Micro-Miniature Indoor Cooking Smoke Exposure Monitoring Device for Children

November 2, 2012 · 0 comments

Micro-Miniature Indoor Cooking Smoke Exposure Monitoring Device for Children | Source: Azosensors.com | Nov 2, 2012

RTI International has been awarded funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to redesign and improve a personal exposure monitor that will be small and light enough to be worn by children and toddlers in developing nations who are exposed to smoke from indoor cooking fires.

The $2 million project has the potential to help scientists better understand the relationship between environmental cookstove contaminant exposures in the air and potential adverse health effects for young children.

Child playing basketball wearing current MicroPEM device. The device will be made smaller and lighter. Jimmy Crawford, RTI International photographer.

“Understanding exposures is critical for protecting human health, but for years scientists and health officials have struggled in their attempts to collect accurate data regarding the exposure of smaller children to smoke from cooking fires,” said Charles Rodes, an RTI senior fellow and primary investigator on the project. “Enhancing our understanding of their exposures will help change how the world cooks.”

To develop the monitor, researchers will build on existing RTI-developed sensing technology called the MicroPEM™ (for micro-miniature personal exposure monitoring), which simultaneously collects integrated and real-time particle data along with its quality control data. It also uses built-in acceleration sensors to determine individual activity levels to gauge when the sensor is being worn.

RTI will partner with researchers from MTL Corporation, who will custom-design a tiny filter, and will work with an advisory panel of experts from Columbia University, The Johns Hopkins University, Imperial College, and the Global Good Fund to help develop and validate the enhanced MicroPEM device. The improvements will foster more accurate characterizations of indoor air pollution in health studies involving children.

As part of the two-year project, the development team will make substantive improvements to the existing MicroPEM technology, reducing its size significantly to tailor it for use by children 2 years old and younger, while also enhancing performance capabilities in smokey indoor environments.

“The existing MicroPEM technology represents a tremendous leap in personal exposure science over prior and existing technologies,” Rodes said. “For the first time, we can simultaneously collect data on the levels and patterns of particle exposure for adults. The critical step now is to take it to the next smaller, less burdensome level that is appropriate for younger children.”

A key feature of the improved optical sensor will be enhanced specificity by adding illuminating laser wavelengths and sensing diodes. These optical enhancements should also provide stronger responses for a wider range of aerosol sizes.

The new design will reduce both the size and weight of the system, making it approximately the size and shape of a smartphone. It will also build on the calibrated output of the on-board accelerometer to innovatively predict children’s breathing rate to better characterize the amount of particulate matter actually reaching into children’s respiratory system.


Scientists launch international study of open-fire cooking and air quality

November 1, 2012 · 0 comments

Scientists launch international study of open-fire cooking and air quality | Source: Science Codex | Nov, 1, 2012

BOULDER — Expanding its focus on the link between the atmosphere and human health, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) is launching a three-year, international study into the impact of open-fire cooking on regional air quality and disease.

The study will break new ground by bringing together atmospheric scientists, engineers, statisticians, and social scientists who will analyze the effects of smoke from traditional cooking methods on households, villages, and entire regions.

Researchers will combine newly developed sensors with computer and statistical models to look at what happens to human health when traditional cooking methods are used. They will also evaluate whether newer, more efficient cookstoves could reduce disease and positively affect regional air quality.

The project brings together a diverse team of pollution, climate, and health experts from NCAR, the University of Colorado Boulder, University of Ghana School of Public Health, and Ghana Health Services. Funding comes from the National Science Foundation, NCAR’s sponsor.

The researchers will focus primarily on northern Ghana, where they will examine possible links between air pollutants and such diseases as meningitis. Their findings are expected to provide information to policymakers and health officials in other developing countries where open-fire cooking or inefficient stoves are common.

Christine Wiedinmyer (Photo Credit: ©UCAR. Photo by Carlye Calvin.)

