Abstract
Background: High levels of household air pollution (HAP) occur in houses of many developing countries due to combustion of biomass fuels (wood, charcoal, cow dung, crop residues) in the households in open fires or inefficient stoves. Particulate Matter (PM2.5) and Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) are among the significant pollutants that are generated and can adversely affect the health of the exposed. Therefore, we monitored PM2.5 and VOC in selected rural and urban areas of the Copperbelt province of Zambia in order to measure the magnitude and correlates of HAP concentration levels. Methods: Indoor PM2.5 particles Results: Biomass fuel use in our study area was the dominant source of household energy for cooking. Mean indoor PM 2.5 varied greatly between households depending on fuel and kitchen type while the variations in VOC were not that much. Concentration levels for PM2.5 varied between 79 µg/m3 and 921 µg/m3, with an overall mean (SD) for daily average of 444.5 µg/m3 (170.2) while for VOC concentration levels ranged from 245 ppb to 393 ppb with an overall mean (SD) for daily average of 342 ppb (25.3). The median (Q1, Q2) indoor PM2.5 during cooking time was 501(411,686) µg/m3 and daily average 393(303,578) µg/m3 while VOC daily average was 343(320, 363) ppb concentrations in the entire study population. Conclusion: Household air pollution mean concentrations in rural and urban settings of Ndola and Masaiti excessively exceed the WHO guidelines; hence continued efforts through research and advocacy are needed to mitigate the health damaging levels of household air pollution.
Highlights
Public Health recognizes household air pollution (HAP) as a vital determinant of health
In sub-Saharan African countries like Zambia, use of solid fuels is very common because it is linked to poverty levels and statistics show that use of biomass as domestic energy in these populations ranges from 50% to as high as 95% in some rural communities [14]
Biomass fuel was the main source of cooking fuel
Summary
Public Health recognizes household air pollution (HAP) as a vital determinant of health. In sub-Saharan African countries like Zambia, use of solid fuels is very common because it is linked to poverty levels and statistics show that use of biomass as domestic energy in these populations ranges from 50% to as high as 95% in some rural communities [14]. This high proportion of biomass use in these countries has been implicated in respiratory diseases, cardiovascular ill health and pregnancy adverse outcomes in the countries where household monitoring of indoor pollutants has been conducted. The daily average for PM2.5 and VOC were calculated in mg/m3 and ppb respectively
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