Traditional Cookstoves Research Articles

Gaseous air quality and health risk assessment of high school kitchens in the Kumasi Metropolis

Cooking is a major factor that affects the quality of indoor air especially in kitchens. It is a daily activity essential for supplying the requisite energy and nutrients for living through food consumption. Exposure to air pollutants from cooking with solid fuels in domestic and commercial kitchens is a leading health risk in developing nations like Ghana. Real-time monitoring of gaseous pollutants (CO, SO2, NO2) was done during eight hours of occupational cooking in different cookstove kitchens of 14 Senior High Schools in the Kumasi Metropolis, Ghana. The traditional and improved cookstove kitchens were fueled by firewood whereas the briquette cookstove kitchens were fueled by palm kernel shell briquette. The observed median concentrations in the kitchens were 0.43–39.44 mg m−3 for CO, 0.07–0.36 mg m−3 for NO2, and 0.19–0.61 mg m−3 for SO2. The concentrations in the traditional and briquette cookstove kitchens exceeded the respective World Health Organization (WHO) thresholds of 4 mg m−3 for CO, 0.025 mg m−3 for NO2, and 0.04 mg m−3 for SO2 mg m−3. The air quality index of traditional cookstove kitchens was classified as hazardous for human occupancy. Hazard indices > 1 revealed the likelihood of significant non-carcinogenic health risks for cooks’ occupational exposure to gaseous pollutants in all the cookstove kitchens. This study is essential as it informs on gaseous air quality during large-scale cooking within institutional kitchens with different cookstove types in a developing country. The study fills a gap in literature by providing real-time concentrations of gaseous air pollutants to which cooks in high school kitchens of a developing country are occupationally exposed. The study recommends the urgent transition of large-scale kitchens in developing countries to cleaner energies and cookstove types, alongside regular monitoring and enforcement of air quality guidelines, to safeguard occupational health.

Sustainable biomass system design for microenterprise-based use of bioenergy

Clean cooking systems and the incorporation of biomass and bioenergy are critical in the context of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 7.1.2. This article considers the biomass potential of livestock-based rural micro-enterprises and the scope for standardisation and system efficiency improvement in traditional cow-dung-based bioenergy consumption. The article also highlights the challenges that the current design of cow-dung-based traditional cookstoves poses for rural households, especially for women users. A case of rural household bioenergy system design is proposed with appropriate system specific recommendations for the stages of livestock biomass collection, drying, and preparation of fuel pellets of standard dimensions as per the requirements of the ICS (Improved cookstove). A concept design featuring multiple interventions is endeavoured with the overall objective of designing a bioenergy based sustainable energy system. The suggested design interventions are focused on rural household micro-enterprises traditionally excluded from the improved cookstove development ecosystems. Through a customised approach, multiple opportunities for improvement of fuel efficiency, operational parameters, and innovations in system design are explored.

Design and Techno-economic Analysis of an Improved Multipurpose Cooker Stove

In response to the growing concerns surrounding the adverse health and environmental impacts of inefficient and hazardous traditional cooking fuels and stoves, this research aims to design and assess the performance of an improved multipurpose cooker stove. The study focuses on Zambia, a country deeply affected by air pollution and deforestation due to charcoal and firewood production using inefficient cooking stoves called Mbaula. The primary objective is to create an economically viable and environmentally friendly cooking stove that addresses the sustainability challenges of traditional cooking practices. The research is guided by key objectives. The study outlines the design process of the improved multipurpose cooker stove, emphasizing the incorporation of sustainable design principles. The improved multipurpose cooker stove demonstrated a thermal efficiency of 87.49%, significantly higher than the 11.88% thermal efficiency of traditional stoves. This improvement in efficiency is crucial for reducing fuel consumption and maximizing heat transfer during cooking processes. In addition, the research findings showed that the improved multipurpose cooker stove consumed 0.3643 kg/L less fuel compared to traditional stoves. This fuel savings not only reduces the cost of raw materials but also contributes to environmental sustainability by lowering deforestation rates and air pollution. Despite the initial investment cost of the improved cooker stove, the long-term operation costs are lower due to reduced fuel consumption and maintenance expenses. The study's findings and recommendations hold promise for addressing critical challenges related to clean cooking solutions, environmental preservation, and the well-being of households in Zambia and similar contexts.

