Daily average exposures to respirable particulate matter from combustion of biomass fuels in rural households of southern India.

Abstract

Indoor air pollution resulting from combustion of biomass fuels in rural households of developing countries is now recognized as a major contributor to the global burden of disease. Accurate estimation of health risks has been hampered by a paucity of quantitative exposure information. In this study we quantified exposures to respirable particulate matter from biomass-fuel combustion in 436 rural homes selected through stratified random sampling from four districts of Tamil Nadu, India. The study households are a subset of a larger sample of 5,028 households from the same districts in which socioeconomic and health information has been collected. Results of measurements for personal exposures to respirable particulate matter during cooking were reported earlier. This has been extended to calculation of 24-hr exposures with the aid of additional measurements during noncooking times and the collection of time-activity records. Concentrations of respirable particulate matter ranged from 500 to 2,000 micro g/m(3) during cooking in biomass-using households, and average 24-hr exposures ranged from 90 +/- 21 micro g/m(3) for those not involved in cooking to 231 +/- 109 micro g/m(3) for those who cooked. The 24-hr exposures were around 82 +/- 39 micro g/m(3) for those in households using clean fuels (with similar exposures across household subgroups). Fuel type, type and location of the kitchen, and the time spent near the kitchen while cooking were the most important determinants of exposure across these households among other parameters examined, including stove type, cooking duration, and smoke from neighborhood cooking. These estimates could be used to build a regional exposure database and facilitate health risk assessments.

Exposure assessment for respirable particulates associated with household fuel use in rural districts of Andhra Pradesh, India

“…Past experience (Balakrishnan et al, 2002) in Tamil Nadu, an adjoining state in Southern India had shown that within households using solid fuels, exposures to indoor air pollution from solid fuel use vary according to kitchen type. The type of kitchen has not been shown to influence exposures in households using clean fuels.…”

“…Some 12-24 h determinations of respirable particulate concentrations have also been carried out, reporting 24-h means in the range of 300-3000 mg/m 3 (Saksena et al, 1992;McCracken and Smith, 1998). More recently, systematic, large-scale 24-h measurements of respirable particulates have been reported (Ezzati et al, 2000;Albalak et al, 2001;Parikh et al, 2001;Balakrishnan et al, 2002).…”

The exposure of infants and children to carbon monoxide from biomass fuels in The Gambia: a measurement and modeling study

“…Data on personal exposure to pollutants in biomass smoke are necessary for analysis of association with disease outcomes, but has been measured or estimated in few studies (Ezzati et al, 2000;Naeher et al, 2001;Balakrishnan et al, 2002;Bruce et al, 2004;Dasgupta et al, 2006;Mestl et al, 2007;Dionisio et al, 2008;McCracken et al, 2009). In particular, a metric of usual exposure is desired because exposure may vary from day to day and health effects may depend on cumulative exposure.…”

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“…Nevertheless, our study has revealed considerable variation in the release of SO2. Factors responsible for the difference in concentrations and variation of indoor air pollutants could be explained in relation to the type of material or substance burnt, burning intensity, room or enclosed area, ventilation rate, spatial distribution of pollutants, duration of the monitoring regimen etc, for which these factors may vary in emission release (Balakrishnan et al, 2002;Smith et al, 2004). For instance, Salvi et al (2006) reported lower levels of CO (6.5 ppm) relative to this study when door and window were closed.…”