Taiwan – health risks from incense burned in a temple

September 9, 2009 · 0 comments

Sci Total Environ. 2009 Aug 15;407(17):4870-5.

Characteritization of, and health risks from, polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans from incense burned in a temple.

Hu MT, Chen SJ, Huang KL, Lin YC, Lee WJ, Chang-Chien GP, Tsai JH, Lee JT, Chiu CH.

Department of Environmental Engineering Science, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung 91201, Taiwan.

Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins/dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs) may cause adverse health effects. However, PCDD/F emissions from burning incense in temples have rarely been addressed. This study investigates PCDD/F emissions from burning incense in a temple. The mean total PCDD/F concentrations were 72.4-82.2 pg
Nm(-3) at two indoor sites; their corresponding mean total PCDD/Fs I-TEQ concentrations (0.24-0.27 pg I-TEQ Nm(-3)) were approximately 11 times that at a background location. In air samples collected from burning incense, OCDFs accounted for approximately 90% of total PCDD/Fs at the two indoor sites and an
outdoor site near the temple, while the major PCDD/Fs in incense ash were PCDDs. The total PCDD/F content and toxic equivalent value of incense ash were 617 pg g(-1) and 1.55 pg I-TEQ g(-1), respectively. At the three sites inside/outside the temple, the air and ash samples contained the same four primary PCDD/Fs-OCDD, 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDD, OCDF and 1,2,3,4,6,7,8-HpCDF. The Cl- emission factor, which is related to the PCDD/F formation, from burning incense was 0.454 mg g(-1). The resultant lifetime average daily dose and cancer risk for temple workers were 0.00964 pg I-TEQ day(-1) kg(-1) and 9.64 x 10(-6), respectively, approximately 2 times that for residents near the temple (0.00489 pg I-TEQ day(-1) kg(-1) and 4.89 x 10(-6), respectively). We suggest that the chlorine content in incense must be regulated, and the high risk of PCDD/F exposure from burning incense for temple workers and visitors should be of concern.

Study on Aspergillus species in houses of asthmatic patients from Sari City, Iran

September 9, 2009 · 0 comments

Environ Monit Assess. 2009 Aug 21.

A study on Aspergillus species in houses of asthmatic patients from Sari City, Iran and a brief review of the health effects of exposure to indoor Aspergillus.

Hedayati MT, Mayahi S, Denning DW.

Medical Mycology and Parasitology Department, School of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Kilometer 18 Khazarabad Road, P.O. Box 48175-1665, Sari, Iran, hedayaty2001@yahoo.co.uk.

To study the distribution of Aspergillus spp. in outdoor and indoor air of asthmatic patients’ houses, as well as a review on the health effects of exposure to indoor Aspergillus. Open plates containing malt extract agar media were used to isolate fungi from the indoor (n = 360) and outdoor (n = 180) air of 90 asthmatic patients’ houses living in Sari City, Iran. Plates were incubated at room temperature for 7-14 days. Cultured Aspergillus spp. were identified by standard mycological techniques. All culture plates grew fungi, a testament to the ubiquitous nature of fungal exposure. Cladosporium spp. (29.2%), Aspergillus spp. (19.0%), and Penicillium spp. (18.3%) were most common inside the houses while Cladosporium spp. (44.5%), Aspergillus spp. (12.4%), and Alternaria spp. (11.1%) were most common outside the houses. Aspergillus flavus (30.1%) and A. fumigatus (23.1%) are the most commonly isolated species in indoor air. Aspergillus flavus (44.5%) and A. fumigatus (42.6%) were the most prevalent Aspergillus spp. outside. The most colony numbers of Aspergillus were isolated from kitchens (30.4%) and the least from bedrooms (21.1%). Aspergillus flavus was the most prevalent specie in all sampled rooms except in the kitchen where A. fumigatus was the most common. Aspergillus flavus is the most prevalent species among the Aspergillus spp. in the indoor and outdoor of a warm climate area. In these areas, A. flavus can be a major source of allergen in the air. Therefore, minimizing indoor fungal exposure could play an important role in reducing allergic symptoms in susceptible persons.

