Indoor air pollution causing low birth weight

New Delhi, Jan 20: One of the major reasons for low weight among newborns in rural India was the continuous exposure of pregnt women to indoor air pollution, according to doctors. Doctors have said indoor air pollution caused by the ‘chulhas’ burning wood, coal and animal dung as fuel was the major factor behind the occurrence of a slew of diseases including respiratory diseases among women. They said that apart from low birth weight, the continuous exposure of pregnt women to air pollution can also lead to brain deformity, asthma and improper growth among newborns. “For a woman, the time between conception and birth is perhaps one of the most vital life stages.

“If a pregnt woman is exposed to too much of air pollution, carbon monoxide in the air causes interference in the passage of oxygen, which leads to oxygen insufficiency and hence results in low birth weight or even death,” said Bandita Sinha, an obstetrics and gyecology specialist at Apollo Hospital and Fortis. As per data released by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), 5 lakh lives are lost in India every year due to indoor air pollution. Most of them are women and children. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recently said that one of its focus areas in 2016-17 will be to raise awareness among rural women regarding the use of electricity or LPG stoves, in a bid to curb indoor air pollution. Stating that during pregncy, women mostly have to stay indoors, Sinha said the smoke caused by cooking gas also makes newborns prone to catching diseases like pneumonia after birth because of a weak immune system caused by indoor air pollution.

Nilesha Chitre, gyecologist at SRV Hospital, said: “People in rural parts of the country have to understand that the total suspended particles present inside a kitchen has 1,000 times greater chance to penetrate deep into the lungs than the suspended particles outside. (IANS)