Household energy choice for domestic cooking: distribution and factors influencing cooking fuel preference in Ouagadougou

Review of scientific research on air quality and environmental health risk and impact for PICTS

Air quality (AQ) significantly impacts human health, influenced by both natural phenomena and human activities. In 2021, heightened awareness of AQ's health impacts prompted the revision of the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, advocating for stricter pollution standards. However, research on AQ has predominantly focused on high-income countries and densely populated cities, neglecting low- and middle-income countries, particularly Pacific Island Countries, Territories, and States (PICTS). This systematic review compiles existing peer-reviewed literature on AQ research in PICTS to assess the current state of knowledge and emphasize the need for further investigation. A systematic literature search yielded 40 papers from databases including Web of Science, Scopus, and Embase. Among the 26 PICTS, only 6 (Hawai'i, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Republic of Marshall Islands, and Pacific) have been subject to AQ-related research, with 4 considering the World Health Organization (WHO) parameters and 26 addressing non-WHO parameters. Analysis reveals AQ parameters often exceed 2021 WHO guidelines for PM2.5, PM10, SO2, and CO, raising concerns among regional governments. Studies primarily focused on urban, agricultural, rural, and open ocean areas, with 15 based on primary data and 14 on both primary and secondary sources. Research interests and funding sources dictated the methods used, with a predominant focus on environmental risks over social, economic, and technological impacts. Although some papers addressed health implications, further efforts are needed in this area. This review underscores the urgent need for ongoing AQ monitoring efforts in PICTS to generate spatially and temporally comparable data. By presenting the current state of AQ knowledge, this work lays the foundation for coordinated regional monitoring and informs national policy development.

Household unclean fuel use, indoor pollution and self-rated health: risk assessment of environmental pollution caused by energy poverty from a public health perspective

The lack of access to clean energy remains one of the major challenges in the global energy sector. Access to clean, sustainable and affordable energy, outlined in the seventh Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7) of the United Nations, plays a crucial role in advancing health (SDG 3), as unclean cooking energy may endanger people's health by causing air pollution. However, due to endogeneity problems such as reverse causality, the health consequences of environmental pollution caused by unclean fuel usage are difficult to be scientifically and accurately evaluated. This paper aims to systematically assess the health cost of unclean fuel usage based on tackling endogeneity, using the data from Chinese General Social Survey. The ordinary least squares model, ordered regression methods, instrumental variable approach, penalized machine learning methods, placebo test, and mediation models are applied in this research. Analytical results demonstrate that households' unclean fuel use significantly damages people's health. Specifically, the use of dirty fuel leads to an average of about a one-standard-deviation decline in self-rated health, demonstrating its notable negative effect. The findings are robust to a series of robustness and endogeneity tests. The impact mechanism is that unclean fuel usage reduces people's self-rated health through increasing indoor pollution. Meanwhile, the negative effect of dirty fuel use on health has significant heterogeneity among different subgroups. The consequences are more prominent for the vulnerable groups who are female, younger, living in rural areas and older buildings, with lower socio-economic status and uncovered by social security. Therefore, necessary measures should be taken to improve energy infrastructure to make clean cooking energy more affordable and accessible as well as to enhance people's health. Besides, more attention should be paid to the energy needs of the above specific vulnerable groups faced with energy poverty.

Spatial variation and determinants of solid fuel use in Ethiopia; Mixed effect and spatial analysis using 2019 Ethiopia Mini Demographic and Health Survey dataset

BACKGROUND

According to UNSD, World Bank, and WHO, a 2020 joint report, 3 billion people who used solid fuel were found in low and middle-income countries. The burning of such type of fuel emits a variety of pollutants such as PM2.5, PM10, CO, NO2, organic compounds, and other substances which a had wide range of public health problems The evidence from the WHO report, indoor air pollution was attributed to around 3.2 million deaths each year in 2020, and more than 237 000 deaths of children under the age of five. This study aims to investigate solid fuel prevalence, predictors, and spatial variation in Ethiopia.

METHOD

This study was conducted in Ethiopia based on the fifth Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys 2019 dataset. 8,663 households were successfully interviewed at a response rate of 99%. Weighted by sampling weight was done to do a reliable statistical analysis. Fuel type was used as the outcome variable whereas sex of household head (male or female), wealth index (poor, middle, and rich), educational status (no education, primary, secondary, higher), having television and radio, a separate room used as a kitchen, were individual predictor variables and community level education(lower/higher), residence(urban/rural), community level media exposure (exposed/unexposed), region (pastoralist, semi-pastoralist, Agrarian, and City administration) were community level variables. All the above analyses were conducted using Excel Microsoft 2016, STATA 14, ArcGIS 10.7, and SaTScan 10.1 software.

