EPA/Winrock Webinar – Results from CCT Studies and Stove Design and Performance Testing Workshops in Vietnam, Mexico, and Nepal, July 29, 2014.
In 2012 and 2013 Aprovecho Research Center, with support from the U.S. EPA and Winrock International, conducted Controlled Cooking Test (CCT) field studies and provided technical training for organizations working to promote cleaner, more efficient cooking technologies in Vietnam (2012), Mexico (2013), and Nepal (2013). On July 2, 2014 Winrock and the U.S. EPA hosted a webinar to present results and lessons learned from the studies and information about how these results can inform and improve cookstove design, performance and use. The webinar also provided context and outcomes from the regional technical capacity building workshops that complemented each field study. Mike Hatfield presented on behalf of Aprovecho Research Center.
Despite increasing recognition surrounding this global environmental health problem, much remains to be elucidated regarding exposure response relationships, particularly among potentially susceptible population subgroups. Given that many of the communities most affected by household air pollution exposures also experience elevated exposures to poverty, psychosocial stressors, other environmental pollutants, and comorbid conditions, research needs to correctly specify risks due to these potentially interacting risk factors. Although suggestive evidence exists for differential improvements in health following reductions in ambient air pollution concentrations among specific subgroups, the question remains as to who will benefit and to what extent from efforts to reduce exposures to emissions from household solid fuel combustion. The ability to know what to expect from cookstove interventions and to accurately describe the presence of distinct subgroup responses is crucial to reduce uncertainty and to encourage policy makers to enact change.
A pilot study of Nepalese kitchens aims to improve public health and reduce burn injuries in the poorest neighbourhoods of South Asia, a UWA burn researcher says.
Burn Injury Research Unit Assistant Professor Hilary Wallace says 75 per cent of burns in South Asia occur in the home, mostly in the kitchen, and targeted education and financial support interventions could help save many lives.
“What happens in the kitchen can improve or undermine public health,” she says.
“In many of these poverty-stricken areas, burns are more common than AIDS or tuberculosis.”
Roberto A Accinelli, et al. Corresponding authors: Roberto A Accinelli roberto.accinelli@upch.pe
Background – Symptoms of sleep apnea are markedly increased in children exposed to smoke from biomass fuels and are reduced by kitchen stoves that improve indoor biomass pollution. However, the impact of adherence to the use of improved stoves has not been critically examined.
Methods – Sleep-related symptom questionnaires were obtained from children <15 years of age in 56 families residing in the communities of Lliupapuquio, Andahuaylas province in Peru before and 2 years after installation of less-polluting Inkawasi cooking stoves.
Results – 82 children with lifetime exposures to indoor fuel pollution were included. When compared to those alternating between both types of stoves or those using traditional stoves only, those children who exclusively used Inkawasi cooking stoves showed significant improvements in sleep and respiratory related symptoms, but some minor albeit significant improvements occurred when both stoves were concomitantly used.
Conclusions- Improvements in respiratory and sleep-related symptoms associated with elevated indoor biomass pollution occur only following implementation and exclusive utilization of improved kitchen stoves.
The World Health Organization estimates that in 2012 about 4.3 million deaths occurred because of exposure to household air pollution caused by smoke from the incomplete combustion of fuels such as wood, coal, and kerosene. Inefficient energy use in the home also poses substantial risks to safety, causing burns and injuries across the developing world. To support the achievement of these goals, a starting point must be set, indicators developed, and a framework established to track those indicators until 2030.
The World Bank and International Energy Agency have led a consortium of 15 international agencies to produce data on access to nonsolid fuel for the SE4ALL Global Tracking Framework. Launched in 2013, the framework defines access to modern cooking solutions is as the use of nonsolid fuels for the primary method of cooking. Nonsolid fuels include (i) liquid fuels (for example, kerosene, ethanol, or other biofuels), (ii) gaseous fuels (such as natural gas, LPG, and biogas), and (iii) electricity. These are in contrast to solid fuels such as (i) traditional biomass (wood, charcoal, agricultural residues, and dung), (ii) processed biomass (pellets, briquettes); and (iii) other solid fuels (such as coal and lignite).
Gunther Bensch; Jörg Peters. Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Department of Economics.
This paper evaluates take-up and impacts of low-cost improved stoves through a randomized controlled trial. The randomized stove is primarily designed to curb fi rewood consumption but not smoke emissions. Nonetheless, we find considerable effects not only on firewood consumption, but also on smoke exposure and smoke-related disease symptoms – induced by behavioural changes at the intensive margin affecting outside cooking and cooking time due to the new stove.