Enhanced Carbon Neutral and Performance Characteristics Cookstove for Energy Sustainability

Open fire cooking, which consists of either three stones arrangement in a triangular shape or iron three legs fabricated stove (Adogan), is a common way of cooking in developing and underdeveloped countries. Surely this method of cooking is simple, but comes with its inherent problems that threaten energy sustainability concept; in a way of its harmful gases emissions, high cost; as occasioned by thermal inefficiency which also culminates in to high depletion rate; and ultimately deforestation. These energy sustainability factors and time wastages on wood fetching; had led significant number of researchers to investigate improvement process of the traditional cookstove; and have therefore developed some enhanced cookstoves for use. The article is aimed at designing an enhanced carbon neutral and performance characteristics cookstove for energy sustainability. Analytical basis, experimental studies and performance testing were conducted on existing improved traditional stove; with three burners of orifice sizes 0.8cm, 1.0cm, and 1.2cm. The model with burner orifice size 1.2cm presented highest thermal efficiency, lowest specific fuel consumption and lowest CO ppm. The study arrived that for any enhanced traditional cookstove to give optimal energy sustainability model, burner orifice size of 1.2 cm should be employed.

Strategizing towards sustainable energy planning: Modeling the mix of future generation technologies for 2050 in Benin

The Benin energy sector faces serious challenges, including an unfavorable energy mix with regular power shortages, erratic power outages, reliance on electricity imports, and dependence on traditional cooking stoves. This study has investigated strategies critical for Benin to employ to achieve 24.6 %, 44 %, and 100 % renewable energy (RE) integration targets in the final electricity mix in 2025, 2030, and 2050, respectively. This study used the EnergyPLAN model to develop different energy scenarios suitable for Benin to achieve its proposed RE penetration target. A combination of natural gas (NG) with solar photovoltaic (PV), wind energy, hydropower, and concentrated solar power (CSP) is used to develop three scenarios for RE integration namely the government targets scenario, 2 % RE per year scenario and 50 % RE in 2050 scenario. The results show that the government targets scenario is too ambitious because of the current trend and pace of developing the energy sector. Moreover, a combination of 563 MW of NG, 125 MW of PV, 200 MW of wind, 600 MW of hydropower, and 60 MW of CSP would achieve 50 % RE by 2050 under the 50 % RE scenario. This scenario would decrease CO2 emissions by 50 % with no CEEP generation. Furthermore, the total electricity generation from MSW in Benin is estimated to be 0.232, 0.3215, and 1.16 TWh/yr in 2025, 2030, and 2050, respectively. The study's findings could help decision-makers and stakeholders make informed decisions to promote the integration of RE resources in the Benin Republic.