“Often when you visit remote villages in Ghana, they’re shrouded in haze for many miles from all the fires used for cooking,” says NCAR scientist Christine Wiedinmyer, an atmospheric chemist overseeing the project. “Given that an estimated three billion people worldwide are cooking over fire and smoke, we need to better understand how these pollutants are affecting public health as well as regional air quality and even the climate.”

Wiedinmyer and her colleagues will use a novel combination of local and regional air quality measurements—including specialized smartphone applications that are more mobile than traditional air quality sensors—and cutting-edge computer models of weather, air quality, and climate. The researchers and student assistants will also survey villagers to get their views on possible connections between open-fire cooking and disease as well as their interest in adopting different cooking methods.

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Practical Action – SCORE stove success at Kathmandu University

October 31, 2012 · 0 comments

SCORE stove success at Kathmandu University | Source: Practical Action | Sept 25, 2012

by Teo Sanchez – Today I had the privilege of receiving an email from a very excited University Professor at Kathmandu University in Nepal, Professor Bim Prasad Shrestha, regarding the start of the SCORE stove in their Laboratory.

Prof. Shrestha told me:

“It has been great day for us yesterday, we managed to get resonance in our system and we could make electricity generated from the stove which was first installed by the EWB and the modified by our Engineers….
It has been great moment for our engineers Mr. Bijendra and Mr. Binaya for successfully lighting the LED bulb with the help of wood fired stove and boiling water on the stove simultaneously.”

Cooking on a SCORE stove in Kenya

You don’t often see such excitement in a senior academic in a developing country about a technology for the poor, simply because they are seldom involved in the development of technology to help the poor.

University academics in developing countries generally know very well the problems of the local poor but are powerless to help them.  This isn’t because they can’t help or don’t want to, but mainly because they operate under a permanent situation of shortage of facilities and budget.  They are able only to witness the suffering of their poorest co-citizens.

The special feature of the  SCORE stove is that it can both cook and generate electricity.  It is under development by a consortium of UK Universities and Practical Action.  The University of Kathmandu and research institutions in Bangladesh have become involved in the final phase of development and adaptation of this technology to local needs.

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USAID DIV Award – Potential Energy: fueling the cookstoves markets in East Africa

October 26, 2012 · 0 comments

Potential Energy: fueling the cookstoves markets in East Africa | Source: USAID Development Innovation Ventures | Oct 2012.

  • DIV Stage 2 | $1.5 million | Darfur & Ethiopia

The Problem: Many models for high-efficiency stoves exist to replace traditional open fire methods, but few have achieved widespread use or commercial sustainability.

The Solution: Potential Energy’s high efficiency stove, developed as part of the Berkeley Darfur Stoves Project, is the product of extensive market-testing and end-user feedback. Using lessons learned from early work on cookstove adoption in Darfur, Potential Energy is pursuing a market creation strategy in Ethiopia. The organization will grow its distribution and marketing network and develop innovative pricing models and flexible financing options for consumers. With support from Development Innovation Ventures, Potential Energy and partners will assess the group’s impact and the relative effectiveness of the different marketing strategies it pursues.

Potential Cost-Effectiveness: Because the Berkeley Darfur Stove requires half as much firewood as traditional cooking methods, users save more than $300 per year in fuel costs, or half the labor time and effort gathering firewood. Over the five-year lifespan of the stove, this savings is approximately $1700 per household.

2,000,000 people die each year from illness related to breathing smoke from cooking fires. This figure is equal to that of the entire AIDS epidemic and three times as large as annual deaths from malaria. In addition, many women are exposed to violence as they travel up to 7 hours a day, 3-5 days a week in search of usable fuel wood with which to cook their food. Many models for high-efficiency stoves exist to replace traditional open fire methods, but few have achieved widespread use or commercial sustainability.

Originally the Darfur Stoves Project, Potential Energy was founded as a volunteer organization in 2005 by Dr. Ashok Gadgil, Faculty Senior Scientist and Director of the Environmental Energy Technologies Division of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Dr. Gadgil led a team of Berkeley scientists and engineers in the development of a Berkeley-Darfur stove, aggressively pursuing market-testing and end-user feedback in Darfur. With the Berkeley Darfur Stove, users require half as much firewood, saving them more than $300 per year in fuel costs. Over the five-year lifespan of the stove, this savings is approximately $1700 per household.

In 2012 Potential Energy established itself as an independent 501(c)3. The organization has thus far distributed more than 22,000 fuel-efficient stoves in Darfur; most were donated to women in IDP camps in North Darfur in the wake of the humanitarian crisis, however in the past year the organization has moved to a market-driven approach and the remaining stoves have been sold to women in urban and rural locations outside of the camps.

Through its work, Potential Energy has developed critical partnerships with organizations like Oxfam America and Plan International, increased the capacity of local organizations in Darfur, built its distribution and marketing network, and is developing innovative pricing models and flexible financing options for consumers. Based on its success in Darfur, Potential Energy will replicate its market creation strategy to develop and sell stoves in Ethiopia in 2013.

The $1.5 million, three-year grant from USAID’s Development Innovation Ventures Initiative supports Potential Energy’s transition to a social enterprise approach by supporting it to test pricing strategies and market and distribution channels via local organizations. Potential Energy is collaborating with the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s Institute for Globally Transformative Technologies for research and development, and has engaged with the Center for Effective Global Action (CEGA) to assess the project’s impact and relative effectiveness of different marketing strategies.

To Learn More

  • See what the stove looks like
  • Track Potential Energy’s progress on its website
  • Learn the backstory with this video on the Darfur Stoves Project

 

 

USAID DIV Award – Scaling Biochar

October 26, 2012 · 0 comments

Scaling Biochar: Investing in Soils, Improving Livelihoods and Sequestering Carbon | Source: USAID Development Innovation Ventures | Oct 2012.

  • $99,952 | Kenya | Stage 1

The problem: As much as 65% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s soil on agricultural land is degraded, threatening the livelihoods of the 70% of Africans who are involved in agriculture. Crop yields and lower and fertilizers are less efficient under these conditions, meaning that recent calls for a new green revolution for Africa are unlikely to be successful if soil degradation is not arrested.

The solution: Biochar, a charcoal powder, can reverse soil fertility decline, improve crop yields, and improve plant response to fertilizer. Using low-cost kilns, farmers may be able to generate their own biochar to improve their soil quality.

Potential cost effectiveness: Preliminary research found that biochar adoption by farmers increased yields by approximately 23% in the first season of application, and 30% a year later. PA researchers will pilot and rigorously evaluation the livelihood benefits of a farm-level biochar production kiln that costs between $25 and $40 per unit, and study how social networks stimulate “viral” technology adoption.

Sub-Saharan Africa suffers from extensive soil degradation, threatening the livelihoods of the 70% of Africans who are involved in agriculture. Crop yields and lower and fertilizers are less efficient under these conditions, meaning that recent calls for a new green revolution for Africa are unlikely to be successful if soil degradation is not arrested. Estimates suggest that as much as 65% of agricultural land in Africa is at least somewhat degraded.

Researchers have shown that by adding charcoal dust – which can be produced from crop residues and other wastes – to soil, they can reverse soil fertility decline, improve crop yields, and improve plant response to fertilizer. Termed “biochar,” the benefits of this charcoal powder and its low production cost make it an important strategy for agricultural development and sustainable land management, and a potentially significant tool for reducing greenhouse gases by sequestering carbon in soil.

The technology has strong preliminary evidence to support its impact.  Research has found that early adoption by farmers increased yields by approximately 23% in the first season of application, and 30% a year later. However, there is a need to make the technology scalable – the distribution network for biochar is diffuse and difficult to build up, so it may prove most expedient to allow farmers to produce and apply the biochar themselves, using a low-cost kiln and inputs that are readily accessible on most farms.

