Indicators of exposure to household air pollution

May 14, 2015 · 0 comments

Indicators of exposure to household air pollution. WHO Bulletin, May 2015.

Authors: Kendra N Williams, Amanda L Northcross & Jay P Graham

More information could be collected through national surveys to increase awareness and knowledge of the extent and impact of household air pollution. Because the development of specific questions for national surveys is a lengthy process that requires extensive piloting and testing to assure validity and reliability, we do not propose specific questions, but rather summarize categories of information critical for understanding the problem, based on examples from a related field: water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

In contrast to the WASH field, no indicator in the DHS or MICS tracks types of cooking apparatus owned or used for cooking. Information on fuel collection is also incomplete. We suggest that additional indicators are needed in the following categories:

  • types of cooking apparatus owned;
  • use of cooking apparatus;
  • fuel collection practices;
  • fine particulate matter exposures or household concentrations; and
  • fuels used for heating and lighting.

Understanding Impacts of Women’s Engagement in the Improved Cookstove Value Chain in Kenya

May 11, 2015 · 0 comments

Understanding Impacts of Women’s Engagement in the Improved Cookstove Value Chain in Kenya, 2015.

Authors:

  • Anita V. Shankar, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Center for Global Clean Air; Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
  • Mary Alice Onyura, ESVAK Community Development Initiatives
  • Jessica Alderman, Envirofit International

In this study, we examine the relative impacts of engaging women entrepreneurs in the clean cooking value chain and its association with overall improved cookstove (ICS) sales and adoption. The overall objectives were to understand the impacts that women can have on sales of ICS when engaged as entrepreneurs and to compare the relative business capacities of newly trained male and female entrepreneurs who received either basic entrepreneurial training or a novel agency-based empowerment training.

Gender and Livelihoods Impacts of Clean Cookstoves in South Asia: Executive Summary

May 11, 2015 · 0 comments

Gender and Livelihoods Impacts of Clean Cookstoves in South Asia: Executive Summary, 2015 .

Commissioned by the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves. Developed by: Practical Action; Lead Contact: Dr. Ewan Bloomfield, Practical Action

In South Asia, women play a significant and dominant role within the household cooking sector. Generally women do most of the cooking and, therefore, are disproportionately affected by household air pollution (HAP) caused by the inefficient burning of solid biomass cooking fuels. They are also required to spend a significant amount of time and effort collecting the traditionally used biomass fuels, a physically draining task that can take up to 20 or more hours per week.

This study analyzes the gender impacts of clean cooking solutions on households that have adopted them, as well as women’s current and potential involvement in ICS market systems in each of the three South Asian countries. This study focuses primarily on improved biomass cookstoves, but also analyzes the use of other cooking solutions, including kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Efforts have been made to generate recommendations on women’s involvement in ICS value chains that can effectively reach “last mile” households in South Asia.

 

Biogas fact sheet – Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves

May 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Biogas fact sheet, 2015. Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

Biogas is a methane rich gas produced through the anaerobic (without air) digestion of organic wastes. It can be generated from animal and kitchen wastes, as well as some crop residues. For cooking and other thermal household tasks, biogas can be used directly in conventional low-pressure gas burners.

Biogas is used for many different applications worldwide. In rural communities, small-scale digesters can provide biogas for single-household cooking and lighting. Large-scale digesters can utilize biogas for electricity production, heat and steam, chemical production, and vehicle fuel.

Africa: 5 Innovations that will Electrify Africa in the Next Decade

May 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Africa: 5 Innovations that will Electrify Africa in the Next Decade, April 29, 2015.

Gesper Mndeme is a 31-year old farmer, father, and part-time business student in Tanzania. He used to stumble through the pre-dawn darkness by way of a flickering candle to prepare the morning meal for himself and his daughter, Sunny. A kerosene flame from an old water bottle lit their 200-square-foot hut while emitting plumes of toxic smoke. Now for less than the $1 he used to spend daily on kerosene and candles, he and his daughter enjoy two LED lights, a cell-phone charger, and a radio. The soft sound of local Tanzanian rhythms fills the moist morning air as he prepares cassava and vegetables.

