Indoor pollution fuels rural health issues

WHEN examining Zululand’s air quality, activists often focus on mining and industrial pollution and the liability of corporations and state-owned enterprises.

But the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) believes ‘we are missing the wood for the trees’ as research for its latest air quality study indicated indoor pollution is a far more serious air quality problem – particularly in rural areas where scores of community members are known to blame nearby mines for ailments.

‘While the scrutiny (on industrial pollution) is not wrong, it loses sight of a problem that is not only more prevalent, but much more difficult to solve.

‘Throughout the country, but mainly in rural areas, one-third of South African households burn solid fuels such as wood, cow dung, vegetable waste and coal to cook and keep warm, according to a study published in the South African Medical Journal.

‘These fires envelop many households in ‘swirling pawls of thick choking smoke’, as noted in a recent Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) document.

‘This contributes to a host of lung and respiratory diseases as well as ear, nose and throat problems, cardiovascular diseases, and even perinatal mortality and low birth weight in children.

‘Children are especially susceptible to problems related to indoor air pollution.’

The study indicated that after taking into account ventilation, about 20% of the country’s households are exposed to indoor smoke pollution with the burden falling most heavily on the black population.

Low indoor air quality affects 24% of black households, 9% of coloured households and only 1% of white or Indian households, it stated.

‘By most measures, the foul air circulating inside the homes of the poor is worse than the ambient dirty air found scarring a few industrial hot spots.

‘Significant progress has been made with electrification, reaching about 76% of households.

‘But the poor cannot always afford electricity and even some electrified households continue to burn solid fuels for cooking and heating.’

Solutions
‘We would urge government leaders and political parties to make indoor air pollution a policy priority,’ said IRR CEO, Dr Frans Cronje.

‘Solutions exist to help purify indoor air, which the government, the private sector and individuals can adopt.

‘These include wider electrification, better methods for starting coal fires, cleaner stoves and chimneys, increased ventilation and low-smoke fuels.

‘Given the limited scope of state assistance, this paper proposes that the government assist the private sector to market and sell affordable equipment and methods to clean household air.’

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