Parental Smoking as Health-Risk Factors of Indoor Air Pollution
Abstract: Statistically
significant respiratory symptoms effects of smoking had been reported in many
studies. The present paper was a partial report of a public health doctoral
dissertation base on a cross-sectional environmental health study done in homes
of a slum area in Jakarta, capital of Indonesia where ambient air pollution was
significantly high. The paper described that among other factors, smoking was
the health risk factor related to the development of respiratory symptoms among
263 children under-five in the research area. The children recruited were
without any respiratory symptoms at the beginning of the observation, and then
were followed for 2 weeks to detect the occurrence of any respiratory symptoms.
Factors relating to physical conditions of homes and household activities were
also recorded. Analysis of data was done including the control of confounding
factors. A cut-off of 70 mg/m3 indoor PM10 concentration as the surrogate for
quantitative measure of smoking was seen as the most specific and sensitive
level in relation to the occurrence of respiratory symptoms among the children.
The study signified that the consumption of cigarettes was significantly
related to the increase of indoor PM10 concentration. Every single cigarette
consumed by the father was related to of indoor PM10 increase in the range from
2.6 mg/m3 to 3.9 mg/m3. However, the study was not able to prove any influence
on the variation of the indoor PM10 concentrations by the physical factor of
the homes studied. The end conclusion of the study showed that in homes of an
overcrowded area, parental smoking was the critical factor for the quality of
indoor air, hence the health risk to the respiration system of the occupants.
Author: Rachmadi Purwana
Journal Code: jpkesmasdd070063
