Associations between household air pollution and reduced lung function in women and children in rural southern India

Abstract

Half of the world's population still relies on solid fuels to fulfill its energy needs for cooking and space heating, leading to high levels of household air pollution (HAP), adversely affecting human health and the environment. A cross-sectional cohort study was conducted to investigate any associations between: (1) HAP metrics (mass concentration of particulate matter of aerodynamic size less than 2.5 μm (PM ), lung-deposited surface area (LDSA) and carbon monoxide (CO)); (2) a range of household and socio-demographic characteristics; and (3) lung function for women and children exposed daily to biomass cookstove emissions, in rural southern India. HAP measurements were collected inside the kitchen of 96 households, and pulmonary function tests were performed for the women and child in each enrolled household. Detailed questionnaires captured household characteristics, health histories and various socio-demographic parameters. Simple linear and logistic regression analysis was performed to examine possible associations between the HAP metrics, lung function and all household/socio-demographic variables. Obstructive lung defects (forced vital capacity (FVC) ≥ lower limit of normal (LLN) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV )/FVC < LLN) were found in 8% of mothers and 9% of children, and restrictive defects (FVC < LLN and FEV /FVC ≥ LLN) were found in 17% of mothers and 15% of children. A positive association between LDSA, included for the first time in this type of epidemiological study, and lung function was observed, indicating LDSA is a superior metric compared to PM to assess effects of PM on lung function. HAP demonstrated a moderate association with subnormal lung function in children. The results emphasize the need to look beyond mass-based PM metrics to assess fully the association between HAP and lung function.

WITHDRAWN: A Comparative Study of Life-Years Lost Attributable to Air Particulate Matter in Asia-Pacific and European Countries in 2019

“…Thus, the ndings only showed the impact of air pollution on adults and elderly population up to age 95. Secondly, the impact from global warming, indirectly caused by air pollution, on population health have been shown in several studies [14,16] ; however, the GBD estimations do not include those. Third, the level of PM concentration should be estimated from burning for any purpose, including cooking and heating, but the level of HAP data from GBD were quanti ed as the fraction of the population in each country that cooks with solid fuels.…”

“…However, traditional indoor cooking and heating are still found in a considerable amount in low-and middle-income countries [11,12] . Low-income countries are likely to have higher use of solid fuels in houses than higherincome countries leading to health effects from HAP [13,14] , especially in African and Asian countries [15,16] .…”

Size distribution and lung‐deposited doses of particulate matter from household exposure to biomass smoke

“…De la Sota et al 33 measured LDSA in 3 households using traditional stoves in rural Senegal and reported a mean LDSA of 5085.9 ± 2980.1 µm 2 /cm 3 during cooking. Another study conducted in rural India found mean LDSA concentrations of 4677.5 ± 8550.7 µm 2 /cm 3 and 6648.6 ± 4845.3 µm 2 /cm 3 during cooking in kitchens with and without a chimney, respectively 43 . Our results add to this limited literature, which could serve as a reference for future studies.…”

Indoor Particulate Matter during HOMEChem: Concentrations, Size Distributions, and Exposures

“…Particulate matter (PM) is a key pollutant from health and environmental perspectives both indoors and outdoors. Exposure to PM is associated with various adverse health outcomes, such as cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and asthma. − It is one of the leading global causes of mortality and ill health . A study quantifying the relationship between global mortality and ambient PM 2.5 estimated that ∼2 million premature deaths can be avoided by reducing PM 2.5 to 10 μg m –3 globally …”