RESULTS

The majority (72.62%) of household heads were males. The overall national level of solid fuel use was 87.13% (95% CI (86.4%-87.82%)). From this 87.13% of solid fuel use, 18.60% accounts for urban and 68.53% for rural parts of the country. Educational status, having television, accessing electricity, and wealth index were individual-level variables community-level education, type of residence, and region were community-level variables significantly associated factors towards solid fuel use in our study. Global (z-score = 33.109144, P-value <0.0001), local (hot spot, cluster, and outlier), and Spatial Scan statistical analyses revealed that there was a major geographical variation in solid fuel use across Ethiopia.

CONCLUSION

Based on this finding, the prevalence of solid fuel use was higher in Ethiopia. Educational status, having television, accessing electricity, and wealth index were individual-level variables and community-level education, type of residence, and region were community-level variables statistically significant factors in determining fuel choice for cooking. There was significant spatial variation in the prevalence of solid-fuel use across the country. In order to addressing such heavily dependent on solid fuel use, responsible bodies like health policy makers, national and international organizations, and public health researchers should work on showing health problems of solid fuel use and the means of increasing clean fuel use. Substantial policy modifications are desirable to reach access to clean fuels and technologies (SDG 7.1.2) by 2030 to address health inequities.

Spatial variation and factors associated of solid fuel use in Ethiopia a multilevel and spatial analysis based on EDHS 2016

Cooking and heating using solid fuels, such as dung, wood, agricultural residues, grass, straw, charcoal, and coal, is a main source of household air pollution. This indoor combustion encompasses a diversity of health detrimental pollutants, especially for people from low-income countries like Ethiopia since solid fuels are accessible easily at a lesser cost. Limited studies done showing factors affecting in choosing fuel type and no study, which revealed spatial heterogeneity of solid fuel used based on such nationally representative data. Therefore, this study, aimed at investigating spatial variation and determinants of solid fuel use in Ethiopia. This study was done using the data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2016, a national representative sample (16,650) households were included. Spatial and Multi-level logistic regression analysis was done by considering the DHS data hierarchal nature. Variables in the final model with a p-value < 0.05 were reported as significant predictors of using solid fuel. All analyses were done using ArcGIS V.10.7.1 and STATA V.14 software. The finding of this study revealed that 90.8% (95% CI (87.9%, 91.2%)) of households depend on solid fuel for cooking. Based on the final model ;Male household head (AOR 1.38, 95% CI (1.12-1.71)), age of household head (AOR 1.61, 95% CI (1.20, 2.17)), and 1.49 (OR 1.49, 95% CI (1.12, 1.99)) respectively for the age classes of < 30, and 30-40, education attainment no education (OR 3.14, 95% CI (1.13, 8.71)) and primary education (AOR 2.16, 95% CI (2.78, 5.96), wealth index Poorest (AOR 11.05, 95% CI (5.68, 15.78)), Poorer (OR 5.19, 95% CI (5.43, 13.19)), Middle (OR 3.08, 95% CI (2.44, 8.73)), and Richer (OR 1.30, 95IC (1.07, 13.49)) compared to richest, and not accessibility of electricity (AOR 31.21, 95% CI (35.41, 42.67)), were individual-level factors significantly associated with using solid fuel. Community-level factors like households found at large city (AOR 2.80, 95CI (1.65, 4.77)), small city (AOR 2.58, 95% CI (1.55, 4.32)) town (AOR 4.02, 95% CI (2.46, 6.55)), and countryside (AOR 14.40, 95% CI (6.23, 21.15)) compared households found in capital city, community level media exposure (AOR 6.00, 95% CI (4.61, 7.82)) were statistically predictors in using solid fuel for cooking. This finding revealed that a large proportion of households in Ethiopia heavily depend on biomass, especially wood, for cooking. There was a greater disparity on solid fuel use for cooking in Ethiopia. Implementing major policy interventions should be introduced to reduce solid fuel use for cooking and inequalities in accessing clean fuel in Ethiopia.

Dirty versus clean fuel for cooking in Pakistan: regional mapping and correlates

Based on the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2017-18 data, the study intends to present the relative status of a particular fuel (type) in terms of its level of use in different regions of Pakistan. At the same time, the study investigates the determinants of the household type of fuel used for cooking in Pakistan. Socioeconomic characteristics of the households and household heads are taken as determinants of the main type of fuel (clean or dirty) used for cooking by the households. Binary logistic regression is applied as an estimation technique. Over the country, wood stands first as the most widely used type of fuel followed by natural gas followed by LPG. Animal dung and charcoal are respectively ranked as the fourth and fifth most commonly used types of fuel for cooking by households in Pakistan. In comparison amongst the four provinces of Pakistan, the use of wood as well as charcoal as the fuel type for cooking (in relative terms) is the most common in Balochistan province. Likewise, Punjab province is the most frequent user of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), crop residues, and animal dung, while Sindh province is the most frequent user of natural gas. Households possessing agricultural land and livestock and with large household sizes had more probability to use dirty sources of fuel for cooking. Households with better wealth status and residing in urban areas were more likely to use clean sources of fuel for cooking. Household head's higher educational status and male-gender had more likelihood to use clean sources of fuel for cooking.

