Cooking fuels and the push for cleaner alternatives: a case study from Burkina Faso

Clearing the Air: Gas Stove Emissions and Direct Health Effects

Gas range use has direct health effects-beyond those from climate change related to fossil fuels. If kitchens are not well ventilated, benzene, nitrogen dioxide, and other VOCs may reach levels known to harm health.

Transition to clean household energy through an application of integrated model: Ensuring sustainability for better health, climate and environment

Sustained use and adoption of clean cooking fuels have become an important concern for developing countries due to the enormous burden of diseases attributable to household air pollution (HAP). The transition and adoption of clean household energy involve various socio-economic, behavioral, and technological barriers at different community levels. Hence, the present paper aims to scrutinize the factors, key determinants, and other interventions among rural households that limit clean cookstoves' sustained uses. The study proposes an integrated model to enhance clean cooking fuel uptake and uses based on the available evidence. The health, climate and environmental factors were identified as the key to trigger the adoption of clean cooking fuel alternatives. The model comprises the integration of components for targeted clean fuel policy interventions and promotes green recovery. The elements include Knowledge, Housing characteristics, Awareness, Interventions, Willingness to pay, Adoption, Lower emissions and Gender Equality (THE KHAIWAL model) to ascertain the intervention focus regions. Integration of model components in policy implementation will promote clean household energy to reduce emissions, leading to improve quality of life, good health, women empowerment, better air quality and climate.

Household Air Pollution: Sources and Exposure Levels to Fine Particulate Matter in Nairobi Slums

With 2.8 billion biomass users globally, household air pollution remains a public health threat in many low- and middle-income countries. However, little evidence on pollution levels and health effects exists in low-income settings, especially slums. This study assesses the levels and sources of household air pollution in the urban slums of Nairobi. This cross-sectional study was embedded in a prospective cohort of pregnant women living in two slum areas—Korogocho and Viwandani—in Nairobi. Data on fuel and stove types and ventilation use come from 1058 households, while air quality data based on the particulate matters (PM_2.5) level were collected in a sub-sample of 72 households using the DustTrak™ II Model 8532 monitor. We measured PM_2.5 levels mainly during daytime and using sources of indoor air pollutions. The majority of the households used kerosene (69.7%) as a cooking fuel. In households where air quality was monitored, the mean PM_2.5 levels were high and varied widely, especially during the evenings (124.6 µg/m³ SD: 372.7 in Korogocho and 82.2 µg/m³ SD: 249.9 in Viwandani), and in households using charcoal (126.5 µg/m³ SD: 434.7 in Korogocho and 75.7 µg/m³ SD: 323.0 in Viwandani). Overall, the mean PM_2.5 levels measured within homes at both sites (Korogocho = 108.9 µg/m³ SD: 371.2; Viwandani = 59.3 µg/m³ SD: 234.1) were high. Residents of the two slums are exposed to high levels of PM_2.5 in their homes. We recommend interventions, especially those focusing on clean cookstoves and lighting fuels to mitigate indoor levels of fine particles.

Biomass smoke in Burkina Faso: what is the relationship between particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and kitchen characteristics?

In Burkina Faso where cooking with biomass is very common, little information exists regarding kitchen characteristics and their impact on air pollutant levels. The measurement of air pollutants such as respirable particulate matter (PM10), an important component of biomass smoke that has been linked to adverse health outcomes, can also pose challenges in terms of cost and the type of equipment needed. Carbon monoxide could potentially be a more economical and simpler measure of air pollution. The focus of this study was to first assess the association of kitchen characteristics with measured PM10 and CO levels and second, the relationship of PM10 with CO concentrations, across these different kitchen characteristics in households in Nouna, Burkina Faso. Twenty-four-hour concentrations of PM10 (area) were measured with portable monitors and CO (area and personal) estimated using color dosimeter tubes. Data on kitchen characteristics were collected through surveys. Most households used both wood and charcoal burned in three-stone and charcoal stoves. Mean outdoor kitchen PM10 levels were relatively high (774 μg/m(3), 95 % CI 329-1,218 μg/m(3)), but lower than indoor concentrations (Satterthwaite t value, -6.14; p < 0.0001). In multivariable analyses, outdoor kitchens were negatively associated with PM10 (OR = 0.06, 95 % CI 0.02-0.16, p value <0.0001) and CO (OR = 0.03, 95 % CI 0.01-0.11, p value <0.0001) concentrations. Strong area PM10 and area CO correlations were found with indoor kitchens (Spearman's r = 0.82, p < 0.0001), indoor stove use (Spearman's r = 0.82, p < 0.0001), and the presence of a smoker in the household (Spearman's r = 0.83, p < 0.0001). Weak correlations between area PM10 and personal CO levels were observed with three-stone (Spearman's r = 0.23, p = 0.008) and improved stoves (Spearman's r = 0.34, p = 0.003). This indicates that the extensive use of biomass fuels and multiple stove types for cooking still produce relatively high levels of exposure, even outdoors, suggesting that both fuel subsidies and stove improvement programs are likely necessary to address this problem. These findings also indicate that area CO color dosimeter tubes could be a useful measure of area PM10 concentrations when levels are influenced by strong emission sources or when used in indoors. The weaker correlation observed between area PM10 and personal CO levels suggests that area exposures are not as useful as proxies for personal exposures, which can vary widely from those recorded by stationary monitors.