home outside.
Gas stove is beyond their purchasing power
Most of the population can’t buy
a costly gas stove. Even if they buy one, they don’t have that much money to
buy gas on monthly basis and add another burden on their monthly expenses.
Micro financing is also equal to none in poor regions. So they are also unable
to use this facility to get rid of this form of pollution.
According to a report this is the
fourth most harmful pollution because people come under its contact for a
longer period of time.
Generally people stay in home
longer than they stay outside to do job, business or get education. Secondly
during their lengthy stay inside home they keep inhaling and do nothing while
sleeping. During their stay at home they inhale most of the indoor pollutants including
gases, particles and dust.
Diseases caused by indoor pollution
The most common fatal diseases
because of this form of pollution are pneumonia, typhoid, chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease and cancer. It also causes asthma, eye irritation, throat
infection, breathing problem if someone remains under its direct contact.
Households remain easily-irritated
and short tempered because of this menace and get tired after doing a little
work because they have to take extra effort to breathe smoothly.
How to control pollution of your home?
To control indoor pollution it is
necessary to make cross ventilation in your home and put an exhaust that emit
the stale air of the home and bring fresh air.
Besides, following plants should
be planted inside home that reduces its intensity.
·
Areca Palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens)
·
Lady Palm (Rhapis excelsa)
·
Bamboo palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii)
·
Rubber Plant (Ficus robusta)
·
Dracaena “Janet Craig” (Dracaena deremensis)
·
Philodendron (Philodendron sp.)
·
Dwarf Date Palm (Phoenix roebelenii)
·
Ficus Alii (Ficus macleilandii “Alii”)
·
Boston Fern (Nephrolepis exaltata
“Bostoniensis”)
·
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum “Mauna Loa”)
Similarly instead of buying any
other luxury item households should first buy a high quality stove to create
less smoke while cooking and be safe from various poisonous gases.
So this how people can control
indoor pollution and stay safe from its harmful effects. Otherwise more and
more people will suffer from this fourth harmful type of pollution.
How is the situation in your
country with regard to indoor pollution? Do share your views and observations
to help my readers learn more on this topic.
Please never forget to share this
post on social media as together we can better protect our planet Earth from
all types of pollution.
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