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Influence of indoor volatile organic compounds and its relative respiratory effects among children living in rural biomass cooking households of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh

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Abstract

Purpose

Exposures to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) cause respiratory symptoms among children, a known vulnerable group. Reports on exposures to VOCs and respiratory symptoms among South Indian children living in biomass-using households are not available thus far.

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted among 313 rural children to assess the influence of emitted VOCs on their respiratory health. Standard analytical procedures for VOCs and Pulmonary Function Test (PFT), allied questionnaires, and all ethical considerations were fulfilled in the study.

Results

The increase in VOC concentrations was observed proportional to the amount of burnt biomass fuel in two selected sites in Tamil Nadu (TN) and Andhra Pradesh (AP). Houses cooked for more than 60 min showed a remarkable increase in VOC concentrations and was observed as statistically significant (p < 0.01) in AP households. Among the younger children, the peak expiratory flow rate (PEFR) values were found significantly higher than comparatively older children in both the sites, TN and AP. However, the trend with respect to FEV1 is statistically significant (p < 0.01) among AP children.

Conclusions

This study reports reduced lung function for a considerable proportion of the VOC-exposed selected children. Based on PFT, the children who were interpreted to be normal were found to be exposed to lesser indoor TVOC concentrations in comparison with the children of the households having restrictive or obstructive impairments. Diagnostic ratios with Benzene/Toluene (B/T) and Xylene/Ethyl benzene (X/E) confirmed the presence of VOCs-emissions from adjacent cooking fuels only. The observed results of this study recommends cleaner cooking fuel-use for better respiratory health among the citizens across the country, which in turn, in line with the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana (PMUY), Government of India.

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Data availability

I would like to offer my consent to the fact that the data generated and analyzed for this study can be available only after publication by maintaining the protocols of the publishing agency.

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Acknowledgements

Authors cordially acknowledge Dr. Kalpana Balakrishnan, Professor and Dean (Research), Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Chennai for inspiring and cooperating with my research study throughout. We do acknowledge Dr. S. Sankar, Professor and Head, Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra Faculty of Public Health, SRIHER, Chennai for providing instrumental and technical supports throughout the study. We hereby thank M/s, ITC Laboratory, Perungudi Chennai for their support and cooperation on VOCs extraction and analysis.

Funding

This is hereby declared that this study is self-funded.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Faculty of Public Health, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Porur, Chennai, 600 116, India

    Srinivasan Natarajan, Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay, Amudha Natarajan & Deep Chakraborty

  2. Department of Pulmonology, Chest Medicine, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (DU), Porur, Chennai, 600 116, India

    Dhanasekaran Thangaswamy

Authors
  1. Srinivasan Natarajan
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  2. Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay
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  3. Dhanasekaran Thangaswamy
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  4. Amudha Natarajan
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  5. Deep Chakraborty
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Contributions

SN, AN and DC conducted field work, monitoring, analysis, article drafting, and modifications as and when required; KM helped in sampling strategy, supervision, and manuscript editing; and DT contributed in supervision and strategy of the study, especially on PFT measures and reporting.

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Correspondence to Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay.

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I hereby declare the fact that this manuscript entitled ‘Influence of indoor volatile organic compounds and its relative respiratory symptoms among children living in rural biomass cooking households of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh’ is original and has not communicated simultaneously to any other journals at this time.

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Before conducting the study, required informed consent were obtained from the guardians of the participants followed by the approval of the institutional committee.

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Natarajan, S., Mukhopadhyay, K., Thangaswamy, D. et al. Influence of indoor volatile organic compounds and its relative respiratory effects among children living in rural biomass cooking households of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 96, 1183–1201 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-023-01998-1

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