Paul H. Riley. The University of Nottingham, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK
Clean burning products, for example cooking stoves, can reduce household air pollution (HAP), which prematurely kills 3.5 million people each year. By careful selection of components into a product package with micro-finance used for the capital payment, barriers to large-scale uptake of products that remove HAP are reduced. Such products reduce smoke from cooking and the lighting from electricity produced, eliminates smoke from kerosene lamps. A bottom-up financial model, that is cognisant of end user social needs, has been developed to compare different products for use in rural areas of developing countries. The model is freely available for use by researchers and has the ability to assist in the analysis of changing assumptions. Business views of an individual villager, the village itself and a country view are presented.
The model shows that affordability (defined as the effect on household expenses as a result of a product purchase) and recognition of end-user social needs are as important as product cost. The effects of large-scale deployment (greater that 10 million per year) are described together with level of subsidy required by the poorest people. With the assumptions given, the model shows that pico-hydro is the most cost effective, but not generally available, one thermo-acoustic technology option does not require subsidy, but it is only at technology readiness level 2 (NASA definition) therefore costs are predicted and very large investment in manufacturing capability is needed to meet the cost target. Thermo-electric is currently the only technology that can be used worldwide every day of the year and is available without research. However, it is not yet self-financing and therefore requires subsidy or diversion of more household income to be affordable. A combination of photovoltaic and clean cookstove may be suitable in areas where sufficient solar radiation is available on most days. Affordability is shown to be highly dependent on the income that can be derived from carbon credits.
This study examined the urinary mutagenicity in 19 indigenous Mayan families from the highlands of Guatemala who regularly use temazcales (N = 32), as well as control (unexposed) individuals from the same population (N = 9). Urine samples collected before and after temazcal exposure were enzymatically deconjugated and extracted using solid-phase extraction. The creatinine-adjusted mutagenic potency of urine extracts was assessed using the plate incorporation version of the Salmonella mutagenicity assay with strain YG1041 in the presence of exogenous metabolic activation. The post-exposure mutagenic potency of urine extracts were, on average, 1.7-fold higher than pre-exposure samples (P < 0.005) and also significantly more mutagenic than the control samples (P < 0.05). Exhaled carbon monoxide (CO) was ~10 times higher following temazcal use (P < 0.0001), and both CO level and time spent in temazcal were positively associated with urinary mutagenic potency (i.e. P < 0.0001 and P = 0.01, respectively). Thus, the wood smoke exposure associated with temazcal use contributes to increased excretion of conjugated mutagenic metabolites. Moreover, urinary mutagenic potency is correlated with other metrics of exposure (i.e. exhaled CO, duration of exposure). Since urinary mutagenicity is a biomarker associated with genetic damage, temazcal use may therefore be expected to contribute to an increased risk of DNA damage and mutation, effects associated with the initiation of cancer.
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Improved cook stoves (ICS) have the potential to deliver triple benefits: health and time savings, reduced deforestation, and reduced emissions of black carbon, a significant short-term contributor to global climate change. This video highlights a Duke University research study that aims to better understand the diffusion of ICS technologies in Uttarakhand, India.
BACKGROUND: Studies, particularly from low-income and middle-income countries, suggest that exposure to smoke from household air pollution (HAP) may be a risk factor for tuberculosis. The primary aim of this study was to quantify the risk of tuberculosis from HAP and explore bias and identify possible causes for heterogeneity in reported effect sizes.
METHODS: A systematic review was conducted from original studies. Meta-analysis was performed using a random effects model, with results presented as a pooled effect estimate (EE) with 95% CI. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed.
RESULTS: Twelve studies that considered active tuberculosis and reported adjusted effect sizes were included in the meta-analyses. The overall pooled EE (OR, 95% CI) showed a significant adverse effect (1.43, 1.07 to 1.91) and with significant heterogeneity between studies (I2=70.8%, p<0.001). When considering studies of cases diagnosed microbiologically, the pooled EE approached significance (1.26, 0.95 to 1.68). The pooled EE (OR, 95% CI) was significantly higher among those exposed only to biomass smoke (1.49, 1.08 to 2.05) when compared with the use of kerosene only (0.70, 0.13 to 3.87). Similarly, the pooled EE among women (1.61, 0.73 to 3.57) was greater than when both genders were combined (1.39, 1.01 to 1.92). There was no publication bias (Egger plot, p=0.136). Significant heterogeneity was observed in the diagnostic criteria for tuberculosis (coefficient=0.38, p=0.042).
CONCLUSIONS: Biomass smoke is a significant risk factor for active tuberculosis. Most of the studies were small with limited information on measures of HAP.