Worldwide, 1.3 billion people live without access to electricity, while another 1 billion experience significant rolling blackouts. Nearly 97% of them live in Sub-Saharan Africa and developing Asia, and lack of reliable electricity creates a massive drain on education, manufacturing, and retail. More than 50 percent of businesses in Sub-Saharan Africa identify electricity as a major constraint to their operation compared with just 27 % citing transportation.

But that will soon change. The confluence of five dynamics will electrify the continent within a decade. These include the rapidly declining price of solar energy, increased battery capacity per dollar, the proliferation of mobile phone commerce, innovative consumer finance techniques, and creative for-profit business models.

Here’s a look at each:

1. Cheaper solar electricity. Swanson’s Law, which states that solar cell prices fall 20% for every doubling in industry capacity, is finally beginning to play out. Lower prices for solar panels in the developed world make this renewable energy competitive with electricity. This competitiveness fuels a virtuous cycle of increased spending on R&D, which further decreases panel prices.

The price per watt of solar electricity has decreased 44% since the end of 2011, and all trends point to even lower costs with economies of scale. Sub-Saharan Africa is ideal for solar energy, as it receives more solar radiation than almost anywhere else in the world. Lack of infrastructure and ineffective public energy bureaucracies make it unlikely that the 85% of Africans off the national grids will ever connect to them. Just as cell phones displaced landlines in the developing world, solar energy will bring electricity to the masses, displacing kerosene and candles.

Household Air Pollution Causes Dose-Dependent Inflammation and Altered Phagocytosis in Human Macrophages

May 4, 2015 · 0 comments

Household Air Pollution Causes Dose-Dependent Inflammation and Altered Phagocytosis in Human Macrophages. American Journal of Respiratory Cell and Molecular Biology, May 2015.

Authors: Jamie Rylance, Duncan G. Fullerton, James Scriven, et al.

We used human alveolar macrophages obtained from healthy Malawian adults exposed naturally to household air pollution and compared them with human monocyte-derived macrophages exposed in vitro to respirable-sized particulates. Cellular inflammatory response was assessed by IL-6 and IL-8 production in response to particulate challenge; phagosomal function was tested by uptake and oxidation of fluorescence-labeled beads; ingestion and killing of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were measured by microscopy and quantitative culture.

Particulate ingestion was quantified by digital image analysis. We were able to reproduce the carbon loading of naturally exposed alveolar macrophages by in vitro exposure of monocyte-derived macrophages. Fine carbon black induced IL-8 release from monocyte-derived and alveolar macrophages (P < 0.05) with similar magnitude responses (log10 increases of 0.93 [SEM = 0.2] versus 0.74 [SEM = 0.19], respectively). Phagocytosis of pneumococci and mycobacteria was impaired with higher particulate loading.

High particulate loading corresponded with a lower oxidative burst capacity (P = 0.0015). There was no overall effect on killing of M. tuberculosis. Alveolar macrophage function is altered by particulate loading. Our macrophage model is comparable morphologically to the in vivo uptake of particulates. Wood smoke–exposed cells demonstrate reduced phagocytosis, but unaffected mycobacterial killing, suggesting defects related to chronic wood smoke inhalation limited to specific innate immune functions.

WHO – Economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe: Clean air, health and wealth

May 4, 2015 · 1 comment

Economic cost of the health impact of air pollution in Europe: Clean air, health and wealth, 2015. WHO.

This paper extends the analyses of the most recent WHO, European Union and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development research on the cost of ambient and household air pollution to cover all 53 Member States of the WHO European Region.

It describes and discusses the topic of air pollution from a Health in All Policies perspective, reflecting the best available evidence from a health, economics and policy angle and identifies future research areas and policy options.

PM2.5 in household kitchens of Bhaktapur, Nepal, using four different cooking fuels

May 4, 2015 · 0 comments

PM2.5 in household kitchens of Bhaktapur, Nepal, using four different cooking fuels. Atmos Environ, Apr 29, 2015.

