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Can Currently Available Advanced Combustion Biomass Cook-Stoves Provide Health Relevant Exposure Reductions? Results from Initial Assessment of Select Commercial Models in India

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Abstract

Household air pollution from use of solid fuels is a major contributor to the national burden of disease in India. Currently available models of advanced combustion biomass cook-stoves (ACS) report significantly higher efficiencies and lower emissions in the laboratory when compared to traditional cook-stoves, but relatively little is known about household level exposure reductions, achieved under routine conditions of use. We report results from initial field assessments of six commercial ACS models from the states of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh in India. We monitored 72 households (divided into six arms to each receive an ACS model) for 24-h kitchen area concentrations of PM2.5 and CO before and (1–6 months) after installation of the new stove together with detailed information on fixed and time-varying household characteristics. Detailed surveys collected information on user perceptions regarding acceptability for routine use. While the median percent reductions in 24-h PM2.5 and CO concentrations ranged from 2 to 71% and 10–66%, respectively, concentrations consistently exceeded WHO air quality guideline values across all models raising questions regarding the health relevance of such reductions. Most models were perceived to be sub-optimally designed for routine use often resulting in inappropriate and inadequate levels of use. Household concentration reductions also run the risk of being compromised by high ambient backgrounds from community level solid–fuel use and contributions from surrounding fossil fuel sources. Results indicate that achieving health relevant exposure reductions in solid–fuel using households will require integration of emissions reductions with ease of use and adoption at community scale, in cook-stove technologies. Imminent efforts are also needed to accelerate the progress towards cleaner fuels.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the financial support provided by the United Nations Environment Program. We thank Harish Anchan(Envirofit Technologies) and Moushine Serrar(Prakti Leo Ltd.) for many useful discussions and for the technical support provided during the conduct of field monitoring. We gratefully express our thanks to the families of participating households, who provided their homes for the study with extra-ordinary grace.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. World Health Organisation Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra University, No.1, Ramachandra Nagar, Porur, Chennai, 600116, India

    Sankar Sambandam, Kalpana Balakrishnan, Santu Ghosh, Arulselvan Sadasivam, Satish Madhav, Rengaraj Ramasamy, Maitreya Samanta & Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay

  2. The Energy Resources Institute, New Delhi, India

    Hafeez Rehman

  3. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA

    Veerabhadran Ramanathan

Authors
  1. Sankar Sambandam
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  2. Kalpana Balakrishnan
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  3. Santu Ghosh
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  4. Arulselvan Sadasivam
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  5. Satish Madhav
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  6. Rengaraj Ramasamy
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  7. Maitreya Samanta
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  8. Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay
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  9. Hafeez Rehman
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  10. Veerabhadran Ramanathan
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Correspondence to Kalpana Balakrishnan.

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Sambandam, S., Balakrishnan, K., Ghosh, S. et al. Can Currently Available Advanced Combustion Biomass Cook-Stoves Provide Health Relevant Exposure Reductions? Results from Initial Assessment of Select Commercial Models in India. EcoHealth 12, 25–41 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0976-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10393-014-0976-1

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