World Lung Cancer Day 2026: Can the kitchen harm your lungs? Oncologist Dr Ravi Wategaonkar on how to reduce AQI at home

How does indoor air quality affect lung health? Learn practical tips to reduce cancer risks at home and ensure a healthier living environment for you.

World Lung Cancer Day 2026: When we think about lung cancer, we usually think about smoking. Many people, especially women and people who do not smoke, get lung cancer even though they have never used tobacco. Now experts are looking at the air inside our homes to see if it is causing problems. They think that the air inside our homes might be making us sick.

Can your home be harming your lungs? The hidden cancer risks inside households (Unsplash)

By Tavishi Dogra

Tavishi Dogra is a Deputy Chief Content Producer, Health & Wellness, at Hindustan Times. She has over 9 years of experience writing about fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, translating medical research and expert insights into practical advice readers can trust.

Career journey and experience
Tavishi began her health journalism journey in 2017, and has since reported for RSTV, Financial Express, Jagran, HT Media Labs and Zee. She joined Hindustan Times to simplify wellness subjects by cutting through jargon.

From decoding health trends and interviewing doctors to testing fitness routines herself, Tavishi always approaches content with one filter: “Will this help someone make a better decision today?”

Subject expertise
With 9+ years tracking India’s health conversations, Tavishi knows the gap between clinical advice and daily life. She knows fads from fundamentals and curates science-backed, expert-recommended solutions.

In fitness, she breaks down bodyweight training, recovery, and posture fixes for desk-bound readers. In nutrition, she translates guidelines into affordable, desi meal tweaks. In mental well-being, she focuses on stigma-free, actionable tools — all backed by research, expert input, and lived context.

Education and professional background
Tavishi holds a Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication and began her career reporting on public affairs for broadcast. Those early years in policy and TV shaped how she writes today: fast, factual, and human-first.

Editorial Philosophy
I write with one single goal: To simplify health in a world full of noise by finding what’s actually doable, safe, and evidence-based for my readers. I test claims against research and user experiences. When all else fails, I speak to the expert who sees 50 patients a day, not the one with the most followers.

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Is burning cow dung harmful?

In India, many people have started using fuels to cook, which is a good thing. There are still many homes, especially in rural and semi-urban areas, that use things like firewood, crop residue, coal or dung cakes to cook. When we burn these things, they release particles and chemicals into the air that can go deep into our lungs.

"The World Health Organisation says that bad air in our homes causes around 2.9 million deaths every year. It can also cause lung cancer, breathing problems, heart disease and strokes. 11% of lung cancer deaths are because of bad air in our homes from solid fuels and kerosene," Dr Ravi Wategaonkar, Medical Oncologist, M|O|C Cancer Care Pune, tells Health Shots.

Is burning mosquito coil harmful to humans?

Even people who live in cities are not completely safe. If our homes do not have ventilation, we can still breathe in bad air. "This can happen if someone smokes inside or if we use many mosquito coils, incense sticks or scented candles", says the oncologist. If we cook at high temperatures, it can also make the air bad. If the air outside is already bad, it can come into our homes and make things worse.

Which lifestyle habit is strongly linked to lung cancer?

A healthy home is not about being clean; it is also about having clean air. We are seeing more people with lung cancer who have never smoked. "Being around pollutants for a long time can hurt our lungs without us even realising it", says Dr Wategaonkar. If we have ventilation, do not smoke inside, use cleaner fuels, and reduce unnecessary smoke, we can lower our risk of getting lung cancer.

How to reduce AQI at home?

There are things we can do to make a difference. "We can keep our kitchens ventilated, use chimneys or exhaust fans, not smoke inside, and not use too many mosquito coils or incense sticks in closed spaces", shares the doctor. We should also make sure our homes have airflow. Taking care of our lungs starts at home.

(Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions about a medical condition.)