indoor air pollution

Air pollution from biomass fuels in Africa is a significant cause of mortality and morbidity both in adults and children. This paper by D G Fullerton, S Semple, F Kalambo, A Suseno, R Malamba, G Henderson, J G Ayres and S B Gordon describes the nature and quantity of smoke exposure from biomass fuel in Malawian homes.

Summary
Over 2 billion people rely on biomass fuel as their main source of domestic energy. Most of these people live in developing countries such as Malawi, where more than 90% of people cook using biomass fuel (fig 1). Indoor air pollution associated with biomass fuel use is increasingly recognised as a major health concern in the developing world, responsible for an estimated 36% of mortality from respiratory disease as well as contributing to non-respiratory pathology.1 2 3 4 5 Pneumonia is the leading cause of death in children <5 years of age and the risk of pneumonia in young children is increased by exposure to unprocessed solid fuels by a factor of 1.8.6 7 8 There is an urgent need to describe the smoke exposure that results from biomass fuel use in the developing world, and the burden of disease associated with this exposure.

What this paper adds

  • Air pollution levels measured in homes in Malawi are high, with 24 h fine particulate matter (PM) levels exceeding the World Health Organization levels for outdoor air in all homes sampled.
  • There are significant differences between urban and rural homes. Rural homes have higher PM levels and tend to cook with wood while urban homes have high carbon monoxide concentrations and use charcoal.
  • The burden of disease in Malawi that occurs as a result of these exposures is likely to be high and requires both intervention and further study.
  • Understanding the concentrations and determinants of exposure to combustion-derived pollution in homes that use biomass fuels is necessary to design, implement and evaluate prevention policies.

The aim of this work was to describe and quantify the concentrations of a variety of markers of indoor air pollution from biomass fuel in Malawian homes. Four different types of air sampling device were compared in order to assess their suitability for this environment and to help develop appropriate methodology for future exposure assessment work that may be useful in the evaluation of intervention programmes.

Read the full paper here