Which Biomass Stove(s) Capable of Reducing Household Air Pollution Are Available to the Poorest Communities Globally?

Stanistreet, Debbi; Phillip, Eunice; Kumar, Nitya; Cuevas, Rachel Anderson de; Davis, Megan; Langevin, Jessica; Jumbe, Vincent; Walsh, Aisling; Jewitt, Sarah; Clifford, M.J.

doi:10.3390/ijerph18179226

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(20 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Household use of biomass for cooking and heating is the most widespread source of indoor air pollution among the world’s poorest and most vulnerable groups ( 15 , 16 ). The Palestinian society suffers from numerous types of poverty and deprivation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass use and its health effects among the vulnerable and marginalized refugee families in the Gaza Strip

Elbayoumi

Albelbeisi

2023

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

IntroductionBiomass fuel remains the most common type of fuel used in many developing countries, leading to indoor air pollution and serious health impacts.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to compile evidence on the impact household fuel combustion has on child and adult health, with an emphasis on solid fuel use in Gaza.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, 110 structured self-administered questionnaires were distributed in April 2019 among families living in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp.ResultsParticipants reported that the main fuel used were wood, coal, cardboard, and a mix of wood, cardboard, and plastic, which were used for cooking, heating, baking, boiling water, and lighting. The most common symptoms were nasal irritation (71.8%), followed by headache (66.4%) and dizziness (65.4%). The results of logistic regression showed that the participants who used wood fuel had a higher chance of feeling eye irritation than those who used a mix of wood, cardboard, and dried grass (OR = 1.316; 95% CI = 1.54–8.99). The participants who opened windows during the burning process of biomass fuel were five times more likely to develop pneumonia than those who closed windows (OR = 5.53; 95%CI = 11.60–19.0).Conclusionthere is an urgent need for community awareness campaigns designed to inform people about the risks of exposure to biomass fuel smoke and how to better implement household ventilation.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biomass use and its health effects among the vulnerable and marginalized refugee families in the Gaza Strip

Elbayoumi

Albelbeisi

2023

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, there remains limited research on ICS effectiveness in reducing HAP in real-life settings. This makes it difficult to benchmark their emission performance with the 2014 WHO indoor air quality (WHO-IAQ) guidelines [ 29 ] in real-life field situations as these values neither reflect how ICS perform in actual settings [ 30 ] nor their performance across different cultures and cooking practices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved cookstoves to reduce household air pollution exposure in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review of intervention studies

Phillip¹,

Langevin²,

Davis³

et al. 2023

PLoS ONE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Household air pollution (HAP), primarily from biomass fuels used for cooking, is associated with adverse health outcomes and premature mortality. It affects almost half of the world’s population, especially in low-income and low-resourced communities. However, many of the ’improved’ biomass cookstoves (ICS) aimed at reducing HAP lack empirical evidence of pollutant reduction and reliability in the field. A scoping review guided by the Joanna Briggs Institute framework was systematically conducted to explore and analyse the characteristics of cookstoves to assess the ICS available to meet the socio-economic and health needs of households in sub-Sahara Africa (sSA). The review searched Scopus, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, Global Health Database on OVID, BASE, and conducted a grey literature search from 2014 to 2022 for all field-based ICS studies. In addition, user perspectives were explored for cookstoves analysed as available, affordable, and effective in reducing harmful biomass emissions. The search returned 1984 records. Thirty-three references containing 23 ICS brands were included. The cookstoves were analysed into seven categories: (1) efficiency in HAP reduction, (2) availability, (3) affordability, (4) sustainability, (5) safety, (6) health outcomes, and (7) user experience. Most (86.9%) of the improved cookstoves showed a reduction in harmful emission levels compared to the traditional three-stone fire. However, the levels were higher than the WHO-recommended safe levels. Only nine were priced below 40 USD. Users placed emphasis on cookstoves’ suitability for cooking, fuel and time savings, safety, and price. Equality in cooking-related gender roles and psychosocial benefits were also reported. The review demonstrated limited field testing, a lack of evidence of ICS emissions in real-life settings in sSA, heterogeneity in emission measurements, and incomplete descriptions of ICS and kitchen features. Gender differences in exposure and psychosocial benefits were also reported. The review recommends improved cookstove promotion alongside additional measures to reduce HAP at a cost affordable to low-resource households. Future research should focus on detailed reporting of study parameters to facilitate effective comparison of ICS performance in different social settings with different local foods and fuel types. Finally, a more community-based approach is needed to assess and ensure user voices are represented in HAP intervention studies, including designing the cookstoves.

show abstract

“…The reliance on solid biomass for cooking is a deep-rooted practice for over a third of the world's population (approximately 2.8 billion people), especially in the Low and Middle Income Countries (Stanistreet et al, 2021;Maré & M'rithaa, 2021;Kahlenberg et al, 2021;Kyayesimira & Muheirwe, 2021). Combustion of the solid biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, dung, coal, and crop residues) leads to the emission of black carbon and other greenhouse gases accentuating climate change through forest degradation and deforestation (International Energy Agency (IEA), 2014).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In effect, a range of explanations have been put forth for the lack of success of the previous improved cook stove programmes in Kenya. Firstly, critics have pointed out that ICSs (like Jiko Koa among others have generally remained unaffordable for poor households unless enormous subsidies are provided (Stanistreet et al, 2021;Gill-Wiehl, Ray & Kammen, 2021). Secondly, materials needed for the conventional stoves are freely available and requires minimal time to construct.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Essentially, the slow progress in the uptake of designed ICS has been tied to the inability to tailor designs that are capable of suiting end-user customs and preferences of cooking culturally vital food types (Robinson et al, 2022;Clifford et al, 2022). Last but not least, ICS technologies often target to benefit women and girls who are primarily engaged in fuel collection and exposure to smoke, yet these categories have limited decision making power in low resource households (Maré & DOI: 10.4236/me.2022.138060 1142 Modern Economy M'rithaa, 2021; Kahlenberg et al, 2021;Kyayesimira & Muheirwe, 2021;Stanistreet et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Assessing the Demand for Improved Cook Stoves among Low Income Households in Kenya: Case of Baringo and West Pokot Counties

Kisiangani¹,

Okoti²,

Mutembei³

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, clean and improved cooking solutions have significantly evolved globally, generating an attractive market opportunity for enterprises engaging in the provision of innovative cooking appliances, fuels, and financing to speed uptake of the disseminated technologies. Improved Cook stoves (ICS) have been widely touted for their potential to deliver triple wing benefits of improved agricultural productivity, enhanced household health and time savings through reduced scrimmage in sourcing for biomass fuel, and sustainability through reduced local deforestation, further reducing black carbon emissions. Despite decades of promotion, diffusion of ICS has continued to remain slow. This project aimed at investigating the factors that hinder the uptake of ICS in some selected poor villages from Baringo and West Pokot Counties in Kenya, East Africa. Data was collected from 2918 households across 12 villages and analyzed statistically. On average, households spent approximately KES 2149 on fuel per month, covered 2.15 km and spent around 1.5 hours collecting/getting their primary cooking fuel. Majority of the consumers, 94% expressed willingness to pay (WTP) for an ideal cookstove (one that emits less smoke, saves fuel, safe during cooking, easy to light, and that could cook fast). A majority of the consumers (46.5%) preferred to acquire ICSs through equal monthly installments while 40.

show abstract

Which Biomass Stove(s) Capable of Reducing Household Air Pollution Are Available to the Poorest Communities Globally?

Cited by 9 publications

References 25 publications

Biomass use and its health effects among the vulnerable and marginalized refugee families in the Gaza Strip

Biomass use and its health effects among the vulnerable and marginalized refugee families in the Gaza Strip

Improved cookstoves to reduce household air pollution exposure in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review of intervention studies

Assessing the Demand for Improved Cook Stoves among Low Income Households in Kenya: Case of Baringo and West Pokot Counties

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About