Title
Exposure to Household Air Pollution from Biomass Cookstoves and Self-Reported Symptoms among Women in Rural Honduras
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-13-2019
Department 1
Health Sciences
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 (PM2.5) 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 PM2.5 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.
DOI
10.1080/09603123.2019.1579304
Recommended Citation
Walker, E.S., Clark, M.L., Young, B.N., Rajkumar, S., Benka-Coker, M.L., Bachand, A.M., Brook, R.D., et al. (2019). Exposure to household air pollution from biomass cookstoves and self-reported symptoms among women in rural Honduras. International Journal of Environmental Health Research 20(2). 160-173.
Required Publisher's Statement
This article is available on the publisher's website: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09603123.2019.1579304?journalCode=cije20