Indias indoor air pollution
indoor pollution
burning coal brickets
the burning of dung
India and Sub Saharan Africa, it is estimated that more than 80% of urban households get their energy for cooking in this manner, and more than 90% in rural areas.
ways to improve air qulity
Instead, the plan will call for enforcing bans on what some environmentalists regard as relatively minor sources of pollution, including burning of garbage and construction dust.
The World Health Organisation said last year that 13 of the world's 20 most polluted cities were in India, with New Delhi the worst.
In the absence of concerted government action on battling pollution, courts have stepped in, banning the sale of luxury diesel vehicles and demanding a tax on trucks entering the city.
The federal plan, which the two officials said would be made public within two weeks, will be one of the government's first attempts to come up with a broad solution to the problem.
Under the plan, they said, the government will enforce a ban on burning garbage and tyres in Delhi and its three surrounding states; require that construction sites are covered with curtains; and clean road dust.
indian toxic materials
Indoor pollutant
Major sources
Carbon monoxide
Fuel/tobacco combustion
Fine particles
Fuel/tobacco combustion, cleaning, fumes from cooking oil
Nitrogen oxides
Fuel combustion
Sulfur oxides
Coal combustion
Arsenic and fluorine
Coal combustion
Volatile and semi-volatile
organic compounds
Fuel/tobacco combustion, furnishings, construction materials, fumes from cooking, consumer products
Aldehydes
Furnishing, construction materials, cooking
Pesticides
Consumer products, dust from outside
Asbestos
Wear or demolition of construction materials
Lead
Wear of painted surfaces
Biological pollutants
Moist areas, ventilation systems, furnishings
Radon
Soil under buildings, construction materials
Ozone
Photocopier, printers
Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)
- Brominated flame retardants (BFRs)
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs)
Cables, computers, TVs and household textiles
Fuel/tobacco combustion, fumes from food, e.g. from cooking oil