Raakhee
Suryaprakash
As we highlight the perils of air pollution
on World Environment Day 2019 in the quest to “Beat Air Pollution,” let’s look
at the less talked about aspect of air pollution – indoor air quality. Many
believe that once they are safe inside their homes, they air safe from the poor
air quality outside. This is a dangerously false notion.
Many studies have found that indoor air
pollution levels are much higher than the air pollution outside. Thus indoor
air quality is generally quite poor. Air pollution is a silent and unseen
killer. Polluted air is linked to lung diseases, asthma and wheezing, premature
death, autism and cancer not to mention that air pollution lowers IQ, decreases
productivity, costs the economy billions, affects mental health and even
increases crime rates.
While there is a lot of talk about air
pollution. Action is limited. And action on improving indoor air quality falls
by the wayside. Those who spend most of their days at home, have a lesser direct
impact on the functioning of the economy: Women, children, old people, us moofers and
freelancers.
Use of banned coolants in air conditioners
and refrigerators affect us urbanites. The practice of keeping indoor plants is
yet to catch up, despite many evidences suggesting that just plants such as,
Areca Palm, the mother-in-law’s tongue and
the ivy family and money plants can exponentially improve indoor air
quality but increasing the oxygen levels and by trapping particulate and heavy
metal pollutants.
In the rural set up, the use of solid fuel
and smoke producing traditional stoves have a serious impact on the health of
those who spend most time in the kitchen – mostly women of all ages and
children. While the senior citizens and
young children are most vulnerable to air pollution, with increased exposure
comes increases morbidity and mortality among all age groups and sexes. Burning
of household and garden wastes, crop residue and the slash-and-burn technique
of agriculture all also add tremendously to air pollution.
Air pollution goes from being a local issue
to a transboundary and international issue in no time. For the sake of
convenience and status quo, as well as the limited budget and availability
making cheap but polluting products the choice of most households aggravates
the problem by delaying the adoption of solutions that work.
People talk about insects, lizards and
mosquitos infestations when one recommends indoor plants. There are many
variants of smokeless stoves/chulas
available to the rural market especially but women of the households prefer
what they are familiar with and don’t have the time to get used to cooking with
gas or the modified stoves. A gobbar gas
(biogas) plant is easy to set up in rural communities. The Ujjwala Yojana of
the Government of India is set up to bring LPG cylinders to women applicants
from below poverty line households. Yet many don’t want to invest the extra
time to adopt the cleaner fuel or the less polluting but unfamiliar option.
The sustainable development goals may be in
place globally to “poverty, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy
peace and prosperity.” Yet the quest to improve life, livelihoods and protect
the environment takes a beating because of the curse of convenience and
favoring the familiar! In order to beat air pollution, hearts and minds have to
be won by making clean technology the cheaper and more convenient option for
all. Empowering and educating women by highlighting how clean air means healthy
families, intelligent children, and less frequent visits to the doctor can be
powerful motivators to challenge the status quo and beat air pollution.