India – Government may give free LPG stoves

September 9, 2009 · 0 comments

India – Govt may give free LPG stoves

9 Sep 2009

NEW DELHI: The government may give poor people LPG stoves free of cost as part of its blueprint to expand domestic cooking gas coverage to at least three-fourth of the population.

The Petroleum Ministry is considering a proposal to use the funds state-run oil firms set aside for CSR activities, an official source said.

“Public sector oil companies have been asked to spend at least two per cent of their net profit each year on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. A part of these funds is proposed to be use to give free LPG stoves to poor people,” he said.

The scheme, he said, is part of Petroleum Minister Murli Deora’s blueprint to release 5.5 crore new LPG connections by 2015, taking the total number of LPG connections from present 11.5 crore to 16 crore. This would increase coverage from 50 per cent of population at present to 75 per cent.

“People living below poverty line (BPL) will be given free stoves and subsidised LPG,” he said.

As part of the agenda for the first 100 days of the UPA government’s second innings, Deora has already rolled out mobile phone text or SMS booking for LPG refills and toll-free number to make complaints.

Source – Economic Times

Kenyan farmers could reap from carbon trading

September 9, 2009 · 0 comments

Kenyan farmers could reap from carbon trading

Sept. 6, 2009

From the manicured lawns of San Diego, California, a little known company is breaking new ground in the business of personal carbon trading.

Carbon Manna Unlimited is pushing forward an ingenious pilot project that rewards small farmers in Mbeere and Bungoma districts for planting trees, and using more energy efficient stoves, known locally as jikos, for cooking.

To start of with, it is giving each family involved Sh2,200 per month sent through their mobile phones, using Zain Kenya’s Zap, and Safaricom’s M-Pesa. A personal carbon emission trading offers a financial carrot to individuals or families to get them to clean up their act.

The farmers involved in the Carbon Manna project will be allowed to emit only a certain amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), measured according to pre-agreed scale.

If they cut their emissions to below this limit, the balance is calculated in monetary terms, and they are paid for it.

Thanks to the financial incentive to operate below the limit, and the use of fuel efficient jikos, farmers plant more trees than they can cut down, thereby aiding the fight against deforestation, and reducing the CO2 emissions blamed for global warming.

The UN (United Nations) and other global institutions, have praised carbon trading as a way of reducing deforestation in developing countries like Kenya. The carbon credits payments project is now in its trial stage. Carbon Manna will subsidise the purchase the jikos in Kenya.

This project falls within what the UN defines as Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) executed in developing countries that cannot afford the technology changes required to lower carbon emissions.

“We are confident that this will work better for a majority of the people, because the new, improved jikos save firewood, and produce less carbon dioxide than traditional three stones cooking over open fires.

They generate carbon credits that can be sold to companies or individuals, who want to offset their own emissions,” says Mr Geoffrey Kiringa, the Country Leader and President of Carbon Manna Unlimited. The business may look complicated, but could spawn huge profits for the farmers and their intermediaries.

five million jikos
If all goes according to plan, Carbon Manna Unlimited estimates that families in Kenya and the developing world can earn up to $62.50 (Sh4850) of carbon credits per year for each family, thereby reducing CO2 emissions by about 2.5 tonnes annually per family.

They also save $50-100 (Sh3500-Sh7000) a year on biomass, or carbon-based fuels. “If you can distribute five million Jikos, you are talking about a lot of tonnage of carbon,” says Kiringa. This could add up to a business with modest costs and between $200 million (Sh15.4 billion) annual revenues.

But how does the carbon markets work? Typically, buyers of carbon credits are companies in the United States or the European Union, who want to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, either voluntarily (in the United States), or because their emissions are regulated (in the European Union).

