Current Research on Geography, Earth Science and Environment Vol. 2

Background: For many developing countries, Indoor air pollution (IAP) is still one of the largest environmental problems, as many do not have access to clean fuels for cooking. IAP could be from the burning of solid fuels for cooking in households. The objective of the study was to assess Indoor air quality among rural households

Methodology: The present study was a community based cross sectional study carried out for a period of 2 years. Rural households using solid fuel were included, and locked houses were excluded from the study. The study setting was Devarayasamudra Primary Health Centre, which had more than 2400 households. The sample size was calculated based on previous research. To assess Indoor air quality, Particulate Matter PM 2.5, PM10 Particles, CO₂, HCHO, Temperature and Humidity, Nitric oxide (NO) and Sulphur dioxide (SO₂) were measured by validated tools. All data were entered in a Microsoft Office Excel sheet, analysed using SPSS v 22 (IBM Corp, USA), with p-value less than 0.05 defined as statistically significant.

Results: 812 residents took part in the study. With respect to the external environment, 632 (77.8%) had independent access to a street from their household, 624 (76.8%) had their households nearer to nuisances such as smoke. With respect to the internal environment, 688 (84.7%) were staying in pucca houses and 716 (88.2%) houses were not plastered. AQI of rural households revealed 192 (23.6%) were of poor standards.

Conclusion: The present study shows that indoor air pollution is extensive in the rural population, which could be attributed to solid fuel as a source of energy at household levels.