Indoor Air Pollution and Its Household Determinants in a Rural Community of Cooch Behar District, West Bengal A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Indoor (household) air pollution is a leading global environmental health risk and remains highly prevalent in rural India, where reliance on solid biomass fuels, suboptimal ventilation and indoor tobacco smoke coexist. Community-level data from northern West Bengal are scarce, and we found no published study on the subject from Cooch Behar district.

Objectives: To assess the status of indoor air pollution and to describe the household and behavioural determinants associated with it in a rural community of Cooch Behar district.

Methods: A community-based, descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 117 households (484 residents) in the rural area of Guriahati, Cooch Behar, over April 2026, using a pre-designed, pre-tested, interviewer-administered schedule covering socio-demographic, housing, fuel-and-exposure and health domains. Households resident for more than six months that provided consent were included; locked houses and refusals were excluded. Socio-economic status was graded by the updated B.G. Prasad scale (January 2025). Data were summarised as frequencies, percentages, mean, median and range; reporting follows the STROBE statement.

Results: Most respondents had primary-level education (63.2%) and belonged to the lower-middle (41.9%) or middle (29.9%) socio-economic class. Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) was the main cooking fuel in 71.8% of households, yet 27.0% still used biomass exclusively or in combination; visible cracks/slits in the kitchen (67.5%), absent chimney/exhaust (63.2%), absent cross-ventilation (72.6%), overcrowding (61.5%) and wall dampness/mould (48.7%) were common. Indoor smoking occurred in 31.6% of households. Respiratory symptoms were reported by 29.9% and eye/skin/headache irritation by 45.3%; 13.7% reported a gritty ocular sensation while cooking, and 26.5% reported illness in the preceding two weeks.

Conclusion: Despite predominant LPG adoption, fuel stacking, poor kitchen ventilation, structural deficiencies and indoor smoking sustain a substantial indoor air pollution burden, mirrored by a high prevalence of respiratory and irritative symptoms. Programmes promoting exclusive clean-fuel use, improved kitchen design and ventilation, and reduction of indoor smoking are warranted.