Effect of low-cost kitchen with improved cookstove on birthweight of neonates in Shahjadpur, Bangladesh: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Smoke from biomass fuels used for cooking in traditional cookstoves contains a variety of health-damaging pollutants. Inhalation of these pollutants by pregnant women has been linked to abnormal foetal development and adverse pregnancy outcomes, including low birthweight (LBW). There is a dearth of data on environmental interventions that have the potential to reduce exposure to biomass fuel during pregnancy and improve birth outcomes. International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) therefore, designed a low-cost kitchen with an improved cookstove and examined the impact of this intervention on the birthweight of neonates. icddr,b conducted a cluster-randomised controlled trial of a 'low-cost kitchen with improved cookstove' intervention among 1,267 pregnant women who used traditional cookstoves in a rural sub-district of Bangladesh. All participants were enrolled during the first trimester of pregnancy among 104 randomly selected clusters after obtaining informed consent. The model kitchens were installed in 628 participants' households of the intervention group, and 639 participants continued to use traditional cookstoves as the control group. The primary outcome was the proportion of LBW neonates between the intervention and control groups. The study also examined if the intervention would reduce CO exposure, measured by the differences in maternal blood carbon monoxide saturation (SpCO) levels and prevalence of LBW in neonates. We performed a generalized structural equation model for jointly assessing the simultaneous relationships of biomass fuel exposure to LBW of neonates and the relationships of LBW of neonates to maternal blood SpCO level. This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02923882). We found that in the intervention group using 'low-cost kitchen with improved cookstove', the risk of LBW reduced by 37% (adjusted risk ratio: 0.63, 95% CI [0.45, 0.89]). Between the second and third trimester, the mean maternal blood SpCO level was significantly reduced from 10.4% to 8.9% (p-value <0.01) in the intervention group but remained unchanged in the control group (11.6% and 11.5%). Of the total effects of the intervention on the risk of LBW, 48.3% was mediated through maternal blood SpCO level. The risk of LBW among rural neonates was reduced in the intervention group using 'low-cost kitchen with improved cookstove', which may be attributed to the reduction in maternal blood SpCO level. Additional research is needed to identify other mechanisms through which biomass fuel exposure might lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes. Grand Challenges Canada: Rising Stars in Global Health Programme.

Policy Analysis on Clean Cooking in Malawi: Case of Improved Cookstoves

Transition from cooking with traditional biomass to clean cooking is a persistent challenge in Malawi. The underlying technologies in clean cooking are improved cookstove. Improved cook stoves are designed to reduce fuel consumption per meal and to curb smoke emissions experienced in traditional three-stone cookstove. However, promotion adoption and utilisation of clean cooking requires coordinated policy and regulatory framework. This study analysed the Malawi policy regulatory framework on clean cooking by benchmarking with relevant literature. The following policy gaps were identified: (i) the lack of clear cookstove rating by Malawi Bureau of Standards; (ii) uncomplimentary policies and regulations in the energy and forestry sectors on clean cooking fuels and technologies; (iii) the lack of empirical data on adoption and utilisation of clean cooking technologies and fuels in Malawi; (iv) predicaments in adopting and using international standards for testing cookstoves; and (v) the value chain of improved cookstoves and other forms of clean cooking fuels and technologies that is not adequately analysed. Coordinated development and harmonious implementation of clean cooking regulations in the key sectors of energy and forestry can promote adoption and utilisation of clean cooking methods and technologies in Malawi.

Energy, gender and development: the impact of energy efficient cookstoves intervention on the welfare of women in Ethiopia

PurposeThe use of energy efficient cookstoves (EECS) has been promoted for a long and considered as instrumental in the efforts to mitigate the multiple social, economic and environmental consequences of traditional biomass cookstoves. Despite this, the adoption of EECS in pre-urban and rural Ethiopia is still very low. In response to this, the government of Ethiopia, in collaboration with international development organizations, implemented numerous initiatives aimed at improving the availability and use of EECS as part of the effort to support sustainable development. However, very little is known about the impact of the introduced EECS on improving the welfare of women. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to assess the impact of improved cookstoves projects on the welfare of women in Yaya Gullele district, Ethiopia.Design/methodology/approachA mixed research design was adopted to conduct the study. The quantitative data for the study were collected using a structured questionnaire by interviewing 388 randomly selected respondents. The data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential data analysis techniques, including the propensity score matching model using STATA.FindingsResults of the study revealed that adoption of EECS has reduced fuel wood expense (124.65 Ethiopian Birr [ETB]/week), reduced five-year stove expense (404.67 ETB) and increased regular savings (116.58 ETB/month), which contributed for an increased annual income of participants (5,594.42 ETB). The result of the study also indicated that the use of EECS enabled the beneficiary women to reduce the amount of fuel wood use by 29.4 kg/week, which in turn reduced forest degradation and emission by 2.34 tons of CO2e/year/household. Besides, it reduced the drudgery on women in terms of reduced time to cook (53 min/day), reduced time to collect fuelwood and prepare food (3.95 h/week) and reduced frequency of fuelwood collection trips (3.42 trips/week). The study results, in general, indicated that the adoption of EECS improved the welfare of women in the study area, where the majority of women have been suffering from the burden of using traditional stoves and associated impacts for a long.Practical implicationsEnergy is central to most of the development-related challenges and opportunities every country faces today. The result of the study implied that policies and strategies intended at improving the availability and use of EECS as part of the effort to support sustainable development need to consider integrating such context-referenced, locally manageable and affordable EECS into the clean developmental strategies of the country.Originality/valueInsights from this study can support development practitioners and policymakers to make informed decisions regarding future interventions in the use of energy efficient that have the potential to several economic, social and environmental positive development outcomes.

