Viet Nam’s craft villages and occupational air pollution

The document examines the intersectional impacts of air pollution on informal workers in three craft villages in Hanoi, Viet Nam. It finds that gender norms, age, and migrant status create unequal exposure to pollutants, with women often confined to indoor facilities and young men undertaking the most hazardous tasks. The brief highlights a lack of specific national and local regulations for craft villages and recommends holistic policy amendments, the formalization of labor contracts, and the establishment of specific occupational hygiene criteria to protect vulnerable informal workers.

• Occupational air pollution exposure in Viet Nam's craft villages is shaped by pre-existing inequalities related to gender, age, income, migration status, and employee status.
• Gender norms dictate a division of labor where men typically perform more hazardous, higher-paying tasks and have more opportunities to work outside production facilities. Conversely, women are often confined to indoor facilities, spend more time exposed to concentrated pollution, and earn lower wages.
• Women experience disproportionate economic losses due to health impacts from air pollution, as they report taking more time off work for health reasons than men do.
• Age influences exposure patterns: while middle-aged workers are the most numerous and vulnerable due to pre-existing conditions, young men are most likely to perform the heavy work with the most direct pollutant exposure.
• Migrant workers face increased risks because they often live adjacent to production facilities and are more likely to accept hazardous jobs for higher pay due to their temporary status and lack of local skillsets.
• Current air pollution management is hindered by the informal nature of the work, limited worker awareness of labor rights, and a lack of specific national and local regulations tailored to craft villages.
• Environmental pollution in craft villages is linked to severe health outcomes, including respiratory, neurological, and skin diseases, and residents' average life expectancy is 10 years lower than the national average.

APA

Thanh, V. T., Dung, L. T. D., Han, J. Y.-C., & Archer, D. (2022). Viet Nam’s craft villages and occupational air pollution. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/viet-nam-craft-villages-sei2022.034.pdf

Chicago

Thanh, Vu Thi, Le Thi Dan Dung, Jenny Yi-Chen Han, and Diane Archer. Viet Nam’s craft villages and occupational air pollution. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2022. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/viet-nam-craft-villages-sei2022.034.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Thanh |first1=Vu Thi |last2=Dung |first2=Le Thi Dan |last3=Han |first3=Jenny Yi-Chen |last4=Archer |first4=Diane |title=Viet Nam’s craft villages and occupational air pollution |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=September 2022 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/viet-nam-craft-villages-sei2022.034.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{thanh2022viet, author = {Thanh, Vu Thi and Dung, Le Thi Dan and Han, Jenny Yi-Chen and Archer, Diane}, title = {{Viet Nam’s craft villages and occupational air pollution}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2022}, month = sep, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/viet-nam-craft-villages-sei2022.034.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }