Exposure to emissions from firewood cooking stove and the pulmonary health of women in Olorunda community, Ibadan, Nigeria

Abstract

Access to cost effective and cleaner energy sources for cooking constitutes a major challenge in the developing world. Also, exposure to emissions from available traditional energy sources such as firewood cooking stoves is known to cause diverse health hazards among the world’s vulnerable poor population. We determined the emissions profile from firewood cooking stoves and then assessed the effects on the pulmonary function of women in Olorunda community near Ibadan in Southwestern Nigeria. A calibrated gravimetric sampler was used to collect respirable particulate matter (PM10) while calibrated gas monitors was used to determine gaseous emissions (GE) such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and sulfur dioxide (SO2) generated in 12 randomly selected homes that use firewood stoves for cooking. A calibrated digital spirometer was used to assess the lung function of 74 consenting firewood stove users expressed in terms of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1). Concentrations of PM10 and GE were compared with World Health Organization (WHO) guideline limits. Descriptive univariable analysis was done using SPSS version 16 while STATA 10 (College Station, TX, USA) was used for modeling the FEV1 measurements. The mean daily PM10 was 729.9 ± 59 μg/m3 and this was about 29-fold higher than the WHO indoor daily limit of 25 μg/m3 (p < 0.05). Mean GE generated in parts per million were: 21.5 ± 0.8, 139 ± 20.5, 0.6 ± 0.3, 0.6 ± 0.4 for CO, CO2, SO2, and NO2, respectively. The concentrations of CO, NO2, and SO2 were above the WHO guidelines (p < 0.05). The mean age of participants for the lung function test was 38 ± 12.9 years (15–70 years). The mean observed FEV1 was 1.5 ± 0.5 L and lower than the mean predicted FEV1 of 2.4 ± 0.5 for a similar healthy population (p < 0.05). There was no significant relationship between FEV1 and PM10 levels on random effects regression. However, only an increase of 0.0009 in FEV1 for each unit increase in PM10 was found and this was not statistically significantly (p = 0.372). Women in rural communities exposed to emissions from firewood cooking stoves are more vulnerable to respiratory dysfunction even though in-depth longitudinal studies are required to establish causality. Meanwhile, proper interventions are therefore advocated to minimize related hazards. Proper interventions are therefore advocated to minimize related hazards.