Study: Delhi residents report poor indoor air quality

New Delhi, Dec 8, 2008 : Delhis citizens want clean air.But do they actually need it? Two-year-old research by the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC India), has shown that Indias capital residents may not be in need of air pollution information or defensive technologies.

However, indoor air pollution levels in these homes was only 10% lower than those who lived in disadvantaged areas.Kenneth Lee, who was the studys lead author, stated that Delhi is the bottom line.

"No one, rich or poor, gets clean air." Its a vicious circle.If you dont know the pollution levels in your home, you dont worry about it and are less likely to take corrective action.

Clean air demand will only rise if people are more aware.The experiment showed that indoor PM2.5 concentrations declined by 8.6% in homes with real-time indoor pollution data.There were also modest changes in ventilation habits and defensive practices.Researchers point out that indoor PM2.5 levels were significantly higher than the value reported by the nearest government monitor in a study of thousands of Delhi households between 2018-2020.The study also found that indoor PM2.5 levels tends to rise in the mornings and the evenings when people are most likely to be cooking.Lee says, "It is critical to address the information gap related to indoor air polluting urgently." We can expect more positive outcomes if we combine high-frequency, accurate PM2.5 information via either government monitors or indoor air quality monitors.vg/pgh #Delhi #poor #indoor #quality #Chicago #Delhi #New Delhi #Chicago .