Unhealthy Cooking and Prevalence of Tuberculosis in Indian Women: A Case Study

November 14, 2012 · 0 comments

Journal of Environmental Protection, 2012, 3, 648-656, July 2012

Unhealthy Cooking and Prevalence of Tuberculosis in Indian Women: A Case Study

Abha Lakshmi Singh, et al.

Unhealthy cooking is one of the major cause of mortality and morbidity and a risk factor for occurrence of tuberculosis among Indian women. India is the TB burden country in the world and accounts for nearly 20 percent of global burden of tuberculosis. The present study establishes the association between unhealthy cooking conditions (use of biomass fuels/chulhas, cooking in multipurpose room, Non-ventilated kitchen, living in kutcha/semi-pucca houses) and preva-lence of tuberculosis in women.

This study is based on primary sources of data collected through questionnaire inter-views from 2101 women respondents belonging to different income categories from Aligarh city. The study examines the socio-economic characteristics, cooking conditions, monitoring of indoor air quality of different types of kitchen locations using different types of fuels.

Symptomatic linkages of tuberculosis with type of fuel use, kitchen locations and house type were analysed. The results show that the women using biomass fuels/chulhas cooking in non-ventilated kitchens and multipurpose room, living in kutcha/semi pucca houses were most prone to tuberculosis.

Biomass fuel and risk of tuberculosis: a case control study

November 14, 2012 · 0 comments

J Epidemiol Community Health 2012;66:457e461.

Biomass fuel and risk of tuberculosis: a case control study from Northern India

P V M Lakshmi, et al.

Background – Although a known risk factor for several respiratory diseases, the relationship between cooking
smoke and tuberculosis has not been conclusively established. Hence, a case control study was conducted
among adult women of Chandigarh Union Territory in India.

Methods – Physician-diagnosed cases of sputum positive pulmonary tuberculosis (n¼126) and age- and residence area-matched controls (n¼252) were enrolled from clinics in urban, rural and slum areas. Interviews were conducted in the clinic using a pretested questionnaire to collect information on type of cooking fuel, education, occupation, socio-economic status, smoking, overcrowding and type of kitchen, etc. The conditional logistic regression model was used for control of confounding.

Results – The study population was predominantly in the 20e29-year-old age group (58%) and lived in urban areas (67%). The majority were illiterate (52%) and housewives (93%), and nearly half (46%) had an income of no more than Rs 25 000. Among the cases, 20.6%, 27% and 52.4% used biomass fuel, kerosene and liquid petroleum gas (LPG), respectively, whereas among controls, the respective figures were: 12.3%, 26.2% and 61.5%. The unadjusted OR for biomass fuel compared with LPG was 2.33 (95% CI 1.18 to 4.59, p 0.01). Adjustment for confounding factors (education, type of kitchen, smoking tobacco and TB in a family member) and interaction between cooking fuel and smoker in family revealed an OR of 3.14 (95% CI 1.15 to 8.56, p¼0.02) for biomass fuel in comparison with LPG.

Conclusions Cooking with biomass fuel increases the risk for pulmonary tuberculosis.

Webinar – The Complexity of Cleaner Cookstoves

November 14, 2012 · 0 comments

The Complexity of Cleaner Cookstoves, 2012 – Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies

Cleaner cookstoves have often been presented as a “simple” solution for an important public health and climate challenge: the technology exists, the needs are established, and the costs are relatively low. Implementation – creating the enabling conditions for hundreds of millions of people to have access to cleaner-burning stoves – has been much more challenging.

On 29 October at 2:30 GMT we discussed the scientific evidence on the role of traditional cookstoves in indoor and outdoor air pollution, as well as some of the challenges associated with expanding access to and use of cleaner cookstoves. A panel comprising of experts on climate science, field measurement of air quality, stove design, and stove dissemination will compare lessons and perspectives from their research and experience.

Obstructive lung disease and exposure to burning biomass fuel

November 14, 2012 · 0 comments

Glob Heart. 2012 Sep 1;7(3):265-270.

Obstructive lung disease and exposure to burning biomass fuel in the indoor environment

Diette GB, Accinelli RA, Balmes JR, Buist AS, Checkley W, Garbe P, Hansel NN, Kapil V, Gordon S, Lagat DK, Yip F, Mortimer K, Perez-Padilla R, Roth C, Schwaninger JM, Punturieri A, Kiley J.

Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, 1830 East Monument St., Room 521, Baltimore, MD 21205, USA, , gdiette@jhmi.edu.

It is estimated that up to half of the world’s population burns biomass fuel (wood, crop residues, animal dung and coal) for indoor uses such as cooking, lighting and heating. As a result, a large proportion of women and children are exposed to high levels of household air pollution (HAP). The short and long term effects of these exposures on the respiratory health of this population are not clearly understood.

On May 9-11, 2011 NIH held an international workshop on the “Health Burden of Indoor Air Pollution on Women and Children,” in Arlington, VA. To gather information on the knowledge base on this topic and identify research gaps, ahead of the meeting we conducted a literature search using PubMed to identify publications that related to HAP, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Abstracts were all analyzed and we report on those considered by the respiratory sub study group at the meeting to be most relevant to the field.

