Honduras – Health impacts of improved cookstoves

Int J Environ Health Res. 2009 Jul 2:1-12.

Impact of improved cookstoves on indoor air pollution and adverse health effects among Honduran women.

Clark ML, Peel JL, Burch JB, Nelson TL, Robinson MM, Conway S, Bachand AM, Reynolds SJ.

Environmental & Radiological Health Sciences, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA.

Elevated indoor air pollution levels due to the burning of biomass in developing countries are well established. Few studies have quantitatively assessed air pollution levels of improved cookstoves and examined these measures in relation to health effects. We conducted a cross-sectional survey among 79 Honduran women
cooking with traditional or improved cookstoves. Carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter (PM(2.5)) levels were assessed via indoor and personal monitoring. Pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms were ascertained. Finger-stick blood spot samples were collected to measure C-reactive protein (CRP) concentrations. The use of improved stoves was associated with 63% lower levels of personal PM(2.5), 73% lower levels of indoor PM(2.5), and 87% lower levels of indoor carbon monoxide as compared to traditional stoves. Women using traditional stoves reported symptoms more frequently than those using improved stoves. There was no evidence of associations between cookstove type or air quality measures with lung function or CRP.

Kenya – Want an extra $250 a year? Adopt fuel-efficient stoves

Want an extra $250 a year? Adopt fuel-efficient stoves

The carbon credit trade — a by-product of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change — is gaining credibility in the developing world, by using the double-pronged approach of making money for rural communities while at the same time conserving the environment.

For instance, Carbon Manna Africa, a Kenyan-registered company is working on reducing greenhouse gases by promoting the use of fuel-efficient stoves that use less firewood, thereby reducing the amount of trees felled by rural communities.

The stoves cost $5 for the families that can afford them, and $2 for families getting them at subsidised rate.

The households that adopt the stoves can earn up to $250 per year. On joining the Carbon Manna project, a household is supplied with a special stove and is required to own a mobile phone to which profits from the carbon credit will be transferred.

Project officials keep records of all stove users and make sure that the household uses only the required firewood as fuel, to minimise deforestation.

Carbon Manna Africa chief executive officer Geoffrey Kiringa said that a household of between four and six people emits about 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere per year, and the traditional use of firewood by the majority of Kenyans in the rural areas is the main culprit.

Carbon Manna is currently running a pilot project in Mbeere district.

“We are currently carrying out a survey to establish the domestic fuel used in households in the region and the amount used annually.

“Rural communities might not understand the complexities of global warming, but they have seen rivers drying up and experience water scarcity,” he said.

According to the UN, Kenya could earn millions of dollars for reducing its deforestation rate through a carbon trading mechanism.

The global carbon market currently stands at $140 billion.

Mr Kiringa said that the project will benefit households financially, while also reducing nationwide rates of deforestation and desertification.

Source, July 27, 2009 – http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/news/-/2558/629584/-/r1ooaez/-/