Almost 3 billion people globally, including 90% people in Bangladesh, are exposed to harmful Household Air Pollution (HAP) emitted from combustion of biomass fuel used for cooking. Higher exposure to fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) shortens the average life expectancy of Bangladeshi residents by 6.8 years. Bangladesh is the world’s most polluted country in terms of PM_2.5 levels in the air. Regular use of biomass (e.g. wood, agricultural residue, cow dung, charcoal) for daily cooking pollutes the air continuously. Availability and access to preventive programs that focus HAP are low in Bangladesh. Similar to many other developing countries in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, women in Bangladesh are mostly engaged in cooking activities. Earlier we have shown that, two years of exclusive clean fuel (LPG) use in rural households can reduce personal exposure to PM_2.5 by almost 60%, improve overall immune status and halt further decline of lung function capacity of the participating women^{1, 2, 3, 4}. Our qualitative findings also suggested that switching from biomass stove to LPG stove reduced unpaid household work burden and improved wellbeing of women and other household members⁵.

Adoption and sustained use of clean fuel remain a challenge. In the present study, we propose to develop and evaluate an innovative behavioral change communication (BCC) intervention using mobile phone platform as a scalable intervention (mHealth) for future implementation (NCT05570552). Here, our focus is to increase acceptance and exclusive use of LPG in the communities through mobile phone-based BCC. The mHealth intervention advocates the use of clean fuel for domestic cooking thereby empowering women through improved personal and family well-being. Additionally, we will explore the long-term effect of HAP on cardio-pulmonary and immune functions. This project also supports the environmental health researchers of Bangladesh through a multifaceted training program in Bangladesh and in USA on environmental and occupational health research.

The GEOHealth Hub harbors two pilot studies. One is focused on studying health compromising substances used in commercial fish farming from the perspective of industrial exposure to toxic chemicals. To address health issues related to occupational exposure, the other pilot study aims to evaluate lung function capacity and respiratory symptoms among cotton textile-mill workers in Bangladesh.