With Stage 1 support from DIV, IPA researchers in partnership with Re:char, a social enterprise, and the African Christians Organizations Network, a Kenyan-based NGO, will pilot and rigorously evaluate the livelihood benefits of a farm-level biochar production kiln that costs between $25 and $40 per unit. Researchers will also use a randomized control trial to study how social networks stimulate ‘viral’ technology adoption. Up to 1,000 farmers will participate in the study, which will yield greater understanding of biochar’s potential as a farm-level tool, and greater understanding of how to speed adoption of environmentally friendly technologies.

To Learn More:

  • Watch a CNN video about how biochar works
  • Follow the product’s development on Re:char’s blog
  • Read the working paper from the preliminary research

 

Poll – How often do you visit IAP Updates

October 25, 2012 · 0 comments


Clean Cookstoves and Climate Change

October 19, 2012 · 0 comments

Clean Cookstoves and Climate Change Fact Sheet, 2012.

Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

Clean Cookstoves Can Help Address Climate Change
In addition to the health and economic empowerment benefits associated with their use, clean cookstoves and fuels can also lead to a more sustainable and cleaner environment. If appropriately designed and disseminated, clean cookstoves can reduce a large share of emissions from cooking with biomass. These reductions also bring other benefits, such as reduced indoor and outdoor pollution, less pressure on forests, and economic and time savings due to the reduced need to search for or purchase costly fuels. Since they have short life spans – a few days for black carbon, a decade for methane – reducing these gases would bring about a more rapid climate response than reductions in CO2 alone.

Cooking fuel choices and garbage burning practices as determinants of birth weight

October 19, 2012 · 0 comments

Environ Health. 2012 Oct 17;11(1):78.

Cooking fuel choices and garbage burning practices as determinants of birth weight: a cross-sectional study in Accra, Ghana.

Amegah AK, Jaakkola JJ, Quansah R, Norgbe GK, Dzodzomenyo M.

BACKGROUND: Effect of indoor air pollution (IAP) on birth weight remains largely unexplored but yet purported as the most important environmental exposure for pregnant women in developing countries due to the effects of second-hand smoke. We investigated the associations between the determinants of indoor air quality in households and birth weight.

METHODS: A cross-sectional study of 592 mothers and their newborns using postnatal services at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital located in Accra, Ghana was conducted in 2010 to collect information on characteristics of indoor environment and other potential determinants of fetal growth. Birth weight was recorded from hospital records.

RESULTS: Household cooking fuel choices and garbage burning practices were determinants of birth weight. Multivariate linear regression analysis adjusting for age, social class, marital status and gravidity of mothers, and sex of neonate resulted in a 243g (95% CI: 496, 11) and 178g (95% CI: 421, 65) reduction in birth weight for use of charcoal, and garbage burning respectively compared with use of LPG only. The estimated reductions in birth weight was not statistically significant. Applying the ordinal scale exposure parameter nonetheless revealed a significant exposure-response relationship between maternal exposures from charcoal use and garbage burning, and birth weight. Generalized linear models adjusting for confounders resulted in a 41% (risk ratio [RR] = 1.41; 95% CI: 0.62, 3.23) and 195% (RR=2.95; 95% CI: 1.10, 7.92) increase in the risk of low birth weight (LBW) for use of charcoal, and garbage burning respectively compared with use of LPG only. A combination of charcoal use and household garbage burning during pregnancy on fetal growth resulted in a 429g (95% CI: 259, 599) reduction in birth weight and 316% (RR=4.16; 95% CI: 2.02, 8.59) excess risk of LBW. Sensitivity analysis performed by restricting the analysis to term births produced similar results.

