A study on the perceived impact of indoor air pollution in a slum area of Kolkata, West Bengal

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Indoor air pollution is one of the most serious environmental health concerns in today's times. OBJECTIVES: The objective is to find out the sources and health effects of indoor air pollution as well as assess the housing conditions among residents of a slum area in Kolkata. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 220 households in a slum area of Kolkata. Data were collected using a predesigned, pretested, structured schedule by face-to-face interview and observation technique and analyzed using SPSS version 25.0. RESULTS: About 56.8% of the study population complained of having at least one symptom of indoor air pollution. Factors associated with three or more symptoms were female gender, lower-middle socioeconomic class, absence of dampness, exposure to tobacco smoke, use of mosquito repellent, and presence of kitchen in the living room. CONCLUSION: The slum population should be educated about the major associated factors of indoor air pollution found in our study.

Keywords

• housing
• indoor air pollution
• mosquito repellent
• slum
• tobacco smoke
• urban