Waste heat regeneration from thermoelectric generator based improved biomass cookstove (TIBC): Modelling of TEG system utilizing DC-DC converter with fuzzy logic MPPT

Most of the people in the rural areas cook their food in traditional biomass cookstove which emits a lot of emission that leads to poor health of the women and children. This paper points out a technology that utilises a thermoelectric generator (TEG), which converts thermal energy into electrical energy directly. A TEG is a small plate made of semiconductor p-n junctions connected electrically in series and thermally in parallel. The difference in temperature produced on the hot side and cold side of the TEG is proportional to the voltage generated. The TEG is integrated into the wall of the inner combustion chamber of the biomass cookstove with the help of heat plate and the cold side of the TEG is connected to a flower-type heat sink to maintain the temperature difference. The power generated by the TEG is used to drive a 12 V DC fan which helps to keep the cold side of the TEG relatively cooler and direct the same air inside the inner combustion chamber of the cook stove through holes to increase the air-to-fuel ratio. As a result, it improves the cookstove's combustion, thereby reducing emissions and increasing thermal efficiency. For testing the efficiency of the TEGs available in the market, a hit and trial method is used by taking TEGs of different specifications and connecting them to a hot side and a cold side test bed and then finally the performance is realized. Therefore, for every different TEG, a hardware has to be made for final conclusion of the result. To eliminate the hit and trial method, the electrical characteristics of thermoelectric generator module has been analysed by modeling a TEG module in MATLAB/Simulink and implementing it with fuzzy logic control (FLC) based MPPT utilizing a DC-DC boost converter with a constant as well as variable load. This fuzzy logic-based scheme exhibits fast dynamic response and precisely tracks the maximum power point (MPP) from TEG under varying load conditions. Based on the robust performance of the obtained simulation results, the TEG module is integrated and tested in the laboratory using a thermoelectric generator based improved biomass cookstove (TIBC). The novelty lies on the concept of using MATLAB/Simulink platform by modeling the FLC based MPPT incorporating boost converter to test the performance of TEG module for its integration with TIBC and eliminating traditional hit and trial method. This TIBC is able to power the fan directly within just 2–3 min using the electricity generated by the TEG module. The maximum power generated from the TIBC is 6.25 W using a single TEG. The fan requires 1.4 W and rest of the power was used to charge auxiliary battery.

Using Cheaper Firewood and Paying Higher Treatment Costs in a Rural Community

Health problem related to respiratory diseases is acute particularly in rural communities where firewood and agricultural residues are used as primary fuel. The use of inefficient traditional cookstoves in poorly ventilated rooms causes high levels of household air pollution, and also contributes to ambient air pollution. Household air pollution causes significant chronic health problems such as Asthma, COPD and Heart diseases, eye pain, head, and back pain as common diseases. This study aims to investigate factor affecting human health by using firewood in inefficient stoves and estimates the associated household health costs. A field survey was administered in 3 municipalities from two districts; Sindhuli and Kavrepalanchowk districts in between the years 2019 and 2020. A survey was carried out among 221 households. To gain deeper insights, we employed a cross-sectional analytical study, utilizing primary data and applying a multiple linear regression model. The findings show that there is a positive and significant relationship between health treatment cost and firewood use. This study recommends that cook stoves programmes should not be seen as only a means to reduce deforestation and time savings, but also need to be seen from health aspects in the rural households.

