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.
Distribution and enrichment of six elements (iron, zinc, copper, lead, cadmium and manganese) in surface bed sediments, collected from seventeen selected locations during pre-monsoon and postmonsoon periods, of the tropical Chottanagpur plateau river Subarnarekha along with the ecological risks involved were investigated. Owing to the rich occurrence of mineral resources, the Subarnarekha river basin has a large scale presence of industrial and mining units especially in the Indian State of Jharkhand. An assessment, which involved examining distribution pattern of elements, comparative studies with sediment quality guidelines (SQGs) and geochemical background values and a sequential and integrated index analyses approach (containing contamination factor (CF), pollution load index (PLI), contamination degree (CD), enrichment factor (EF), geo-accumulation index (Igeo) and potential ecological risk index (PERI)), was followed to estimate enrichment and risks of elements in the bed sediments. Sediments collected from areas having abundance of population, industrial conglomerates and mining units recorded elevated element concentrations, which exceeded SQGs, and significantly higher values of CF, CD, PLI, EF, Igeo and PERI. Cadmium demonstrated surprising regularity in its enrichment; contributed most to the ecological risks; and high toxicity risks due to cadmium exceeded 64% of the sites. Moreover, chronic exposures of other elements would also lead to similar ecological risks. In addition to revealing potential ecological risks due to cadmium and other elements our investigation markedly highlighted anthropogenic control over sediment quality deterioration and some immediate sediment quality management strategies are needed to remediate and control river bed contamination.
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