Authors: Amod K. Pokhrel, , Michael N. Bates, Jiwan Acharya, Palle Valentiner-Branth, Ram K. Chandyo, Prakash S. Shrestha, Anil K. Raut, Kirk R. Smith

Highlights

  • One of the largest databases of indoor PM2.5 measurements from cookstoves.
  • PM2.5 levels were measured in kitchens using low-cost nephelometers.
  • The nephelometers results were well correlated with results from gravimetric method.
  • Decreasing PM2.5 was associated with biomass, kerosene and then LPG/electric stoves.
  • PM2.5 levels in the kitchens with electric stoves were similar to ambient PM2.5 levels.

In studies examining the health effects of household air pollution (HAP), lack of affordable monitoring devices often precludes collection of actual air pollution data, forcing use of exposure indicators, such as type of cooking fuel used. Among the most important pollutants is fine particulate matter (PM2.5), perhaps the best single indicator of risk from smoke exposure. In this study, for one of the first times at scale, we deployed an affordable and robust device to monitor PM2.5 in 824 households in Bhaktapur, Nepal. Four primary cooking fuels were used in roughly equal proportions in these households: electricity (22%), liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (29%), kerosene (23%), and biomass (26%). PM2.5 concentrations were measured in the kitchens using a light-scattering nephelometer, the UCB-PATS (University of California, Berkeley-Particle and Temperature monitoring System). The major predictors of PM2.5 concentrations in study households were investigated. The UCB-PATS results were well correlated with the gravimetric results (R2=0.84; for all fuels combined).

The mean household PM2.5 concentrations across all seasons of the year were 656 (standard deviation (SD):924) μg/m3 from biomass; 169 (SD: 207) μg/m3 from kerosene; 101 (SD: 130) μg/m3 from LPG; and 80 (SD: 103) μg/m3 from electric stoves. In the multivariate regression of PM2.5 measures, compared with electric stoves, use of LPG, kerosene and biomass stoves were associated with increased indoor PM2.5 concentrations of 65% (95% CI: 38-95%), 146% (103-200%), and 733% (589-907%), respectively. The UCB-PATS performed well in the field. Biomass fuel stoves without flues were the most significant sources of PM2.5, followed by kerosene and then LPG stoves. Outdoor PM2.5, and season influenced indoor PM2.5 levels. Results support careful use of inexpensive light-scattering monitors for monitoring of HAP in developing countries.

ETHOS 2015 conference presentations

April 30, 2015 · 1 comment

ETHOS 2015 Conference Presentation Archive

The presentations listed below are on the conference presentation archive.

  • Ashok Gadgil – How Many Test Replicates Needed to Obtain Useful Data
  • Dean Still – The ARC Stoves and Steps to Improve PerformanceDoE
  • Jonathan Posner – Multidisciplinary Design of Innovative Natural Draft..DoE
  • Ryan Gist – Heart of the Hearth
  • Dorothea Otremba – What’s New at GIZ HERA
  • Benjamin Sullivan – Real-Time Monitoring of PM from Wood-Fired Cookstoves
  • Julien Caubel – A Compact, Inexpensive Black Carbon Sensor for Biomass Cookstove Emissions
  • Nelson Byanyima – Stove Testing Experiences at CREEC
  • Daniel Wilson – Cookstove Adoption Measured with SUMs in Darfur
  • Elisa Derby – USAID/WASHplus Bangladesh and Nepal
  • [click to continue…]
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WHO – Health and the environment: addressing the health impact of air pollution

April 30, 2015 · 1 comment

Health and the environment:addressing the health impact of air pollution, April 2015. WHO.

The Executive Board, in its consideration of health and the environment at its 135th session, decided to include the subject on the provisional agenda of the Board at its 136th session.1 At that session the Board considered an earlier version of this report,2 together with a draft resolution.3 The Board then adopted decision EB136(14), in which Member States were encouraged to finalize their work on the draft resolution to enable it to be considered by the Sixty-eighth World Health Assembly.

A preparatory process for the draft resolution, including informal consultations with Member States, is being held between January and May 2015. The present report describes the links between air pollution and health, and outlines some strategies for prevention, control and mitigation of the adverse effects of air pollution on health, including coordinated action between the health and other sectors.

 

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