Energy, Exergy, Emergy, Environment, and Economics Analysis of a Three-pot Cookstove

As per World Bank's collection of development indicators, about 65% of India's population still live in rural regions, where biomass will continue to be the primary source of energy for cooking. Consumers and governments are concerned about the amount of energy used in cooking. Furthermore, the use of biomass fuel in traditional biomass stoves has been associated with human health, with women being more susceptible to exposure to indoor air pollution and health issues during cooking. This study analysed the performance of a three-pot cookstove suitable for a family of 6 persons with respect to its energy, exergy, emergy, environment, and economics. Emergent indicators such as percent renewable (PR), emergent yield ratio (EYR), environmental load ratio (ELR), and environmental sustainability index (ESI) are accustomed to assessing the environmental load and native sustainability of biomass energy. According to Emergy indicators, the production of three-pot cooking system is more sustainable than traditional cookstove systems. Further, the p-value, standard deviation and coefficient of variance derived from the statistical analysis indicate a significant relationship between feedstock size and thermal efficiency of the developed cookstove.

Nepalese indoor cookstove smoke extracts alter human airway epithelial gene expression, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation

Household air pollution caused by inefficient cooking practices causes 4 million deaths a year worldwide. In Nepal, 86% of the rural population use solid fuels for cooking. Over 25% of premature deaths associated with air pollution are respiratory in nature. Here we aimed to identify molecular signatures of different cookstove and fuel type exposures in human airway epithelial cells, to understand the mechanisms mediating cook stove smoke induced lung disease. Primary human airway epithelial cells in submerged culture were exposed to traditional cook stove (TCS), improved cook stove (ICS) and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove smoke extracts. Changes to gene expression, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation were measured by bulk RNA sequencing and HumanMethylationEPIC BeadChip following oxidative bisulphite conversion, respectively. TCS smoke extract alone reproducibly caused changes in the expression of 52 genes enriched for oxidative stress pathways. TCS, ICS and LPG smoke extract exposures were associated with distinct changes to DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation. A subset of TCS induced genes were associated with differentially methylated and/or hydroxymethylated CpGs sites, and enriched for the ferroptosis pathway and the upstream regulator NFE2L2. DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation changes not associated with a concurrent change in gene expression, were linked to biological processes and molecular pathways important to airway health, including neutrophil function, transforming growth factor beta signalling, GTPase activity, and cell junction organisation. Our data identified differential impacts of TCS, ICS and LPG cook stove smoke on the human airway epithelium transcriptome, DNA methylome and hydroxymethylome and provide further insight into the association between indoor air pollution exposure and chronic lung disease mechanisms.

Residential fuel consumption and technology choices: an application of FGNLS and random effects binary logit model

In this study, Ethiopian households’ residential fuel usage and technological preferences are analyzed. For 2524 urban families, we use panel data from two waves of the Ethiopian Socioeconomic Survey (ESS). Households’ technology choices and short-run energy consumption behavior are modeled jointly. To estimate the short-run residential fuel consumption behavior, feasible generalized nonlinear least squares (FGNLS) are iterated. Random effects binary logit models are used to predict technology choice. The effective price elasticity of firewood, charcoal, and electricity was found to be negative and less than unity. The effective price of electricity for baking and cooking has a detrimental and considerable impact on technology choice. The choice of traditional baking oven was positively and significantly affected by effective cost of firewood. Traditional cooking stove was also positively and significantly influenced by effective price of charcoal. Technology choice for baking appliance was significantly affected by the dwelling size, and the type of kitchen. Since decisions to choose electric appliances over those that use charcoal and firewood are heavily influenced by housing-related difficulties, energy prices and efficiency of appliances, policy interventions should include house infrastructure installations and efficiency of appliances.

