Indoor Air Pollutants and Respiratory Problems among Dhaka City Dwellers

Journal Title: Archives of Community Medicine and Public Health - Year 2016, Vol 2, Issue 2

Abstract

Background: Indoor air pollutants becoming a great concern for public health. Indoor air pollution can cause more harmful health impacts than that of outdoor air pollution. Objectives: The study was conducted to investigate some selected indoor air pollutants and respiratory problems among the households of Dhaka city. Materials and methods: This was a cross sectional study conducted among the households in Dhaka city. A total of 97 households from the selected areas of Dhaka city were included to measure some selected indoor pollutants and 288 individuals from these households were investigated for any respiratory problems. The indoor pollutants were carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbon, formaldehyde and nitrogen dioxide. Results: The indoor air the pollutants which were found to be at higher levels in the studied households were carbon dioxide (≥600ppm) in 67.0% households, formaldehyde (≥0.1ppm) in 35.1% households, carbon monoxide (1-5ppm) in 17.5% households and hydrocarbon (≥600ppm) in 9.3% of the households. In most of the households (92.8%) nitrogen dioxide could not be detected. However, hydrocarbon, formaldehyde and carbon monoxide also could not be detected in 7.2%, 30.9% and 73.2% households respectively. The respiratory problems were found to be more in the households with increase concentration of pollutants in the indoor air. In addition, the average concentration of carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and hydrocarbon are found to be significantly (p<0.05) high with the occurrence of respiratory problems. The common respiratory manifestations suffered by the household members were chronic cough (34.4%), cough and chest pain (33.7%); breathlessness and chest tightness (33.3%); running nose and sneezing (30.6%) and wheeze and asthma (26.4%). Conclusion: The study revealed that the concentrations of some indoor air pollutants were higher in the studied households of Dhaka city. The members of these households were found to suffer more from respiratory diseases, particularly households having significantly higher concentration of carbon dioxide, formaldehyde and hydrocarbon.

Authors and Affiliations

Nahar Mahibun, Khan Manzurul Haque, Ahmad Sk Akhtar

Keywords

Related Articles

Palliative Care for Cancer: A Public Health Challenge in India

Palliative care is an emerging discipline worldwide which focuses on improving the quality of life of patients with chronic life threatening condition like cancer. Globally, palliative care is sparsely distributed in dev...

Ambulatory Monitoring of Blood Pressure in Occupational Hypertension

Stress is considered to have a strong impact on changes in blood pressure through overproduction of catecholamines during working hours [1,2]. We are presenting the graphical behavior of blood pressure of two patients....

Uterine Cervical Cancer Prevention in Eritrea: Development and Results of a Pilot Project

Background: Uterine cervical cancer (UCC) is the fourth most common cancer worldwide; almost 85%-90% of UCCs, and UCC-related deaths occur in low-income countries. No UCC prevention programs are currently running in Erit...

Public Policies of Infamy: Four Cases in Health - Mexico

This article invites to a transdisciplinary reflection, in which the policies should be part of the social benefit in this health case, here are presented four elements of analysis, maternal mortality, homicide, chronic...

Association between Perceived Stress and Asthma Symptoms in Adolescents

Background: Although the effect of psychological stress on asthma has long been suggested, there is little evidence regarding asthma symptoms such as wheezing in relation to perceived stress in adolescents. Objectives: W...

Download PDF file
  • EP ID EP326394
  • DOI 10.17352/2455-5479.000014
  • Views 127
  • Downloads 0

How To Cite

Nahar Mahibun, Khan Manzurul Haque, Ahmad Sk Akhtar (2016). Indoor Air Pollutants and Respiratory Problems among Dhaka City Dwellers. Archives of Community Medicine and Public Health, 2(2), 32-36. https://europub.co.uk/articles/-A-326394