CONCLUSIONS: Maternal use of charcoal as a cooking fuel during pregnancy and burning of garbage at home are strong determinants of average fetal growth and risk of LBW. Efforts to reduce maternal exposures to IAP are thus important to improve birth outcomes.

Adjusted Effects of Domestic Violence, Tobacco use, and Indoor Air Pollution from Use of Solid Fuel on Child Mortality

October 16, 2012 · 0 comments

Matern Child Health J. 2012 Oct 13.

Adjusted Effects of Domestic Violence, Tobacco use, and Indoor Air Pollution from Use of Solid Fuel on Child Mortality.

Pandey S, Lin Y. George Warren Brown School of Social Work, Washington University, One Brookings Drive, St. Louis, MO, 63130, USA, Email: pandeys@wustl.edu.

Studies that have separately examined the consequences of gender based violence upon women, use of solid fuel for cooking, and mother and father’s use of tobacco on child health have concluded that they serve as risk factors for maternal and child health. Some authors have implied that these studies may have run the risk of overestimating the burden of disease of one factor over another. In this paper, we included all four factors in the same model to estimate their adjusted effects on child mortality, controlling for the demographic factors. The data come from 2005 to 2006 National Family Health Survey of India that interviewed a nationally representative sample of 39,257 couples.

Of the four factors, mothers’ use of tobacco presented the highest risk for child mortality (OR = 1.42; CI = 1.27-1.60) followed by fathers’ use of tobacco (OR = 1.23; CI = 1.12-1.36), households’ use of solid fuel for cooking (OR = 1.23; CI = 1.06-1.43), and physical abuse upon mothers (OR = 1.20; CI = 1.10-1.32). Among the households that used solid fuel for cooking, improved cookstoves users experienced 28 % lower odds of child mortality (OR = 0.72; CI = 0.61-0.86) compared to nonusers of improved cookstoves.

Additionally, increase in age of mothers at birth of first child, parents’ education, and household wealth served as protective factors for child mortality. To prevent child death, programs should focus on reducing couple’s use of tobacco, protecting women from physical abuse, and helping households switch from solid to liquid fuel. Moreover, a significant reduction in child death could be attained by improving girls’ education, and delaying their age at marriage and first birth.

Temperature dataloggers as stove use monitors (SUMs)

October 15, 2012 · 0 comments

Ruiz-Mercado I, Canuz E, Smith KR. (2012). Temperature dataloggers as stove use monitors (SUMs): Field methods and signal analysis. Online / Article In-Press (final version forthcoming). Biomass and Bioenergy (2012), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2012.09.003

We report the field methodology of a 32-month monitoring study with temperature dataloggers as Stove Use Monitors (SUMs) to quantify usage of biomass cookstoves in 80 households of rural Guatemala. The SUMs were deployed in two stoves types: a well operating chimney cookstove and the traditional open-cookfire. We recorded a total of 31,112 days from all chimney cookstoves, with a 10% data loss rate. To count meals and determine daily use of the stoves we implemented a peak selection algorithm based on the instantaneous derivatives and the statistical long-term behavior of the stove and ambient temperature signals. Positive peaks with onset and decay slopes exceeding predefined thresholds were identified as “fueling events”, the minimum unit of stove use. Adjacent fueling events detected within a fixed-time window were clustered in single “cooking events” or “meals.”

The observed means of the population usage were: 89.4% days in use from all cookstoves and days monitored, 2.44 meals per day and 2.98 fueling events. Wef ound that at this study site a single temperature threshold from the annual distribution of daily ambient temperatures was sufficient to differentiate days of use with 0.97 sensitivity and 0.95 specificity compared to the peak selection algorithm. With adequate placement, standardized data collection protocols and careful data management the SUMs can provide objective stove-use data with resolution, accuracy and level of detail not possible before.The SUMs enable unobtrusive monitoring of stove-use behavior and its systematic evaluation with stove performance parameters of air pollution, fuel consumption and climate altering emissions.

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