Association between household air pollution and all-cause and cause-specific mortality: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Recently, a growing number of epidemiological studies have examined the relationship between household air pollution (HAP) and all-cause and cause-specific mortality. While the results were not entirely consistent, the current study followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol to conduct a comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Data sources were PubMed, Web of Science, Embase, and Cochrane Library for studies published up to 12 May 2022. The pooled relative risks (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to estimate the effect of household air pollution on all-cause and cause-special mortality. Then I square value (I²) was used to assess heterogeneity, and random-effects model was used as the pooling method. Seventeen studies were included in the quantitative analysis. Our results showed a significant association between household air pollution and increased risks of all-cause mortality (RR = 1.12, 95% CI = 1.06-1.19) and cardiovascular disease mortality (RR = 1.13, 95% CI = 1.04-1.24). Similarly, the associations between household air pollution and mortality from other specific causes (respiratory, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and total cancer) were positive, although they were not statistically significant. The study suggests that exposure to household air pollution increases the risk of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular disease mortality. In addition, our results found a trend of increased mortality from the respiratory system, ischemic heart disease, stroke, and total cancer, with household air pollution.

Household level of air pollution and its impact on the occurrence of Acute Respiratory Illness among children under five: secondary analysis of Demographic and Health Survey in West Africa

BACKGROUND

One out of ten deaths of children under five are attributable to indoor air pollution. And Acute Respiratory Illness (ARI) is among the direct causes.

OBJECTIVE

This study showed the possibilities of characterizing indoor air pollution in West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) area and it also made it possible to estimate its impact on the occurrence of ARI in children under five.

METHODS

It has been a secondary analysis based on Demographic and Health Surveys (DHSs) from WAEMU countries' data.. "Household level of air pollution" is the created composite variable, from questions on the degradation factors of indoor air quality (domestic combustion processes) which served to characterize indoor air pollution and to measure its impact by a logistic regression.

RESULTS

Burkina Faso stands out with a greater number of households with a high level of pollution (63.7%) followed by Benin (43.7%) then Togo (43.0%). The main exposure factor "Household level of air pollution" was associated with ARI symptoms (Togo: prevalence = 51.3%; chi-squared test's p-value < 0.001). Exposure to high level of pollution constitutes a risk (AOR [95 CI]), even though it is not significant ( Ivory Coast: 1.29 [0.72-2.30], Senegal: 1.39 [0.94-2.05] and Togo: 1.15 [0.67-1.95]) and this could be explained by the high infectious etiology of the ARI.

Solid fuel use and cardiovascular events: A systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies

Although solid fuel use has been increasingly linked to cardiovascular events (CVEs), conclusions have been inconsistent. We systematically searched 3 databases (PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science) up to July 3, 2020, to identify English language reports that assessed the association of solid fuel use with CVEs. Summary relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated with a random-effects model. Subgroup analyses and sensitivity analyses were conducted to explore the potential sources of heterogeneity and to test the stability of the results. We finally included 13 observational studies (8 cohort, 3 cross-sectional, and 2 case-control studies comprising 791,220 participants) in the meta-analysis. The risk of CVEs was increased 21% with the highest versus the lowest solid fuel use (highest/lowest, RR_pooled  = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.10-1.34). As for the subgroup analyses on study design, the pooled RR for cohort studies, case-control studies, and cross-sectional studies were 1.11 (95%CI: 1.03-1.19), 4.80 (95%CI: 2.22-10.39), and 1.46 (95%CI: 0.82-2.62), respectively. The results of this study suggested that high solid fuel use was associated with increased CVE risk, and that reducing the use of solid fuel will be important for improving the health of the populations in developing countries.

Energy choice in rural household cooking and heating: influencing factors and transformation patterns

In China, the traditional biomass, coal, and other highly polluting energy sources used by rural households have had many negative effects on the environment and the health of residents. To explore the influencing factors of energy consumption choices in rural household cooking and heating in China and to promote more modern, efficient, and clean energy consumption modes for rural household cooking and heating, this article builds a multinomial logit model for theoretical analysis based on interview and survey data in rural areas of central and eastern China from January to February 2017. The results show that (1) biomass energy still occupies an important position in the life of Chinese rural households; (2) the driving factors for the cooking and heating energy choices of rural residents in central and eastern China include the number of appliances, family type, family members' leisure, heating demand, and natural endowment; and (3) because of the above main influencing factors, some policies that conform to the background of the times, such as household appliances upgrade policies and centralized housing policies, are worthy of government consideration.