Indoor air pollution: Can better design in urban infrastructure help combat this growing problem? Premium

Understanding indoor air pollution in India, its sources, health impacts, and design solutions for better air quality.

Most of us tend to think of air pollution in terms of what is outside the house or building we are currently in: exhaust from motor vehicles on the streets, smoke and industrial fumes perhaps, but is the air we are breathing inside, any better? Is it posing a risk to our health? And can building and designing urban infrastructure better, help mitigate indoor air pollution hazards?

In India, while conversations around outdoor air pollution have gained ground, the same focus has not yet been given to indoor air quality in buildings, despite the fact that most people in urban areas spend 70 to 90% of their time indoors, says Kalpana Balakrishnan Dean (Research), Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai.

While the major proportion of indoor or household air pollution in India still comes from the use of solid fuels for cooking, primarily in rural areas, in urban areas, where the switch to cleaner fuels such as gas has mostly been made, there are several other sources of indoor air pollution.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ), as per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), refers to the air quality within and around buildings and structures, especially as it relates to the health and comfort of building occupants. Understanding and controlling common pollutants indoors can help reduce your risk of indoor health concerns, it says.

“Indoor air pollution is a very broad term as it comprises both indoor sources of pollution as well as pollution from outdoors that has infiltrated indoors. In India, it is very difficult to distinguish between the sources, because unlike other countries, where homes and buildings might be more insulated from the outdoors, this is not the case with most places in our country, making air pollution heterogeneous. Our biggest concern here is the penetration of outdoor air indoors,” says Dr. Balakrishnan.

Outdoor (ambient) air pollution is grouped as class 1 carcinogen, meaning it is cancer causing, apart from contributing to a whole host of other diseases including respiratory ailments, cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

This apart, explains Dr. Balakrishnan, indoor air pollution sources also come from the activities that take place in a building as well as the building (and materials used) itself. “For instance, indoor smoking, cooking/deep frying, chemical cleaners used, the use of mosquito coils or incense sticks could all impact the quality of air indoors,” she says. And then, the building itself – the furnishings in it, vapours from the paint or plastering on the walls, as well as biological contaminants such as mould, can also contribute to indoor air pollution and impact the health of people using the building, she explains.