Variation in indoor levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons from burning various biomass types in the traditional grass-roofed households in Western Kenya

Pulmonary function and respiratory health of rural farmers and artisanal and small scale gold miners in Ghana

“…A Nepalese study of adults found that participants using biomass fuel were twice as likely to have an FEV 1 /FVC ratio below the LLN (8.1%) than those using LPG (3.6%) (Kurmi et al, 2013). Studies examining air pollution and BMFs have found that particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which both have adverse health effects, were higher for wood and charcoal fuel than crop residues, kerosene/charcoal mixes, and LPG (Titcombe & Simcik, 2011; Lisouza et al, 2011), and another found PAH and PM emissions from wood to be close to double that of charcoal (Oanh et al, 1999; Partnership for Clean Indoor Air, 2012). A study in Malawi and Nepal comparing total inhalable endotoxins, which have been associated with respiratory illnesses, found that endotoxin levels were higher in homes using wood fuel than homes using charcoal fuel (Semple et al, 2010).…”

Assessment of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Lates niloticus, Oreochromis niloticus and Rastrineobola argentea as Sources of Human Exposure in Kisumu Bay, Winam Gulf of Lake Victoria

“…This shows that the potential human exposure in the region would be very high especially given that there are other sources of PAHs e.g. water and inhalation (Bowa et al 2009) and smoke during cooking (Lisouza et al 2011). Bowa et al (2009) reported significantly high concentrations of the same USEPA priority PAHs in surface sediment and water in the same area where the fish samples for this study were obtained from.…”

“…Bowa et al (2009) also estimated weekly human exposures ranging from 0.05 to 20 mg through untreated drinking water from Winam Gulf. Lisouza et al (2011) recently found varying concentrations of similar USEPA PAHs in soot collected from rural households in the Lake Victoria basin indicating that use of firewood in cooking in the rural areas could be contributing significantly to PAH human exposure in the region. The mean levels of individual PAHs in soot from the sampled kitchen roofs ranged from 0.23 to 4.75 lg/g, depending on the type of firewood and age of the kitchen.…”

“…Mobile sources include motor vehicle exhaust (Lalah and Kaigwara 2005) and consumer products waste dumped into the lake. Diffuse sources include asphalt roads and road tar, fires of all types (municipal garbage incineration and burning of sugar cane from the surrounding sugar belt) and biomass energy combustion (Takatsuki et al 1985;Gu et al 2003;Lisouza et al 2011), agricultural runoff, natural alteration of organic matter (Mitra and Bianchi 2003) following widespread infestation of the gulf by hyacinth. It is not known how much these sources contribute to the PAH burden in fish in the Winam Gulf and potential exposure to human since their levels are neither known nor periodically monitored.…”

Characterization and Determination of PM2.5 Bound Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHS) in Indoor and Outdoor Air in Western Sierra Leone

“…Several studies have reported concentrations of PAHs in the combustion zone (the kitchen) where the levels are known to be highest [18,[22][23][24][25][26][27][28] but one that characterize PAHs in the kitchen, outdoor and living room in such an overriding condition in a typical developing country has not been reported to our knowledge. The present report was part of a broader study that investigated the prevalence of acute respiratory infections in women and children potentially caused by smoke from wood and charcoal stoves in Western Sierra Leone [29].…”