Many of the studies published are symptom-based studies (as opposed to objective measures of lung function or clinical examination etc.) and measurement of HAP was not done. Many found some association between indoor exposures to biomass smoke as assessed by stove type (e.g., open fire vs. liquid propane gas) and respiratory symptoms such as wheeze and cough. Among the studies that examined objective measures (e.g. spirometry) as a health outcome, the data supporting an association between biomass smoke exposure and COPD in adult women are fairly robust, but the findings for asthma are mixed.

If an association was observed between the exposures and lung function, most data seemed to demonstrate mild to moderate reductions in lung function, the pathophysiological mechanisms of which need to be investigated. In the end, the group identified a series of scientific gaps and opportunities for research that need to be addressed to better understand the respiratory effects of exposure to indoor burning of the different forms of biomass fuels.

WASHplus Weekly – Focus on World Pneumonia Day 2012

November 9, 2012 · 0 comments

Issue 78 November  9, 2012 | Focus on World Pneumonia Day 2012

World Pneumonia Day 2012 is November 12. Pneumonia is a form of acute respiratory infection that affects the lungs. According to the World Health Organization, pneumonia is the single largest cause of death in children worldwide. Every year, it kills an estimated 1.4 million children under the age of five, accounting for 18 percent of all deaths of children under five years old worldwide. 

This issue of the WASHplus Weekly contains resources on environmental risk factors that increase a child’s susceptibility to pneumonia. These include: indoor air pollution caused by cooking and heating with biomass fuels (such as wood or dung); living in crowded homes; and parental smoking. Also included are recent resources on hand washing, ventilation, and other techniques to prevent pneumonia.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between indoor air pollution and tuberculosis

November 8, 2012 · 0 comments

Trop Med Int Health. 2012 Nov 6. doi: 10.1111/tmi.12013.

Systematic review and meta-analysis of the associations between indoor air pollution and tuberculosis.

Sumpter C, Chandramohan D. London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK.

OBJECTIVE: Half the world’s population uses biomass fuel for their daily needs but the resultant emissions and indoor air pollution (IAP) are harmful to health. So far, evidence for a link between IAP and tuberculosis (TB) was insufficient. We report an updated systematic review due to recent increase in the evidence and growing interest in testing interventions.

METHODS: Systematic search of PubMed (including Medline), CAB abstracts (through Ovid SP) and Web of Knowledge using the following search terms: ‘IAP or biomass or cooking smoke’ and ‘TB’. 452 abstracts were reviewed, and only 12 articles were deemed to be reporting the effects of IAP on TB and were taken forward to full review, and one study was added through hand search of references. Data on measures of effect of IAP on TB were extracted, and meta-analysis was carried out to estimate pooled measures of effect.

RESULTS: Thirteen studies have reported investigating association between IAP and TB since 1996. TB cases are more likely to be exposed to IAP than healthy controls (pooled OR 1.30; 95% CI, 1.04-1.62; P = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS: There is increasingly strong evidence for an association between IAP and TB. Further studies are needed to understand the burden of TB attributable to IAP. Interventions such as clean cook stoves to reduce the adverse effects of IAP merit rigorous evaluation, particularly in Africa and India where the prevalence of IAP and TB is high.

Household air pollution is a major avoidable risk factor for cardiorespiratory disease

November 8, 2012 · 0 comments

Chest. 2012 Nov 1;142(5):1308-15. doi: 10.1378/chest.12-1596.

Household air pollution is a major avoidable risk factor for cardiorespiratory disease.

Mortimer K, Gordon SB, Jindal SK, Accinelli RA, Balmes J, Martin WJ.

Household air pollution (HAP) from biomass fuels, coal, and kerosene burned in open fires, primitive stoves, and lamps causes at least 2 million deaths per year. Many of these deaths occur in children <5 years of age with pneumonia and in women with COPD, lung cancer, and cardiovascular disease. HAP is inextricably linked to poverty, with activities to obtain fuel consuming a large proportion of the time and financial resources of poor households.

Thus, fewer resources used in this way means less is available for basic needs like food, education, and health care. The burden of work and the exposure to smoke, particularly during cooking, are predominantly borne by women and children. Although historically HAP has not received sufficient attention from the scientific, medical, public health, development, and policy-making communities, the tide has clearly changed with the broad-based support and launch of the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves in 2010.

There is now considerable reason for optimism that this substantial cause of cardiorespiratory morbidity and mortality will be addressed comprehensively and definitively. Drawing on our experience from four continents, we provide background information on the problem of HAP, health impacts of HAP, opportunities for research, and the current best solutions.

