Real-time particulate and CO concentrations from cookstoves in rural households in Udaipur, India. Env Sci Technol, May 2015.
Authors: Anna Leavey , Jessica Londeree , Pratiti Priyadarshini , Jagdeesh Puppala , Kenneth B. Schechtman , Gautam Yadama, and Pratim Biswas
Almost 3 billion people around the globe use traditional three-stone cookstoves and open fires to warm and feed themselves. The World Health Organization estimates annual mortality rates from domestic solid fuel combustion to be around 4 million. One of the most affected countries is India. Quantifying pollutant concentrations from these cookstoves during different phases of operation, and understanding the factors influencing their variability may help to identify where improvements should be targeted, enhancing indoor air quality for millions of the world’s most vulnerable people.
Gas and particulate measurements were collected between June-August, 2012, for 51 households using traditional cookstoves, in the villages of Udaipur district, Rajasthan, India. Mean pollutant concentrations during steady-state mode were 4989µm2cm-3, 9835µgm-3 and 18.5ppm for lung-deposited surface area, PM2.5 and CO respectively. Simple and multivariate regression analysis was conducted. Fuel amount, fuel diameter, duration of the cookstove run, roof type, and the room dimension explained between 7% and 21% of the variability for the pollutant metrics.
CO demonstrated weaker correlations with explanatory variables. Some of these variables may be indicative of socio-economic status and could be used as proxies of exposure in lieu of pollutant measurements, hence these variables may help identify which households to prioritize for intervention. Such associations should be further explored.
