INDOOR AIR POLLUTION: HEALTH HAZARDS AND TECHNIQUES TO REDUCE THE HAZARDOUS EFFECTS

Industrial progress and ubiquitous technological adoption are major contributing factors to air pollution in developed countries. Air pollution is equally serious in rural and urban areas of our country. In rural India, majority of women use bio mass fuel (unprocessed fuel) for cooking and heating that causes lots of indoor pollution. Rural women heavily depend on fuel wood and bio mass fuels for cooking activity in which concomitant release of hazardous smoke is a major problem especially in poorly ventilated closed kitchen space. Women and children who spend major part of their time indoors are more prone to be affected by the smoke released by fuel wood burning. To reduce the harmful / hazardous effect of smoke, the intervention of improved technologies like smokeless stoves, domestic biogas plant, processed bio mass fuels (Charring and Briquetting) may be made available to rural parts in India.