Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM: During a field research, we discovered a new phenomenon that rural families in northern China were using harmful materials including plastic bottles, bags, and others as kindling material. The aim of this study was to analyze the potential risk behind kindling behavior among Chinese rural families, and to provide insights for policy makers in environmental health. METHODS: A cluster survey was performed on 113 participant’s families using solid fuels for cooking and heating purpose. An electric questionnaire survey on their kindling behavior and family information was administrated. Harmful kindling materials including plastic bottles, plastic planting plates, plastic film mulches, plastic bags, waste foams, and medium density fiberboard (MDF) are targeted in the survey. The population attributable fractions (PAF) for all type cancer and type 2 diabetes (T2D) attributable to dioxins exposure were estimated. A chi square statistics was used for the analysis of driving forces behind these kindling behaviors. RESULTS:About 1/3 participant’s families have ever used the listed harmful material for kindling. Based on literature review and the exposure proportion estimated from the questionnaire, we estimated the PAF for all type cancer (10.48% to 19.48%) and type 2 diabetes (15.57% to 27.86%) attributable to dioxins exposure. The PAF estimates were greater than our expectation from view of the global estimate PAF for cancer and T2D. Availability, age, ignition frequency and favorite kindling material are significantly different among different behavior groups (p0.05). Moreover, we found farming families are more likely to use their farming related plastic byproducts as kindling material. CONCLUSIONS:There is a huge knowledge gap among environmental health in rural China. Our survey provided a new research aspect for environmental health research and health education. Strengthened environmental health education, better relevant laws, regulations, and supporting policies for regulate rural and farming waste disposal are highly recommended for policy makers in China. KEYWORDS: Dioxins exposure, Solid fuels, Indoor air quality, Kindling materials, Public health, Behaviors
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