Acute lower respiratory infections among children under five in Sub-Saharan Africa: a scoping review of prevalence and risk factors

BackgroundAcute lower respiratory tract infections (ALRTIs) among children under five are still the leading cause of mortality among this group of children in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), especially countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This scoping review aims to map evidence on prevalence and risk factors associated with ALRTIs among children under 5 years to inform interventions, policies and future studies.MethodsA thorough search was conducted via four main databases (PubMed, JSTOR, Web of Science and Central). In all, 3,329 records were identified, and 107 full-text studies were considered for evaluation after vigorous screening and removing duplicates, of which 43 were included in this scoping review.FindingsFindings indicate a high prevalence (between 1.9% to 60.2%) of ALRTIs among children under five in SSA. Poor education, poverty, malnutrition, exposure to second-hand smoke, poor ventilation, HIV, traditional cooking stoves, unclean fuel usage, poor sanitation facilities and unclean drinking water make children under five more vulnerable to ALRTIs in SSA. Also, health promotion strategies like health education have doubled the health-seeking behaviours of mothers of children under 5 years against ALRTIs.ConclusionALRTIs among children under five still present a significant disease burden in SSA. Therefore, there is a need for intersectoral collaboration to reduce the burden of ALRTIs among children under five by strengthening poverty alleviation strategies, improving living conditions, optimising child nutrition, and ensuring that all children have access to clean water. There is also the need for high-quality studies where confounding variables in ALRTIs are controlled.

Tembikar Dapur Masak Tradisional (Tuku) di Kampung Mambong, Kelantan: Sejarah, Tradisi Pembuatan dan Cabaran

Kampung Mambong in Kuala Krai, Kelantan was the only place in Peninsular Malaysia that had been involved in the making of traditional earthenware cooking stove. However, its history and manufacturing perspectives have never been studied in detail in prior studies. The present study was conducted to unravel the history, manufacturing tradition and challenges faced by the potters at Kampung Mambong in preserving the production of earthenware cooking stove. This study was carried out using the qualitative method involving ethnography fieldwork and a library survey. The findings of the study showed that the production of traditional earthenware cooking stove or locally known as Tuku was inherited by Che Bunga and her ancestors at Kampung Mambong since the 1850s. Like other potteries at Kampung Mambong, Tuku is made using traditional methods without incorporating modern techniques. In the 1930s, however, the manufacturing of Tuku began to dwindle, and its entire production halted by the end of the 1940s. The lack of experts and interest among the younger generations to learn and continue the making of Tuku are two main reasons why the production diminished in the 1930s and 1940s. Apart from that, the invasion of the Japanese military in Sungai Galas in the early 1940s had indirectly caused the production to cease. Overall, this study has successfully contributed new insights into the history, manufacturing tradition and factors that caused extinction to the production of Tuku at Kampung Mambong in the late 1940s. Therefore, essential proactive steps need to be taken to revive the manufacturing of Tuku because it is one of the unique heritage crafts of the Malay potters in Sungai Galas, Kelantan.

Numerical and experimental study on the performance of a hybrid draft biomass cookstove

Over 2 billion people worldwide rely on biomass for cooking and primarily use traditional cookstoves, causing 4 million casualties annually due to indoor air pollution. This can be minimised by improving the design and combustion characteristics of the stoves. The present study is an attempt to achieve these improvements by investigating numerically (3D) and experimentally the thermal and emission performance of a newly developed hybrid draft biomass cookstove (HDBC). The influence of secondary air mass flow rate on stove performance is analysed. A homogeneous combustion is modelled to evaluate thermal performance, and soot formation is studied using three soot models: one-step, two-step, and mass-brook. The numerical results are validated against Water Boiling Test (WBT) data. The HDBC achieved Tier 3 level in efficiency and Tier 4 level in CO and PM2.5 emission performance, both experimentally and numerically, thus outperforming standard natural draft stoves. The numerical results exhibited fair agreement with the experimental data, with an average deviation of 6%, 9%, and 26% for efficiency, CO, and PM2.5 emissions, respectively, compared to the experimental results. The soot generation predicted by a one-step soot model gives better results over the other two models and is in good agreement with the experimental results.

