Exposure to household air pollution from biomass cookstoves and self-reported symptoms among women in rural Honduras

ABSTRACT

Household air pollution from combustion of solid fuels is an important risk factor for morbidity and mortality, causing an estimated 2.6 million premature deaths globally in 2016. Self-reported health symptoms are a meaningful measure of quality of life, however, few studies have evaluated symptoms and quantitative measures of exposure to household air pollution. We assessed the cross-sectional association of self-reported symptoms and exposures to household air pollution among women in rural Honduras using stove type (traditional [n = 76]; cleaner-burning Justa [n = 74]) and 24-hour average personal and kitchen fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) concentrations. The odds of prevalent symptoms were higher among women using traditional stoves vs Justa stoves (e.g. headache: odds ratio = 2.23; 95% confidence interval = 1.13–4.39). Associations between symptoms and measured PM_2.5 were generally consistent with the null. These results add to the evidence suggesting reduced exposures and better health-related quality of life among women using cleaner-burning biomass stoves.

KEYWORDS:

• Particulate matter
• health
• respiratory

Acknowledgments

We thank Jonathan Stack and Gloribel Bautista Cuellar for their excellent contributions to the data collection. We are grateful to our community leaders for helping guide us during this project.

Declaration of interest statement

In accordance with Taylor & Francis policy and my ethical obligation as a researcher, I am reporting that two of the authors, Sebastian Africano of Trees, Water & People (TWP), and Anibal Benjamin Osorto of Asociación Hondureña para el Desarrollo (AHDESA), are members of the implementing non-governmental organizations that deploy the cookstove technology studied in this paper. Results of research like this are often shown as evidence of the effectiveness of this particular cookstove technology in TWP and AHDESA publications, including blogs, articles, and grant proposals, which may lead to future funding of these initiatives by individual and/or institutional supporters of the respective organizations. I have disclosed those interests fully to Taylor & Francis, and have in place an approved plan for managing any potential conflicts arising from this arrangement.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under grant number R21ES022810. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.