Can Currently Available Advanced Combustion Biomass Cook-Stoves Provide Health Relevant Exposure Reductions? Results from Initial Assessment of Select Commercial Models in India

Abstract

Household air pollution from use of solid fuels is a major contributor to the national burden of disease in India. Currently available models of advanced combustion biomass cook-stoves (ACS) report significantly higher efficiencies and lower emissions in the laboratory when compared to traditional cook-stoves, but relatively little is known about household level exposure reductions, achieved under routine conditions of use. We report results from initial field assessments of six commercial ACS models from the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh in India. We monitored 72 households (divided into six arms to each receive an ACS model) for 24-h kitchen area concentrations of PM2.5 and CO before and (1-6 months) after installation of the new stove together with detailed information on fixed and time-varying household characteristics. Detailed surveys collected information on user perceptions regarding acceptability for routine use. While the median percent reductions in 24-h PM2.5 and CO concentrations ranged from 2 to 71% and 10-66%, respectively, concentrations consistently exceeded WHO air quality guideline values across all models raising questions regarding the health relevance of such reductions. Most models were perceived to be sub-optimally designed for routine use often resulting in inappropriate and inadequate levels of use. Household concentration reductions also run the risk of being compromised by high ambient backgrounds from community level solid-fuel use and contributions from surrounding fossil fuel sources. Results indicate that achieving health relevant exposure reductions in solid-fuel using households will require integration of emissions reductions with ease of use and adoption at community scale, in cook-stove technologies. Imminent efforts are also needed to accelerate the progress towards cleaner fuels.

Emission factors of health‐ and climate‐relevant pollutants measured in home during a carbon‐finance‐approved cookstove intervention in rural India

“…Recent measurements by our group of several stoves in Malawi were broadly consistent with these as well [ Wathore et al , ]. In‐home tests of traditional and alternative cookstoves in India have mostly focused on comparisons of indoor concentrations of PM, CO, and BC [ Kar et al , ; Sambandam et al , ; Muralidharan et al , ; Patange et al , ], showing that alternative stoves do result in reduced indoor concentrations. However, to our knowledge, EFs measured during in‐home use of traditional and alternative stoves in India have not been published.…”

Policy trade-offs between climate mitigation and clean cook-stove access in South Asia

“…Improved biomass cooking stoves (ICS) are not considered clean cooking owing to ongoing concerns about whether they yield significant health benefits [22][23][24] . Therefore, we include ICS in our analysis, but count only modest incremental benefits over traditional biomass stoves.…”

Mapping the performance of wood-burning stoves by installations worldwide

“…(For interpretation of the references to color in this figure legend, the reader is referred to the web version of this article.) Table 5 Reduction of ambient PM2.5 (APM2.5) by distinct WBS related interventions in households worldwide [97][98][99][100][101][102].…”