Impact of Improved Cookstoves on the Level of Household Exposure to CO and PM&amp;lt;sub&amp;gt;2.5&amp;lt;/sub&amp;gt; in Sub-Saharan Cities: The Case of the City of Ouagadougou

Air pollution is one of the major global threats to human health. In Burkina Faso, more than 80% of the population uses solid fuels as the main source of cooking energy. This paper reports a comparative study on the exposure of household to the carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM2.5) emitted by improved cookstoves (ICS) or traditional cookstoves (TCS). A cross-sectional study was conducted in the city of Ouagadougou for 4 months during the rainy season (July to October) in households with an outdoor kitchen. The investigation involved 92 households where air pollutants, such as PM2.5 and CO were measured with Indoor Air Pollution Meters (IAP meter). These measurements were focused on the concentration levels of the pollutants during cooking. The results of this study show high levels of PM2.5 and CO for all type of stoves. Wood stoves led to higher PM2.5 and lower CO emissions than charcoal stoves. ICS reduce emissions of indoor air pollutants compared to TCS. This reduction raised up to 82% for PM2.5 and 37% for CO. The analysis of the data measured with the student test (t-test) shows that there is a statistically significant difference between the average values of the concentrations of the pollutants emitted with the TCS compared to ICS, except for CO emissions measured on multi-pot sizes cookstoves (MM). This study shows that the concentrations of indoor air pollutants are very high regardless of the type of cookstoves used. The CO exposure obtained varies from 119.10 to 362.72 μg/m3 for 15-minute and 10.83 - 55.11 μg/m3 for 1-hour exposure. The exposure in PM2.5 varies from 4762 to 16,257 μg/m3 for 15-minute and 106.63 to 1597 μg/m3 for 1-hour of exposure. It was noted that the CO exposure levels obtained over 15-minute of exposure are 1.36 to 4.15 times higher than the WHO recommendation and 1.8 times higher for an exposure time of one hour. This means that women in charge of cooking have a high risk of exposure to air pollutants.

Assessment of Improved Biomass Cookstove Technologies and Kitchen Characteristics on Indoor Air Quality and Fuel Consumption in Rural Settings of Western, Kenya

