Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 22 Issue 1

Women’s Perception of Air Pollution and Associated Health Hazard Aspects – A Study in Low- Income Urban Space in Bangladesh Aziza Hena α , Sharmin Jahan σ , Sabrina Nasrin Sujana ρ & Sheikh Nayem Siddique Ѡ Keywords: air pollution, health hazards, low-income urban community, poor women, Bangladesh. I. I ntroduction II. L iterature R eview Air pollution is a global health emergency that has a slow-poisoning impact on humankind everywhere, especially in the urban spheres (Rahman et al., 2006). According to a study by Bayram(2006, as cited in Türk and Kavraz, 2011), both ambient (outdoor) and indoor air pollution affect every human being similarly, regardless of which geographical location they belong. © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue I Version I 47 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 C Corresponding Author σ : Department of Women & Gender Studies, University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. e-mail: azizahena@yahoo.com Co-Author σ : Department of Women & Gender Studies, University of Dhaka. Co-Author ρ : Department of Fass (Economics), Bangladesh University of Professionals. Co-Author Ѡ : Department of Computer Science & Engineering (CSE),University of Development Alternative. Abstract- This paper explores women’s perception of air pollution and associated health ha zards they experience in the low-income urban community of Bangladesh. Following the qualitative methodology, the research employs primary and secondary data to scrutinize the linkage betweenair pollution and women’s health. Data analysis in both percentages and an interpretive thematic approach was supported by two focus group discussions and 15 in-depth interviews conducted in the Mridhabari area in Matuail – one of the environmentally vulnerable areas in urban Bangladesh.The findings show that poor women’s comprehension of emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants is unsound and erroneous. Though women suffer from multiple physical, psychological, and reproductive health sicknesses due to their stay in a place with poor air quality, their apathetic outlook on health, reinforced by socially accepted gender norms, ignorance, misconception, and blind faith, contributes to avoiding seeking any medical treatment while getting sick. The sense of care and altruism drives them towards considering medical treatment for the dependent members of the household when they overlook the idea of spending on their health until and unless they suffer an illness with acute phase. n the present age, one of the environmental health hazards addressed globally is air pollution. Anthropogenic sources such as the burning of fossil fuels, agricultural activities, livestock farming, industrial processes in chemical and mining enterprises, solid waste generation, inept wastewater treatment, emissions from vehicles and factories (EEA, 2021, Giudice et al., 2021; Lando et al., 2021; Manuja et al., 2018) produce short-lived climate pollutants including black carbon, methane, tropospheric ozone, hydro fluorocarbons along with the most heat-trapping gas Carbon Dioxide, in large quantities (UNEP, 2019). Air pollution, notably, having the form of emissions of GHGs (Greenhouse gases), contributes to heat up the earth and consequently poses a threat to human health. Additionally, due to rapid urbanization and I industrialization, artificial air pollution continues at an alarming rate and increases injuries to health and premature death. According to the estimation by WHO, 9 out of 10 people across the globe inhale highly contaminated air, and 7million people die from outdoor and household air pollution each year (WHO, 2018). Indubitably,cities have more air pollution than rural areas because of the higher congregation of people, vehicles, and industries. Dhaka is no exception in this regard. Being ranked as the second most polluted capital city globally, it contains the worst quality of air. Apart from automobile pollution and industrial contamination, solid waste mismanagement and improper land filling practices pollute the air and grow the risk of adverse health effects. Women are considered more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution than men (American Psychological Society, 2017), and their health comparatively gets exposed to the development of maladies like “cancer, reproductive dysfunction, and immunologic and neurologic impairment” (Bryant, 1996). In a conventional patriarchal society like Bangladesh, where gender roles into public-private dichotomy are practiced as a well-built cultural norm, getting assigned by cooking, and in taking household air forwomen is an everyday routine. Besides, the mobility of urban working women corroborates the fact that career women cannot eschew inhaling outdoor air pollutants on a daily basis. Breathing of polluted air in two ways, both in the domestic and public domain denotes women face environmental victimization more than men though existing research did not shed sufficient light on it. This paper presented an interpretive thematic analysis along with percentages determined from both primary and secondary data to scrutinize the linkage between air pollution and women’s health in an underprivileged urban setting. It examined the women’s viewpoint about air pollution and their response to the health consequences that resulted from it.