Domestic Fuels, Indoor Air Pollution, and Children's Health

Abstract

Reliance on solid biomass fuel for cooking and heating exposes many children of developing countries to high levels of indoor air pollution. This study investigates the association between household use of biomass fuels for cooking and prevalence of respiratory symptoms and diseases among children in rural India. The air-quality parameters (CO, CO(2), NO, NO(2), SO(2), O(3), suspended particulate matter (SPM), including temperature and relative humidity) were investigated using a YES-Plus multigas air-quality monitor for gaseous and Kimoto handy samplers (HS-7) for TSPM. Seven hundred fifty households and 1505 children were selected for this study. A questionnaire developed on the pattern of the the International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) and the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUATLD) with some modifications were used for evaluation of respiratory health. The lung function parameters, namely, PEF, FVC, FEV(1), FEF, and SVC were examined on an electronic Spiro Meter (Maestro Medline Ltd.). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of suffering from respiratory infections among children from households using biomass fuels relative to children from households using liquified petroleum gas (LPG), after controlling for potentially confounding factors. The study suggests that exposure to cooking smoke from biomass combustion is significantly associated with decline in lung function and prevalence of doctor-diagnosed asthma (OR = 2.20; 95% CI: 1.16, 4.19) and other respiratory diseases.

Indoor air pollution and the health of children in biomass- and fossil-fuel users of Bangladesh: situation in two different seasons

“…Airborne concentrations of these pollutants were significantly higher in biomass-fuel-users' than fossil-fuel-users' kitchens at different measured times, which is consistent with the findings of other studies [23][24][25][26]. Considering the seasonal variation, we found a significant difference in the levels of dust particles and CO between winter and summer.…”

“…Other studies revealed the association of exposure to indoor VOCs with respiratory diseases and symptoms [33,34]. Some other studies also demonstrated a positive relationship between air pollution from biomass combustion and child health [23,24,35,36]. In this study, although in both winter and summer there were differences in pollution levels with different fuel types, we noted no such differences in the occurrence of respiratory symptoms either in winter or summer.…”

Indoor air pollution and health of children in biomass fuel-using households of Bangladesh: comparison between urban and rural areas

“…4-5.3). Some other studies also demonstrated a positive relationship between air pollution from biomass combustion and child health [26][27][28]. In our study, we found that the levels of most of the indoor air pollutants were higher in urban area but that the occurrences of respiratory symptoms were higher in rural area.…”

Cultural and Ritual Burning Emission Factors and Activity Levels in India

“…Interestingly, power plant (19 Gg/yr) has shown lower emissions compared to emissions resulting from cultural places. Residential bioand fossil fuel use has shown many folds higher emission estimation of OC compared to the present study due to profuse consumption of conventional household cooking fuels in India (Ramakrishna et al, 1989;Smith, 1996;Taneja et al, 2008;Padhi and Padhy, 2008). In contrast to OC emission estimation, EC has shown significant annual emissions from cultural and ritual activities compared to that from transport sector.…”