A recent study in the state of West Bengal in India says that education levels are directly related to the kind of fuels in use in households. According to the research article, "A comparative assessment of Status of indoor air pollution of few selected families of rural and urban area of Burdwan town and its adjoining area", 43% of the people without formal education used wood, straw, and dung while only 3% with tertiary levels of education and 25% with primary and secondary levels of education used the same fuels.
The research article published in the International Journal of Environmental Sciences (Volume 1, No 5, 2011) says that a higher percentage of less polluting fuels were used by people with tertiary education in urban area. According to the authors of the research report, N K Mondal, S Konar, A Banerjee and J K Datta from the Department of Environmental Science, University of Burdwan, "a positive regression line was extrapolated between diseases and factors responsible for indoor pollution."
The research article points out that as per a recent estimate, 82% of sulphur dioxide (SO2), 38% of nitrogen dioxide (NO2), 88% of volatile organic compounds and 96% particulate matter emissions in the country came from the household sector (Parikh, 1999).
The study was conducted in 50 rural and 50 urban homes to check the indoor air quality. The houses were picked randomly and data was extracted by way of interview schedules and regular monitoring of air quality.
About 71% of those surveyed in rural areas used wood, straw and dung whereas only 2% of the urban observation set used the same bio-fuel. The research article notes that since the use of such fuels is closely linked to poverty, it also usually signifies that the population generally has poor access to health care.
The study arrives at the conclusion that there is a co-relation between the large number of families in rural areas suffering from diseases such as asthma or respiratory problems and use of solid biomass for cooking fuel and improper ventilation. According to the study, more alarming conditions were observed for rural girls/women, specially those involved in cooking. The authors found that unhealthy cooking methods and use of biomass fuels not only contributed to chronic bronchitis but also put children below the age of five at grave risk.
The study recommends a mass awareness program among poor people about indoor air pollution, including the deleterious effects of both smoke from biomass fuels and smoking indoors.
