Building on prior evidence that biomass cooking drives personal air pollution in rural and peri-urban Bangladesh, we measured kitchen pollution alongside personal exposure and examined the influence of outdoor industrial and traffic emissions on personal and indoor air quality. In an mHealth based-behavior change communication (BCC) intervention study (NCT05570552), 400 women were enrolled from rural Matlab and peri-urban Araihazar in Bangladesh. We measured 24 h personal exposure to fine particulate matter 2.5 (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC) using personal monitors (UPAS V2), and 72–120 h PM2.5 in 200 kitchens and outdoors of households using air quality sensors (PurpleAir Flex). Compared to clean fuel users, biomass users showed greater personal and kitchen exposure to PM2.5, showing good correlation between personal and indoor PM2.5 measurements (R2 = 0.722). Daily average personal PM2.5 and kitchen PM2.5 during both cooking and non-cooking periods were higher in rural than peri-urban areas. Geographic information system mapping revealed that personal PM2.5 was inversely related to the distance of factories from households when below <300 m in both rural and urban areas. Only in Araihazar, personal BC was higher in households located near factories or roads (<200–300 m) compared to those situated further away. Higher personal BC exposure was found in peri-urban women than rural women (p < 0.001). Higher levels of PM2.5 and increased BC were found in rural and peri-urban households, respectively, which were located in close proximities to formal/informal factories and main roads. These findings highlight the need for sustainable household energy transitions and improved air quality management to reduce air pollution exposure in Bangladesh.
Akhtar et al. (2026) studied this question.