Abstract
Background: There is evidence that household air pollution is associated with poor health in China, and that this form of air pollution may even be more of a health concern in China than the much-publicized outdoor air pollution. However, there is little empirical evidence on the relationship between household air pollution and health in China based on nationally representative and longitudinal data. This study examines the association between the type of domestic cooking fuel and the health of women aged ≥16 in rural China. Methods: Using longitudinal and biomarker data from the China Family Panel Studies (n = 12,901) and the China Health and Nutrition Survey (n = 15,539), we investigate the impact of three major domestic cooking fuels (wood/straw, coal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) on health status using both cross-sectional and panel approaches. Results: Compared to women whose households cook with dirty fuels like wood/straw, women whose households cook with cleaner fuels like LPG have a significantly lower probability of chronic or acute diseases and are more likely to report better health. Cooking with domestic coal instead of wood or straw is also associated with elevated levels of having certain risks (such as systolic blood pressure) related to cardiovascular diseases. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that using cleaner fuels like LPG is associated with better health among women in rural China, suggesting that the shift from dirty fuels to cleaner choices may be associated with improved health outcomes.
Highlights
40% of the population relies on solid fuels, including coal and biomass, for domestic cooking, thereby breathing in a large amount of particulate matter (PM) and pollutants that can be detrimental to health [1]
In the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS), we find that, time spent cooking is uncorrelated with health outcomes in women, which could imply that the mere use of a specific fuel may lead to household air pollution (HAP) persistency
Our results from age-split analysis indicate, for those women aged 50+, time spent cooking above 3 h/day is linked with a decreased probability of reporting better health, perhaps suggesting that older women are more likely to suffer from longer exposure to HAP
Summary
40% of the population relies on solid fuels, including coal and biomass (e.g., wood, charcoal, agricultural residues and dung), for domestic cooking, thereby breathing in a large amount of particulate matter (PM) and pollutants that can be detrimental to health [1]. 2010 Global Burden of Disease/Comparative Risk Assessment Project, for example, exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from cooking with solid fuels resulted in 3.5 million premature death and various other health problems (e.g., lung cancer) in 2010 [2,3]. There is little empirical evidence on the relationship between household air pollution and health in China based on nationally representative and longitudinal data. This study examines the association between the type of domestic cooking fuel and the health of women aged ě16 in rural China. Methods: Using longitudinal and biomarker data from the China Family Panel Studies (n = 12,901) and the China Health and Nutrition Survey (n = 15,539), we investigate the impact of three major domestic cooking fuels (wood/straw, coal, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG)) on health status using both cross-sectional and panel approaches
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