Analysing the effects of indoor air pollution on women residing in urban slum dwellings

<bold>Introduction:</bold> One-third of the global population, around 2.6 billion people is still cooking using solid fuels such as wood, crop wastes, charcoal, coal, dung and kerosene in open fires and inefficient stoves. Burning solid fuels results in Household Air Pollution (HAP) releasing high levels of toxic pollutants, a major risk factor for lung cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory disease. <bold>Aims and Objectives:</bold> To analyse the effects of indoor air pollution on women residing in urban slum dwellings. <bold>Method:</bold> We conducted a survey of women living in urban slums who are exposed to HAP. Data was collected with a questionnaire. Respondents' clinical and demographic data was divided into groups exposed and not exposed to HAP. <bold>Results:</bold> The total number of respondents was 150 with 79 having exposure to HAP (burning solid fuel and LPG) and 71 having exposure to LPG only. Symptoms of cough, breathing difficulty, itching of the eyes, and skin rash were significantly higher in the population exposed to HAP. (Table 1 & 2). More patients exposed to HAP had been diagnosed with obstructive airway disease. (Table 3) <fig><object-id>erj;64/suppl_68/PA2968/F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><object-id>F1</object-id><graphic></graphic></fig> <bold>Conclusions:</bold> As per our study, people exposed to HAP had a higher incidence of symptoms and disease as compared with those using only LPG for cooking.