Black Inside: Three Women’s Voices (A Film)

November 7, 2012 · 0 comments

The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (GACC) is an initiative led by the United Nations Foundation and launched at the Clinton Global Initiative in 2010 by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. “BLACK INSIDE: Three Women’s Voices,” commissioned by the GACC, is a nine-minute documentary which lends an intimate perspective to an urgent global public health and environmental challenge.  Source: Womens News Network, Nov 5, 2012

Monica from Peru is one of the women highlighted in Rodney Rascona’s film series: “Black Inside – Three Women’s Voices.” Image: Rodney Rascona

Chronic exposure to toxic smoke causes disabling diseases and results in a staggering two million deaths yearly — primarily women and young children. “BLACK INSIDE: Three Women’s Voices” a new ongoing documentary film that demonstrates how premature deaths of women can be prevented. Apart from the sheer numbers of women affected, the key to saving lives is astonishingly simple.

Rather than focus on the needless suffering associated with traditional cooking practices, documentary film director and photojournalist Rodney Rascona points to solutions. Rascona, who was named 2010 International Photographer of the Year for his photographs in the exhibition Deeper Perspective by the Lucie Foundation as he showed the people of Haiti from a perspective of dignity in his photojournalist work, “The Pink Door Photographs,” brought a poignant collection of iconic portraits featuring earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince.

[click to continue…]

Bookmark and Share

Effect of reductions in biomass fuel exposure on symptoms of sleep apnea

November 7, 2012 · 0 comments

Pediatr Pulmonol. 2012 Nov 5.

Effect of reductions in biomass fuel exposure on symptoms of sleep apnea in children living in the Peruvian Andes: A preliminary field study.

Castañeda JL, Kheirandish-Gozal L, Gozal D, Accinelli RA; The Pampa Cangallo Instituto de Investigaciones de la Altura Research Group. Laboratorio de Respiración del Instituto de Investigaciones de la Altura, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru; Facultad de Medicina Alberto Hurtado, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Peru.

BACKGROUND: Multiple studies have evaluated the prevalence of sleep apnea in pediatric populations. Although environmental exposures to cigarette smoke (ECS) increase the risk of habitual snoring, no studies have thus far examined the potential contribution of indoor pollution in children.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the frequency of symptoms associated with sleep apnea in children exposed to traditional wood-burning stoves to open fire, and assess whether symptoms subside following implementation of improved less environmentally contaminating stoves.

METHODS AND MATERIALS: Residents of the communities of Chucllapampa, Sayhuapata, and Alparcuna in Cangallo province, department of Ayacucho, Peru were surveyed on two occasions within 12 months before and after the installation of an improved Inkawasi wood stove. The frequency of symptoms associated with sleep apnea was assessed in all children <15 years of age using a previously validated questionnaire.

RESULTS: Parents of 59 children (62.7% males; mean age 7.76 ± 4.2 years) were interviewed representing >97% of the children in those small villages. The most common symptoms included nighttime awakenings, habitual snoring, repetitive movements during sleep, nasal congestion, and sore throat. After implementation of improved stoves in the homes, snoring (52.5% vs. 18.2%, P < 0.0001) nasal congestion (33.9% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.0001), behavioral hyperactivity (28.8% vs. 3.8%, P < 0.002), nighttime awakenings (42.4% vs. 1.7%, P < 0.0001), sore throat (38.2% vs. 5.5% P < 0.0001), breathing through the mouth during the day (33.9% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.001), daytime sleepiness (21.1% vs. 1.8%, P < 0.003), and falling asleep at school (14.6% vs. 0%, P < 0.03) were all significantly improved.

CONCLUSIONS: Children exposed to traditional biomass fuel stoves had a higher frequency of symptoms related to sleep apnea, which decrease with improvements in biomass pollution.

The Levels of Toxic Air Pollutants in Kitchens with Traditional Stoves in Rural Sierra Leone

November 6, 2012 · 0 comments

Journal of Environmental Protection, Oct 2012

The Levels of Toxic Air Pollutants in Kitchens with Traditional Stoves in Rural Sierra Leone

Eldred Tunde Taylor, et al.

Wood and charcoal fuels, widely used in Sierra Leone for cooking, may impact indoor air quality. Until now, there is presently lack of data to quantify the extent of impact. In this study, concentrations of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), suspended particulate matter (SPM) and carbon monoxide (CO) were measured in kitchens with wood and charcoal stoves during cooking in rural areas.

PAH contents of PM2.5 and PM2.5 – 10 fractions were analyzed using HPLC/FLD and SPM and CO were monitored in realtime. Mean ± SD concentrations of PM2.5 related Σ11PAHs, PM and CO were 2127 ± 1173 ng/m3, 1686 ± 973 μg/m3 and 28 ± 9 ppm for wood stoves; and 158 ± 106 ng/m3, 315 ± 205 μg/m3 and 42 ± 21 ppm for charcoal stoves, respectively.

PAHs were largely associated with PM2.5 than PM2.5 – 10. Maximum 1-hr time averaged ± SD CO concentration for kitchens with wood and charcoal stoves were 44 ± 21 ppm and 77 ± 49 ppm, respectively. Generally, concentrations of PAHs, PM and CO were higher than the WHO recommended guidelines which raise concern with regards to health risks. Given the existing evidence of reduced emissions of PAHs, PM and CO from cleaner fuels, a transition from cooking with wood and charcoal to cleaner fuels would provide an improvement in indoor air quality, a requirement for good health.

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →