RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C. – June 4, 2010: RTI International has launched a multidisciplinary research effort to understand and address the adverse health and environmental impacts related to the use of biomass cook stoves in developing nations.
This effort will fill some technology gaps as well as help RTI better integrate and apply the huge range of Institute technical and societal research programs, staff and skills.
As part of this program, four different research teams, funded through the RTI Fellow Program, are exploring the scientific, societal and policy challenges associated with the stoves and their use.
More than half of the world’s people cook their food and heat their homes by burning coal, wood, dung and other biomass in open fires or rudimentary stoves, most often indoors. The practice releases toxic gases and particles into confined spaces creating extremely high exposures, and adding tremendously to the greenhouse pollutant burden in the outdoor air.
The use of these stoves in the developing world represents an immensely complex problem set with huge health and climate implications, said RTI Senior Fellow Charles Rodes, Ph.D.
“The use of these stoves is one of the leading causes of child and maternal death in the developing world,” Rodes said. “On an aggregate level, the stoves are one of the largest global emitters of black carbon emissions, making them a leading greenhouse gas emission source as well.”
RTI’s four projects are diverse but integrated, addressing concerns that include the following:
- An assessment of biomass stove use in Sri Lanka. RTI researchers, working in partnership with a researcher with the Sri Lanka National Institute of Health, will review data on respiratory diseases and characterize stove use in-country. Incorporating comparative international research, the team will develop a comprehensive profile of risk factors and stove use, drawing attention to ethnic, gender, urban, rural and district characteristics of the issue.
- An effort to design cleaner biomass cook stoves. A cross-functional team of engineers and scientists will investigate existing stove designs and performance and explore innovative approaches toward improvements. In addition to considering overall combustion efficiency, the researchers will examine the links between stove design and operating conditions and the subsequent personal exposure concentrations.
- Research to characterize emissions and exposure. This team will apply RTI’s 40 years of research on environmental contaminants to better understand the personal exposure and health effects of black-brown carbon emissions. The team will characterize emissions and resulting exposure using two different technologies—RTI’s MicroPEM™ and Optical Reflective Method.
- Physical collection of dried blood spots to assess black carbon emissions. Specifically, the team will analyze blood samples for the presence and level of PAH-hemoglobin adducts, which indicate levels of black carbon exposure. This method will also use a baseline measure to assess the effectiveness of improved cook stove designs.
RTI began the “Grand Challenges” initiative last year to fund areas of research that are complex and require multidisciplinary but thoroughly integrated approaches and solutions to succeed.
“The work we are funding represents thinking at many levels,” said Lead Fellow Edo Pellizzari, Ph.D. “As part of our mission to improve the human condition, we at RTI are seeking to apply our wide-ranging scientific and policy research to real-world challenges in a manner that is culturally appropriate and sustainable.”
About RTI International
RTI International is one of the world’s leading research institutes, dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice. Our staff of more than 2,800 provides research and technical expertise to governments and businesses in more than 40 countries in the areas of health and pharmaceuticals, education and training, surveys and statistics, advanced technology, international development, economic and social policy, energy and the environment, and laboratory and chemistry services. For more information, visit www.rti.org.