“Let’s assume that five billion people in the developing world and 1 billion families, if only 10 per cent of families converted to efficient charcoal cooking, and did not emit 2.5 tonnes per year per family of CO2,” says David Pallela, Founder of Carbon Manna Unlimited “If we go further and assume that there will be reduced deforestation from not cutting down trees (biomass), this modest conversion rate alone would offset the annual CO2 emissions of the entire United Kingdom,” Pallela notes. 　

buying credit
“Instead of directly cutting their own emissions, these companies choose to buy credits, usually from a bank, a company or a non-profit institution — frequently in the developing world — that has come up with a less expensive way to curb greenhouse gases,” he added.

The project represents a new twist; use of mobile phone money transfer.

“The mobile phone-based carbon micro credit system employs SMS (short message service) and unique identifiers, to allow millions of families to claim, on a bi-weekly or monthly basis, the carbon offsets they produce, by using more efficient cooking methods such as a modern charcoal stove or solar cooker, instead of an inefficient open-pit fire burning biomass,” explains Pallela.

“As a result, each family is able to monetise directly its own contribution to mitigating global warming, while also reducing nationwide rates of deforestation and desertification.”

Available information indicates pre-selling tens of thousands of tonnes of bundled carbon micro credits provides the start-up capital needed to buy stoves and cell phones for the participating families, thus making the system self-funding and markets-based.

Source – http://www.eastandard.net/mag/InsidePage.php?id=1144016370&cid=457

South Africa – Paraffin-related injury in low-income communities

September 2, 2009 · 0 comments

WHO Bulletin, Sept. 2009

Paraffin-related injury in low-income South African communities: knowledge, practice and perceived risk.

Full-text: http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/87/9/08-057505.pdf (pdf, 576KB)

David C Schwebel,a Dehran Swart,b Siu-kuen Azor Hui,a Jennifer Simpsona & Phumla Hobeb

Objective – To explore what individuals at risk of injury from using paraffin (also known as kerosene) know about paraffin safety, what they do to protect themselves and their families from paraffin-related injury, and how they perceive their risk for such injury. Also, to explore interrelations between these factors and age, sex, education and income.

Methods – A sample of 238 individuals was randomly recruited from low-income housing districts near Cape Town, South Africa in 2007. Trained research assistants interviewed participants to explore their knowledge about paraffin-related safety and their perceived risk of injury from using paraffin. Researchers inspected participants’ homes to evaluate paraffin safety practices. Descriptive and correlational analyses were conducted.

Findings – Participants had relatively low levels of knowledge about paraffin-related safety. They had high levels of unsafe practice and their perceived risk of injury was moderate. Knowledge of paraffin safety and safe practices were positively correlated with each other. Greater knowledge showed a negative correlation with the perception of being at risk for injury, but safe practices showed no correlation with perceived risk of injury. Formal education, the number of children in the home and frequency of paraffin use were positively correlated with knowledge but not with safe practices. The only significant correlate to safe practices was greater income, perhaps a reflection of the impact of financial resources on paraffin safety practices.

Conclusion – To develop successful paraffin safety interventions, it is necessary to understand baseline levels of knowledge, practice and perceived risk of injury among at-risk populations. Our findings could be of value for designing interventions that will increase knowledge, improve safe practices and lead to the accurate perception of the risk of injury from using paraffin.

Kenya – Biogas firm targets rural areas, farmers

August 31, 2009 · 2 comments

biogasBiogas firm targets rural areas, farmers

As the energy crisis bites, right after fuel prices shot through the roof, some Kenyan firms have gone green and are busy developing alternative energy sources.

One such green technology firm, Pioneer Technologies has teamed up with Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology to develop biogas-based systems for cooking and cheap electricity.

The biogas is derived from manure through “anaerobic digestion” — without oxygen — using custom-built biodigesters. The biogas is made up of methane and carbon dioxide.

Pioneer’s managing director Samuel Nene says the biogas is produced through three systems: the plastic tubular digester (the cheapest and not complicated), the fixed dome and the floating drum, which are more versatile and come in varying sizes for different customers. These cost $500-$2,000 a piece.

