142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

305542
Success of Alcohol Based Cooking Fuels for Reducing Household Air Pollution

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 10:30 AM - 10:50 AM

Megan Graham, MPH , School of Public Health/Center for Healthy Development, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA
Gulce Askin , Project Gaia Inc., Gettysburg, PA
Brady Luceno , Project Gaia Inc., Gettysburg, PA
Background. Over 3 billion people worldwide rely on biomass such as firewood, charcoal, or dung for their cooking needs. The use of biomass fuels emits high levels of carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM) leading to pneumonia, acute lower respiratory infections, COPD, lung cancer, heart disease, and blindness. It is estimated that household air pollution (HAP) causes 3.5 million premature deaths annually. HAP is a top risk factors for ill-health globally and it is crucial to explore new cookstove and fuel interventions that reduce the burden of HAP and improve the health of women and children.

Research: This presentation explores the use of ethanol cooking fuel in Madagascar to reduce exposure to HAP and related illness.  As part of a three year World Bank funded study, two communities in Madagascar (coastal and highland) were provided ethanol cookstoves. Following the intervention, ethanol cookstoves significantly reduced women’s exposure to CO in both regions (75% highland; 54% coastal) and children’s exposure by 60% in the highland location (non-significant reduction by 14% coastal).  Households with ethanol stoves saw a significant reduction of headaches (93%) and eye irritation (72%) among women and a significant reduction in adult burns (74%) and child burns (64%). Modeling future uptake of ethanol stoves and pollutant reduction demonstrated a relative risk reduction for ALRIs among children, COPD among adults, and ischemic heart disease.  The ethanol stove saved an average of 2.5 hours per day of cooking over traditional fuels. No other stove examined saw significant HAP reductions need to improve health.

Conclusion: Alcohol fuels and cookstoves have the potential to significantly reduce HAP and illness that may result from HAP exposure. Additional solutions other than solid fuel cookstoves are needed to make a significant health impact.

Learning Areas:

Conduct evaluation related to programs, research, and other areas of practice
Environmental health sciences
Public health or related public policy
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the impact of household air pollution on the health of women and children worldwide. Demonstrate the opportunities for alcohol based cooking fuels to reduce household air pollution. Identify strategies for sustaining locally produced alcohol fuels

Keyword(s): Air Pollution & Respiratory Health, International Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked with Project Gaia Inc, conducting research on several of their interventions in East Africa. I hold an MPH in Global Health from Emory University and conducted my thesis on household air pollution in Ethiopia. I will be pursuing a doctoral degree in environmental health in the fall.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.