Household fuel use and biomarkers of inflammation and respiratory illness among rural South African Women

Abstract

Though literature suggests a positive association between use of biomass fuel for cooking and inflammation, few studies among women in rural South Africa exist. We included 415 women from the South African Study of Women and Babies (SOWB), recruited from 2010 to 2011. We obtained demographics, general medical history and usual source of cooking fuel (wood, electricity) via baseline questionnaire. A nurse obtained height, weight, blood pressure, and blood samples. We measured plasma concentrations of a suite of inflammatory markers (e.g., interleukins, tumor necrosis factor-α, C-reactive protein). We assessed associations between cooking fuel and biomarkers of inflammation and respiratory symptoms/illness using crude and adjusted linear and logistic regression models. We found little evidence of an association between fuel-use and biomarkers of inflammation, pre-hypertension/hypertension, or respiratory illnesses. Though imprecise, we found 41% (95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.72-2.77) higher odds of self-reported wheezing/chest tightness among wood-users compared with electricity-users. Though studies among other populations report positive findings between biomass fuel use and inflammation, it is possible that women in the present study experience lower exposures to household air pollution given the cleaner burning nature of wood compared with other biomass fuels (e.g., coal, dung).

Effects of domestic solid fuel combustion emissions on the biomarkers of homemakers in rural areas of the Fenwei Plain, China

“…One study has reported that women who used biomass for cooking showed higher IL-6 levels than a control group [25]. A similar result was observed in another study in South Africa; those who burned wood in the home had higher plasma IL-6 levels than electricity users did [23]. These results may help explain the association between solid fuel combustion and in ammation [22].…”

“…Studies have revealed that in ammation is a key mechanism of human diseases caused by PM exposure. As the main in ammatory cytokines, interleukin (IL) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) have been widely investigated in epidemiological and biological studies [20][21][22][23][24]. A study focusing on rural India showed that interleukin-6 (IL-6) and TNF-α levels in the serum of individuals from households that used biomass fuels were higher than in those from households that used lique ed petroleum gas (LPG) [25].…”

Cardiovascular health impacts of wildfire smoke exposure

“…A cross-sectional study in Turkey reported that long-term exposure to indoor biomass smoke was associated with systolic and diastolic biventricular dysfunction, as well as increased pulmonary artery systolic pressure [ 80 ]. However, some studies have found no significant association between increased cardiovascular risk and indoor exposure to biomass smoke [ 33 , 101 , 102 , 142 ]. Indoor biomass combustion contributes to ambient air pollution, which has also been linked to increased incidence of cardiovascular outcomes.…”

Biomass cooking carbon monoxide levels in commercial canteens in Kigali, Rwanda

“…Wood, dung, agricultural residues, charcoal and coal, 1,2 are used by 3 billion people worldwide [3][4][5][6][7][8] as a primary source of cooking fuel. 9,10 Typically, these biomass fuels are relatively inexpensive and readily available, [11][12][13] with the highest usage in Low and Middle Income Countries (LMICs). 14 Rwanda is a rapidly developing country with a Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita of $748.3 in 2017 15 and a high prevalence of biomass fuel usage, presenting long-term health, environmental and economic issues.…”