Purpose: This study investigated the impact of increased levels of indoor air pollution (IAP) caused due to biomass burning using different technologies in the rural households of Western, Kenya. A comparative assessment of the impact of traditional cookstoves (TCS) and improved cookstoves (ICS) coupled with the characteristics of kitchen was conducted to estimate the PM2.5 and CO concentrations in the micro-environments of kitchen and living area of the households.&#x0D; Methodology: The study incorporated both extensive and intensive real-time indoor air quality (IAQ) monitoring during the two cooking sessions of the day. A multi-stage sampling technique was used in this study and the total target population was 383; where 204 households were selected as the sample size for HH survey and 56 households were selected for indoor air pollution monitoring. Influence of the different types of kitchen characteristics; enclosed, semi-enclosed and open was also comprehensively analyzed to measure its impact on the IAQ. Both UCB-PATS instrument and CO loggers were launched in kitchens for 24 hours. The Kitchen Performance Test (KPT) was applied to demonstrate the effectiveness of stove interventions on household fuel consumption. The pollutant concentrations were reported in terms of 24-h, 1-h peak cooking and long-term time scales. Data was analyzed using Statistical Packages for the Social Sciences (SPSS). Multiple regression analysis was undertaken to evaluate the association between pollutant concentration and kitchen characteristics and to determine a set of variables that best predict the pollutants. Units of analysis included means, standard deviations, minimum values, median values and maximum values and IQR. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficients (r) were used to assess the relationship between mean daily kitchen CO concentrations and kitchen PM2.5 concentrations in order to determine whether all kitchen PM2.5 concentrations were as a result of biomass combustion or there were other microenvironment PM2.5 sources. One-way ANOVA was used to compare the quantified fuel use from different stoves and further multiple tests of mean separation were done according to Tukey’s test of significance at p &lt; 0.05.&#x0D; Findings: The results of the study highlighted that households with improved cookstoves that included the Cheprocket and mud rocket stoves consumed 1.5 kg/day (95% CI: 1.3, 5.8) and 1.3 kg/day (95% CI: 1.2, 5.9) less fuel than households with three-stone stoves respectively. The multiple regression models indicated that well ventilated kitchens (β = 2.556, SE = 1.646, p = .036) using ICS, with cemented floors (β = -.091, SE = .026, p = .001) using Chepkube stove and higher number of windows (β = -4.475, SE = 2.841, p = .031) using Cheprocket stove; (β = -.446, SE = .042, p = .030) using rocket stove; (β = -.045, SE = .010, p = .000) using Chepkube stove were associated with lower kitchen PM2.5 concentrations. The study concludes that usage of ICS coupled with efficient designing of the kitchen can improve the overall IAQ of the household along with immense health benefits.&#x0D; Recommendation: Overall, the study emphasized the need of more user education for improved stoves users for behavioural change to reduce PM and CO kitchen concentrations and exposure.

Current challenges and future prospect of biomass cooking and heating stoves in Asian Countries

The utilization of biomass for cooking and heating is old, occurring from the early stages of human evolution because of its wide and easy availability. In Asia, a majority of the population is dependent on solid biomass for cooking and heating applications. Biomass cookstove produces emissions like carbon monoxide (CO), and particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5 μm (PM2.5) which are dependent on the classifications and characteristics of fuel used in stoves. These emissions trigger many health risks because of the utilization of traditional cookstoves (TCS) which have less thermal efficiency. The literature contains a considerable amount of information on biomass cookstoves; however, it is dispersed particularly in Asian countries. In this principle, this paper gives an overview of available literature on biomass cookstoves for cooking and heating in Asian countries which are involving Bangladesh, China, India, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Laos. This paper covers a detailed discussion on various aspects of biomass cookstoves: history, classification, fuel characteristics, health risks, design criteria, the scenario in selected Asian countries, thermal efficiency and emission comparison, and barriers to dissemination of improved biomass cookstoves (ICS). Learning from the review and comparison made conclude that the ICS has better thermal efficiency, and lesser emissions, as well as health risks but, have some potential barriers to dissemination.

Prevalence and risk factors of cooking-related burn injury among under-five-years old children in a resource-limited setting: a community-based cross-sectional study in Northwest Ethiopia

Cooking-related child burn injury causes a greater health burden in low-and-middle-income countries. Therefore, a community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 5830 under-five-years old children in a resource-limited community in Northwest Ethiopia to determine the prevalence and risk factors of this child health problem. Data were collected by trained nurses using a questionnaire and the logistic regression analysis method was applied to identify factors linked with burn injury. Injury prevalence was 6.2% (95% CI:5.5–6.8); and this burden was linked with several risk factors such as lower literacy status of caretakers [AOR = 2.21 (95% CI:1.05–4.67)], overcrowding [AOR = 2.35(95% CI:1.25–4.43], lack of separate kitchen [AOR =2.19 (95% CI:1.56–3.07)], using traditional cookstove [AOR = 2.04 (95% CI:1.23–3.36)], and lack of child supervision [AOR = 2.27 (95% CI:1.63–3.17)]. In conclusion, children experience a high burden of burn injury. Thus, stakeholders should work to reduce child burn injury by modifying the aforementioned risk factors.