On an average, 90 out of 100 children in Bangladesh are affected by indoor air pollution every hour.

This was disclosed at a seminar organised by the Environment and Social Development Organisation (ESDO) at the PIB seminar hall yesterday.

State Minister for Environment and Forest Zafrul Islam Chowdhury was the guest of honour at the seminar while Chairperson of ESDO Syed Marghub Murshed presided.

Executive Director of ESDO Dr Hossain Shahriar presented the keynote paper.

Dr Shahriar said the threat of indoor pollution was very grave and very much existent. He said people living in urban slums, high-rise apartments or old and dark houses suffered the most. He said the indoor pollutants infected almost 88 per cent of the total population.

More than 60 per cent of the total child population (under 5) was living with high death or disability threat in Bangladesh because of indoor pollution, he added.

Dr Shahriar listed sources of indoor pollution as from kitchen, biomass fuel, LP gas, natural gas, house plants (during night), oven grilling, plastic kitchen and dining ware, disposable syringes, capsules, medicine containers and other utensils, disposable diapers, sanitary napkins, plastic paint, plastic burning, smoking, cooking gas, food waste, instant power generators, cosmetics, drain holes in toilets and kitchens, mosquito coils, sprays, toilet cleaners, detergents used in washing machines, refrigerators, air coolers, perfumes and other sprays.

Dr Shahriar said the adverse health effects of biomass in indoor include faecal/oral/enteric infection, skin infection, smoke poisoning burn/trauma, cataract, severe fatigue, conjunctivitis, upper respiratory tract inflammation/acute respiratory infection (ARI) and acute poisoning.

This was found in a survey conducted by ESDO on 29,960 respondents- 9,288 males and 20,672 females- from 6,265 households in 24 cities and towns and 49 villages.

In Dhaka city the survey covered Uttara, Pallabi, Mirpur, Cantonment, Amin Bazar, Gulshan, Banani, Tejgaon, Mohammadpur, Kalyanpur, Shyamoli, Dhanmondi, Rayerbazar, Lalbagh, Azimpur. Sutrapur, Sadarghat, Islampur, Wari, Demra, Bashabo, Kamalapur, Shahjahanpur, Sabujbagh, Khilgaon, Chowdhurypara, Rampura, Badda and Kafrul.