Effects of biomass burning on pulmonary functions in tribal women in northeastern India

Exploring the links between indoor air pollutants and health outcomes in South Asian countries: a systematic review

Indoor air pollution (IAP) has adverse effects on the health of people, globally. The objective of this systematic review was to present the range of health problems studied in association with indoor air pollutants in South Asian countries. We searched five databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and CAB Direct for articles published between the years 2000 and 2020. We retrieved 5,810 articles, out of which we included 90 articles in our review. Among South Asian countries, only five countries have published results related to relationship between indoor air pollutants and adverse health conditions. All studies have shown adversity of indoor air pollutants on human's health. We found indoor solid fuel burning as a key source of indoor air pollution in the included studies, while women and children were most affected by their exposure to solid fuel burning. More than half of the studies accounted particulate matter responsible for indoor air pollution bearing negative health effects. In the included studies, eyes and lungs were the most commonly affected body organs, exhibiting common symptoms like cough, breathing difficulty and wheezing. This might have developed into common conditions like respiratory tract infection, chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases and eye cataract. In addition to promote research in South Asian countries, future research should focus on novel digital ways of capturing effects of indoor air pollutants among vulnerable segments of the population. As a result of this new knowledge, public health agencies should develop and test interventions to reduce people's exposure levels and prevent them to develop adverse health outcomes.

Biomass using tribal women exhibited respiratory symptoms, hypertensive risks and abnormal pulmonary function

In rural areas of developing countries, solid fuels are still widely used for cooking, heating, and lighting purposes. This study investigates the effects of household air pollutants (HAPs) exposure on the occurrence of respiratory symptoms, blood pressure, and lung function. In this study, we randomly selected 123 (83 biomass and 40 clean fuel user) subjects to assess the impact of smoke generated from solid biomass fuel by assessing their health status along with the ventilation pattern of the kitchens and living rooms. HAPs (PM10, PM2.5, and CO) and different health parameters were measured along with monitoring of self-reported health symptoms for a consecutive period of eight months. Results revealed that the concentration of CO, PM2.5, and PM10 were found highest in biomass using households. Higher odds of the upper respiratory symptoms, runny nose (OR: 4.08, 95% CI: 1.22-22.14, p < 0.03), nasal congestion (OR: 9.07, 95% CI: 1.39-97.89, p < 0.01) and the odds of the lower respiratory symptoms like wheezing (OR: 1.62, 95% CI: 1.23-10.94, p < 0.01), breathlessness (OR: 4.44, 95% CI: 1.3-14.75, p < 0.01), chest tightness (OR: 4.89, 95% CI: 1.23-22.14, p < 0.03) and dry cough (OR: 3.661, 95% CI: 1.05-12.25, p < 0.04) were significantly higher in biomass fuel user. Similarly higher systolic (+11.41 mmHg), higher diastolic pressure (+3.3 mmHg), higher pulse pressure (+8.11 mmHg), and a 6 mmHg higher mean arterial pressure among biomass fuel using tribal women. The risk of hypertension was significantly (p < 0.03) higher (OR: 3.04; 95% CI: 1.18-7.89) among solid biomass fuel users. The lung abnormality was recorded 28.91% (OR: 5.02, 95% CI: 1.50 to 16.56, p < 0.01) among biomass fuel user. Finally, it is suggested that the use of efficient cookstoves, increase in cross ventilation, and cleaner fuel are urgently needed to curb the pollution load.

Assessment of household air pollution exposure of tribal women

There is a growing evidence that the burning of unprocessed biomass fuels is associated with adverse health impacts. This study estimated the gaseous pollutants (CO, CO₂, O_3, SO₂, and NO₂) and particulate matters (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) during the burning of biomass and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) fuels and their impacts on the health of tribal women. The results revealed that the tribal women mainly used six types of unprocessed biomass fuels (dry leaves, cow dung cake, dry woods, twigs, rice straw, and agricultural residues) along with five types of traditional earthen stoves. The concentration of gaseous and PM was recorded as in the order of CO₂ > SO₂ > CO > O₃ and total suspended particulate matter (TSPM) > PM₁₀ > PM_2.5, respectively. The pollutant concentration inside the kitchen room for biomass users was significantly (p < 0.001) higher than LPG users. The biomass using tribal women might be suffering from higher cardiovascular risk than LPG users. The lung function study results also indicated that the mean values of forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC), and FEV₁/FVC were lower among biomass users than LPG users. The correlation study shows that tribal women who were exposed to biomass smoke were in a more vulnerable position than those who used LPG. Moreover, the toxicological risk among tribal biomass users was observed high (3.52) compared to LPG users (0.39). On the other hand, the Monte Carlo probabilistic simulation model for uncertainty analysis revealed that the mean value of Hazard Quotient (HQ) for PM_2.5 in kitchen room was observed as 4.31E-00 and 9.40E-01 for biomass and LPG users, respectively. Modelling study also revealed that exposure of duration and cooking time are extremely important for toxicological risk assessment. However, further long-term comprehensive studies are extremely important.

A comparative analysis of biomass and clean fuel exposure on pulmonary function during cooking among rural women in Tamilnadu, India

It is of interest to document data on the comparative analysis of biomass and clean fuel exposure on pulmonary function during cooking among rural women. The study consisted of 100 biomass and 100 LPG fuel using women with no smoking habits and other related illness Parameters such as FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEFR, FEF25-75%were obtained using the computerized spirometry to assess the pulmonary function in these subjects. The collected data were analyzed using the Student t-test method and Pearson correlation. The exposure index for biomass fuel users is 69.78±27.25 showing high exposure duration during cooking. The parameters for pulmonary functions significantly declined in FVC (42.34±13.6), FEV1 (45.55±15.98), PEFR (34.11±14.78) and FEF25-75% (45.56±23.00) for biomass fuel user. However, this is not true for FEV1/FVC ratio (107.56±16.9). The increase in PFT suggests the restrictive and obstructive patterns of pulmonary diseases. There was a negative correlation between increased duration of cooking and the value of FEV1/FVC (r = -0.2961), FEF25-75% (r = -0.3519) and PEFR (r = -0.2868). Thus, the deformation of pulmonary function due to extended exposure of biomass fuel for cooking women in rural Tamilnadu is shown using parameter features such as high exposure index, overcrowded area and improper ventilated houses.