“The digesters are built to capture the gas from the decomposing waste and transmit it through outlets linked to homes or institutions where it is used by specially-made Pioneer biogas burners. The exhausted waste goes out through another outlet as organic fertilizer which is more refined than the manure meaning nothing is lost in the process,” he said.

The firm has special biogas generators to convert the gas to cheap electricity for use by rural farmers.

He also adds that some potential customers such as schools, hospitals and similar big institutions are in a better position to use these bio-digesters for they use vast amounts of expensive fuels that eats heavily into their budgets.

The firm has partnered with USaid, and Lands ’O’ Lakes to provide technical assistance and training to users especially farmers and rural dwellers.

The growing number of firms such as Pioneer that have entered the green energy field by inventing stoves and electricity systems that are energy-efficient through using green sources is encouraging to the government as it grapples with power shortages.

This is important considering the widespread use of ozone-polluting carbon fuels, the main cause of the worsening climatic changes being witnessed globally, according to scientists.

For Kenya, climate change-altered seasonal weather patterns, drastically reduced rainfall, drying lakes and rivers have now been sharply brought home by a ravaging drought that has persisted for two years resulting in the devastating famine now wreaking havoc across the country leaving a third of the population facing starvation.

It has also been the cause of the crippling water and energy shortages that are bound to see Kenya’s growth rates stagnate this year too, say economic analysts.

Source – http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/business/-/2560/647582/-/5i2cupz/-/

Uganda: Solar Oven Launched

August 31, 2009 · 0 comments

Uganda: Solar Oven Launched, 30 August 2009

Kampala — FRANCIS Amoding who has been trekking tens of kilometres in such of firewood in Amuria district will not need to worry anymore, thanks to the newly introduced environmentally friendly and cost-effective solar oven.

The sport solar oven innovated by the Solar Oven Society (SOS) in America was launched at the Vegetable Oil Development Project (VODP) offices at Nakasero recently.

The stoves, according to Connie Masaba, the VODP coordinator, will come in handy especially in areas like Kalangala and Kapchorwa where tree cutting for charcoal and firewood is rampant.

“These ovens use energy from the sun, they are handy and environmentally friendly,” said Masaba. Tyrone Lawther, the promoter of the solar ovens, said the sport oven has a good insulation and is reinforced with glass fibres.

The insulation material is composed of thousands of tiny, sealed, air holes where water cannot penetrate. This is a key design feature because moisture is always present in solar cooking as steam and humidity.

“The oven is designed to cook in two positions: a 60-degree slant for a lower angle sun, and a 30-degree slant for direct, overhead sun,” said Tyrone.

He said the 60-degree slant happens when the oven is placed on its back, and requires slightly smaller pots that come with the kit.

“To use, place the food in the pots, place the sport facing the sun and leave to cook. You do not have to worry about burned food because the cooking temperatures are mild,” he said.

Ruth Okwele, the agro-geology association of Uganda consultant, said the sport which costs $200 (about sh400,000) roasts meats; bakes fish and chicken; steams vegetables; bakes breads, cakes and cookies.

“The sport cooks without additional water so all the natural vitamins and minerals are retained, giving food a wonderful rich flavour,” she said.

The easy-to-use solar oven weighs about 5kg and is wind and weather resistant. She said they are partnering with VODP to promote the ovens in Uganda.

“The sport oven is the perfect addition to camping trips, beach parties, fishing trips, back yard barbecues and everyday cooking.

You no longer have to pack heavy and messy charcoal or flammable fluids. Using the oven keeps the heat takes advantage of free sun power,” said Tyrone.

The oven was designed to be used in sun rich but fuel poor areas in the world to improve the quality of life and nutrition of some of the 2.4b people who lack adequate cooking fuel and often cook with charcoal or wood.

