This study looks at the determinants of indoor air pollution in Bangladeshi households. IAP Bangladesh Country Background (PDF 105kb)
Key Findings
Data
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(Please use the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view  PDF files) Indoor Air Quality in Bangladesh
Poor households in Bangladesh depend heavily on wood, dung, and other biomass fuels for cooking. This research provides a detailed analysis of the implications for indoor air pollution, drawing on new monitoring data for airborne particulates (PM10) in a large number of Bangladeshi households. Concentrations of 300 ug/m3 or greater are common in the sample, implying widespread exposure to a serious health hazard. Econometric results indicate that fuel choice significantly affects indoor pollution levels: Natural gas and kerosene are significantly cleaner than biomass fuels. However, dwelling-specific factors apparently matter more than fuel choice in determining PM10 concentrations. |  | |
Cross-dwelling variation in PM10 concentrations is strongly affected by structural arrangements: cooking locations, construction materials, and ventilation practices. Consequently, in some biomass-burning households, concentrations are scarcely higher than in households that use natural gas. Great variation also characterizes the 24-hour cycle within households. For example, within the “dirtiest” firewood-using household in our sample, readings over the 24-hour cycle vary from 68 to 4,864 ug/m3. Such variation occurs because houses can recycle air very quickly. After the midday meal, when ventilation is common, air quality in many houses goes from very dirty to reasonably clean within an hour. Rapid change also occurs within dwellings. Diffusion of pollution from kitchens to living areas is nearly instantaneous in many cases, regardless of internal space configuration, and living-area particulate concentrations are almost always in the same range as kitchen concentrations. 
Recommendations
A switch to “clean” fuel is desirable, but may not be feasible in rural areas in the short term. Clean fuels are often not available, and when they are, the cost is higher and poor households are unable to afford them. Improved stoves have been tried, but most poor families have not accepted them for a variety of reasons, including high price and maintenance costs, and incompatibility with food preparation traditions. However, the study suggests that poor families can enjoy significantly cleaner air even without clean fuels or improved stoves, if they undertake simple changes to provide proper ventilation in cooking areas. Changes in dwelling ventilation characteristics (use of porous construction materials, changes in space configurations and cooking locations, appropriate placement of doors and windows) and ventilation practices (keeping doors and windows open after cooking) can produce relatively clean conditions, even when “dirty” biomass fuels are used. The study has tentatively concluded that a national “clean household” promotion program, combined with effective public education on the associated health benefits, could reduce Indoor Air Pollution exposure to much safer levels for many poor families in Bangladesh. Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey and David Wheeler, “Indoor Air Quality for Poor Families: Evidence from Bangladesh,” Indoor Air 16(6): 426-44, 2006.
Exposure to Indoor Air Pollution in Bangladesh
This research investigated individuals’ exposure to indoor air pollution at two levels: differences within households attributable to family roles, and differences across households attributable to income and education. Within households, the research shows high levels of exposure for children and adolescents of both sexes, with particularly serious exposure levels for children under the age of five. Among prime-age adults, men have one-half the exposure of women (whose exposure is similar to that of children and adolescents). Likewise, elderly men have significantly lower exposure than elderly women. It has been found that variations inaverage hours spent by members of households in the cooking area, living area, and outdoor areas during a typical day contribute significantly to differences in their pollution exposure. Across households, young children and poorly educated women in poor households face pollution exposures four times higher than residents of higher-income households including better-educated women. Female education and family income have large and significant effect on fuel choice (and hence indoor air pollution levels).
Recommendations
Recommendations for reducing exposure to Indoor Air Pollution are based on a few simple, robust findings: Hourly pollution levels in cooking and living areas are quite similar because cooking smoke diffuses rapidly and nearly completely into adjacent living areas. However, outdoor pollution is far lower. At present, young children are only outside for an average of 3 hours per day. For children in a typical household, pollution exposure can be halved by adopting two simple measures: increasing outdoor time for children from 3 to 5 or 6 hours per day, and concentrating outdoor time during peak cooking periods. Although the recommendations of this research focus particularly on changes for infants and young children, since they suffer the worst mortality and morbidity from indoor air pollution, these recommendations also apply to women and adolescents. Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey and David Wheeler, “ Who Suffers from Indoor Air Pollution: Evidence from Bangladesh,” Health Policy and Planning 21: 444-58, 2006.
Read Me File (PDF 16kb)
Monitored Day Questionnaire (PDF 48kb)
IAP-Monitored Minivol Data (Excel 354kb)
(1) Primary data on 24-hour average PM-10 concentrations in indoor air of 280+ houses in Bangladesh recorded by Airmetrics MiniVol Portable Air Sampler during May 2003-November 2004. The detailed information include: (i) cooking-related information on the day of monitoring, (ii) fuel used for cooking, (iii) other potential sources of indoor PM-10, and (iv) ventilation behavior.
(2) Primary data on ambient environment recorded in Dhaka, Rangpur, Jessore and Narshingdi during April-July 2004.
IAP-Monitored PD-RAM Data (Excel 11,271kb)
(1) Primary data on PM-10 concentrations in indoor air of 81 houses in Bangladesh during December 2003-April 2004. In each case, PM-10 concentrations were recorded by Thermo Electric Personal DataRAM (pDR-1000) at 2-minute intervals for a 24-hour period.
(2) Primary data on ambient environment recorded in Dhaka, Rangpur and Jessore during April-June 2004.
District Survey Questionnaire (PDF 157kb)
IAP-District Survey Data (Excel 8,848kb)
Primary household data on determinants of indoor air pollution in Cox's Bazar, Dhaka, Faridpur, Kishoreganj, Jessore, Narayanganj, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet. The detailed information include: (i) socio-economic characteristics of the household, (ii) structural characteristics of the house, (iii) configuration of the kitchen, (iv) fuel used for cooking and stove type, (v) exposure during cooking, and (vi) health outcome.
Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey and David Wheeler, “Indoor Air Quality for Poor Families: Evidence from Bangladesh”, Indoor Air, 2006, Vol 16, No. 6, 426-44.
Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey, David Wheeler, Indoor Air Quality for Poor Families: New Evidence from Bangladesh, World Bank Policy Research Working Paper3393, September 2004. Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey and David Wheeler, “ Who Suffers from Indoor Air Pollution: Evidence from Bangladesh”, Health Policy and Planning, 2006, Vol 21, 444-58. Susmita Dasgupta, Mainul Huq, M. Khaliquzzaman, Kiran Pandey and David Wheeler, " Who Suffers from Indoor Air Pollution: Evidence from Bangladesh", World Bank Policy Research Working Paper3428, October 2004.
Indoor Air Quality for Poor Families: New Evidence from Bangladesh (Powerpoint 974kb)
Guidance for Monitoring Indoor Air Pollution (PDF 364kb)
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