Severity of indoor air pollution in Nepal

Indoor air pollution is the pollution of air inside houses and other buildings, mainly by smoke from burning solid fuels (firewood, dung, crop residue) and kerosene for cooking, heating and lighting. It is one of the most serious but least noticed environmental health problems in Nepal.

Severity of the problem in Nepal

1. Widespread use of biomass – around half of Nepali households use firewood as their main cooking fuel (Census 2021); in rural hills and mountains the share is much higher.
2. Traditional stoves and poor ventilation – open fires and mud stoves without chimneys, small windows, kitchen inside the living room. Indoor PM2.5 during cooking can be many times the WHO guideline and far higher than outdoor levels.
3. Long exposure – women spend several hours cooking each day; in cold areas the fire burns most of the day for heating, and families sleep in the same room.
4. Most affected groups – women, infants and young children, and the elderly.
5. Health effects
   • Acute lower respiratory infection (pneumonia) – a major killer of children under five.
   • COPD and chronic bronchitis among women.
   • Lung cancer, asthma and tuberculosis.
   • Cataract and eye irritation.
   • Low birth weight and stillbirths.
   • Carbon monoxide poisoning (deaths are reported in winter from charcoal or gas heaters in closed rooms).
6. Burden of disease – household air pollution is among the leading risk factors for death and disability in Nepal.
7. Environmental and social effects – deforestation from fuel-wood collection, time lost by women and girls collecting wood, soot-blackened homes.

Measures (in brief)

• Clean fuels: LPG, biogas and electric (induction) cooking.
• Improved cook stoves with chimneys (promoted by AEPC).
• Better ventilation and separate kitchens.
• Solar lamps instead of kerosene lamps.
• Awareness through FCHVs, schools and media.