Awareness of Rural Women of Punjab Regarding Indoor Air Pollution Causing Practices

The present study was conducted to find out the awareness of women regarding indoor air pollution causing practices in three regions of Punjab i.e. Majha, Malwa and Doaba. For this purpose, 240 rural women of district Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana were selected. Data were collected through interview schedule. The study findings revealed that above than ninety six percent of women were aware that cigarette smoke inside home and more improper disposal of desilted material from severs can lead to indoor air pollution. About ninety per cent of women were not aware about spray paint method of painting is more dangerous and pollute air; furniture polishes contain toxins which pollute air and hair sprays create environment pollution. Sixty seven percent of respondents had medium level of awareness. Education, mass media exposure and family education, family income was significantly correlated with awareness level of women. So women were aware about the pollutants which directly produce toxin and pollute air but they were not aware about indirect pollutants that cause air pollution. There is need to create the awareness among rural women through different interventions.