Source – http://allafrica.com/stories/200908310836.html

$1 million prize will fuel cleaner stoves for poor

August 31, 2009 · 0 comments

stove$1 million prize will fuel cleaner stoves for poor

08/31/2009 01:00:00

A Colorado group concerned that wasteful wood burning by the world’s poor could doom efforts to slow global warming has won a $1 million prize for its work distributing tens of thousands of high-efficiency cook stoves.

Leaders of the Fort Collins-based nonprofit Trees, Water & People say they’ll use the money to expand operations in Central America and Haiti.

Their stoves, which vary in size from that of a paint can to an oil drum and sell for as little as $5, let villagers use 50 percent less wood, reducing tree-cutting.

The stoves emit 80 percent less smoke, cutting respiratory harm that the World Health Organization identifies as a major factor in child deaths.

Stoves vary in size from that of a paint can to an oil drum and sell for as little as $5. They use 50 percent less wood, making the lives of villagers, such as the ones above in Haiti, easier.

“Even though we’re going through a rough spot now, it’s still important that the United States help developing countries,” Conway said.

The work began in 1998 when Conway and Richard Fox, a former U.S. Forest Service contractor, were looking into ways of making more heat using less wood.

That challenge now drives hundreds of innovators, because more than half the world’s 6.8 billion people rely on burning wood and other plant material as their primary source of energy.

At Colorado State University’s Engines and Energy Conversion Lab, a special section works just on developing better stoves.

Australian mining giant Rio Tinto awarded TWP its $1 million sustainability prize, guided by the London-based International Business Leaders Forum.

Three other Colorado groups were among the 10 finalists: Denver-based Water for People, the India branch of Lakewood-based International Development Enterprises and the Equilibrium Fund (founded in Crested Butte).

TWP designs stoves, tinkering with insulation to prevent heat from escaping, and then produces the stoves in target countries.

The group also has planted 2.7 million trees, drawn from nurseries established in the countries where it works.

Expansion in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Haiti requires more pickup trucks and compensation for local staffers, Conway said. More than 30,000 stoves have been sold in those countries.

The organization, with a budget of $1.5 million, employs nine people in Fort Collins. Its leaders hope the $1 million prize and the recognition that comes with it can be leverage by becoming a source of “carbon offsets.”

Under offset programs, such as the one operating in the European Union and one proposed for the U.S., polluters must cut their emissions of carbon dioxide or pay a program that is reducing emissions.

Each TWP stove cuts up to 4 metric tons of carbon dioxide a year. Under current programs, both mandatory and voluntary, offsets are selling for between $2.75 and $28 a ton, according to a survey by EcoBusiness.

“If pollution-offset trading became mandatory,” Conway said, “we could really help reduce global warming.”

Source – http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_13236335

India – Clean stoves, health & climate

August 28, 2009 · 2 comments

Clean stoves, health & climate

Indoor air pollution is a major challenge in India. About half of all households use wood as their primary fuel source for cooking. At least 80% of rural households use biomass fuel. Inefficient burning of such fuels leads to high levels of health-damaging air pollutants like particulate matter, carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons in many Indian homes.

These high levels of indoor air pollution are associated with many negative health effects. In fact, India has among the world’s largest burdens of disease due to household fuels. It is estimated that 28% of all deaths due to indoor air pollution in developing countries occur in India. Additionally, biomass contributes to 3.5% of morbidity and mortality, 400,000 deaths in children due to acute lower respiratory tract infections, COPD in women, and lung cancer (primarily in women). Respiratory infections and other respiratory diseases—acute lower respiratory tract infections, TB and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease—are the 3rd and 7th highest causes of disease burden in terms of disability adjusted life years, accounting for about 15% of the total disease burden in India.

While we have these general figures for the burden of disease from indoor smoke in India, there is currently no means of directly quantifying the health benefits of reducing exposure to indoor air pollution. However, several ongoing activities in India are expected to make major contributions in this area.

