Lung Function Impairment Among Women Cooking with Biomass Fuels Compared to LPG Fuel in Rural Tamil Nadu

Durairaj Natesan¹, Vidhya Venugopal¹, Maheshkumar kuppusamy², P.Saiprasad³ and A.Subhashini⁴

¹Department of Environmental Health Engineering,  Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

²Government Yoga and Naturopathy Medical College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

³Tamilnadu Pollution control Board, Chennai, Tamilnadu, india.

⁴Department of Physiology, Sri Ramachandra Institute for Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Chennai, Tamilnadu, India.

Corresponding Author E-mail:durai@ehe.org.in

Abstract: Background: Women in developing countries are exposed to household air pollution from traditional cook a stove, which causes a huge burden of morbidity. This study aims to examine the impact of cooking fuel use on lung function changes among women in rural Tamil Nadu, India. Methods: Between 2012 and 2014, 565 adult women (237 using solid biomass fuel and 328 using clean fuel for cooking) participated in this cross-sectional study. Basic demographic and socioeconomic characteristics and exposure related information such as fuel type, kitchen type, type of house, and other potential sources of particulates inside the house, such as cigarettes; incense, and mosquito coils, were collected using questionnaires. A pulmonary function test assessment was done for all participants using a KOKO spirometer following the standard protocols. Results: Pulmonary function was significantly (p < 0.05) lower in rural women using biomass fuel for cooking.  Women in the biomass group had FVC 2.45 (0.58), FEV1 1.99 (0.49), and PEFR 5.31 (1.54), while women in the LPG group had FVC 2.63 (0.48), FEV1 2.19 (0.42), and PEFR 5.81 (1.38). Conclusion: This cross-sectional study found that the reduction in the pulmonary function parameters was considerably higher among women using biomass for cooking compared to women using liquefied petroleum gas for cooking in rural Tamil Nadu. Objective measurements by spirometry from this study can help physicians and health policy makers develop measures for better prevention and management of respiratory diseases among rural women in Tamil Nadu, southern India.

Keywords: Biomass; Cooking fuel; pulmonary function; rural Tamil Nadu

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