Kalpana Balakrishnan of the Environmental Health Engineering Department of Sri Ramachandra University (SRU) in Chennai will soon be launching a longitudinal environmental health study to examine relationships between air pollution and select health outcomes. The study will recruit pregnant women from both rural and urban communities and follow the mother-child pairs over a period of 2-3 years. This study will allow the establishment of relationships between exposures to indoor and outdoor air pollutants and select adverse pregnancy and early childhood health outcomes. This would then help develop exposure-response relationships for several health outcomes. Researchers increasingly suspect that indoor air pollution contributes to low birth weight, cleft palate, and possibly even cognitive impairment.

Another exciting new development in India is Project Surya led by V Ramanathan of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego. This project was launched in March 2009 in Uttar Pradesh. Currently in the pilot phase, the project will distribute a range of cleaner cooking technologies including solar and improved biomass cookers to villagers. The project team will then undertake an unprecedented effort to document the effects of these changes on global and regional climate change through reductions in atmospheric concentrations of black carbon, ozone-producing gases, and methane emissions from cooking fires, and by curtailing increases in CO2 from avoided deforestation, as well as documenting more direct effects of the new technologies on human health.

Additionally, Berkeley Air Monitoring Group, partnered with SRU, is currently carrying out the initial stages of a field-based impact assessment for the Shell Foundation’s Breathing Space Programme. In keeping with the programme’s current focus on developing appropriate products, the monitoring is designed to assess the efficacy of various improved biomass in reducing air pollution in homes.

Recent results show significant reductions in particulate matter and carbon monoxide concentrations and fuel savings. As the technologies are refined, there are plans to expand to additional impacts over the next year. These will include measurement of fuel savings to calculate reductions in carbon emissions and quantification of socioeconomic and health benefits in homes with improved stoves. Ultimately, as sales of improved stoves grow towards the 10 million stove goal, the focus of the programme evaluation will shift towards tracking the population-level impacts of the Breathing Space Programme, including estimating its effect on public health.

Over the next five years, these initiatives are expected to make major contributions to our understanding of the link between indoor air pollution, health and climate, especially in India. These advances will allow better quantification of the health benefits of reductions in indoor air pollution through improved understanding of the dose-response relationship between pollutant exposure and specific health outcomes. We will also have enhanced information on the contribution of cook stoves to global warming (via emissions of black carbon and greenhouse gases) and on the direct socioeconomic and health benefits experienced by people at the household level.

Together, these advances in understanding should help solidify the case for the many benefits of improved cook stoves.

Source – http://www.financialexpress.com/news/clean-stoves-health-&-climate/508074/#

Solar Lamps Light up Slums in Kenya

August 28, 2009 · 1 comment

Kenyans in the country’s capital Nairobi are being taught new skills.

With soldering irons in hand they’re making solar-powered lamps from diodes, fuses, bulbs and solar panels.

The idea for this project came from an environmentalist in Switzerland.

[Joshiah Ramogi, Solar Project Coordinator]:
“It has been developed with a very simple technology, easy to understand and everybody can use this. It has been tested in different parts of the world; in Nicaragua, in Philippines, in Switzerland and also in Kenya.”

Many of those working here live in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest slums, and they rely on Kerosene-fuelled lanterns.

By using a renewable and clean source of energy some of the apprentices here see themselves as having a brighter future.

[Ruth Maina, Apprentice Technician]:
“Some of the people who don’t have electricity, it is good if they use these solar lamps because the kerosene lamps that most of them use at home are kind of a health hazard. But most of us don’t know, and it will promote a healthy living and a healthy life to them.”

The lamps take three hours to charge and can provide light for around the same amount of time.

In December, the lamps will go on sale for around 45 U.S dollars, providing a source of income for apprentices like Robert.

[Robert Ogolla, Apprentice Technician]:
“I have been engaging myself in assembling and selling the solar panels, hence getting something for a living. Also after acquiring the knowledge, maybe I could pass it to my colleagues.”

The country relies heavily on hydroelectric power.

But due to drought, it’s led to power cuts and the country is looking to increase its more renewable sources of cleaner energy.

Source – http://english.ntdtv.com/ntdtv_en/ns_me/2009-08-27/506920067170.html

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