New WHO report on SLCPs | Lighting transition | HAP and child mortality in Bangladesh | Carbon monoxide studies
Dan Campbell
Below are 1 or 2 sentence excerpts from the six latest posts to IAP Updates,
http://blogs.washplus.org/iaqupdates.
Reducing global health risks through mitigation of short-lived climate pollutants: Scoping report for policymakers, 2015. World Health Organization.
Author: Noah Scovronick
This WHO report highlights the urgent need to reduce emissions of black carbon, ozone and methane – as well as carbon dioxide – which all contribute to climate change. Black carbon, ozone and methane – frequently described as short-lived climate pollutants (SLCPs) – not only produce a strong global warming effect, they contribute significantly to the more than 7 million premature deaths annually linked to air pollution.
-----------------------------------------------------------The Lighting Transition in Africa: From Kerosene to LED and the Emerging Dry-Cell Battery Problem, 2015.
Authors: Gunther Bensch, Jörg Peters, Maximiliane Sievert. Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), Department of Economics.
The present paper shows that in recent years a transition has taken place among the rural non-electrified population in Africa: without any external support from governmental or non-governmental organisations people have replaced kerosene lamps and candles through LED lamps, which are mostly powered by dry-cell batteries.LED lamps are available in rural shops virtually everywhere and provide brighter and cleaner lighting than traditional lamps.
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Cooking with gas: How children in the developing world benefit from switching to LPG, 2015.
Author: Lisa M Thompson. Report developed for the World LPG Association.
To incentivise the full adoption of LPG for cooking, strategies such as generating demand for LPG stoves, strengthening the supply-chain of LPG stoves and fuel, and developing regulation mechanisms to ensure safety of LPG are essential. Creating a supportive infrastructure for operating, inspecting and maintaining LPG and other clean stove technologies are necessary during the transitional period.
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Household Air Pollution and Under-Five Mortality in Bangladesh (2004–2011). Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, Oct 2015.
Authors: Sabrina Naz, Andrew Page and Kingsley Emwinyore Agho
Household air pollution (HAP) is one of the leading causes of respiratory illness and deaths among children under five years in Bangladesh. This study investigates the association between HAP from cooking fuel and under-five mortality using Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS) datasets over the period 2004–2011 (n = 18,308 children), and the extent to which this association differed by environmental and behavioral factors affecting level of exposure.
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A cross-sectional study of exhaled carbon monoxide as a biomarker of recent household air pollution exposure. Environmental Research, Volume 143, Part A, November 2015, Pages 107–111.
Authors: Alison Lee, Tiffany R. Sanchez, et al.
Main results - Measurement of eCOHb % saturation is feasible in a resource-poor setting. eCOHb % saturation responds to cooking episodes and demonstrates consistency when measured at the same time point 24-h later, suggesting
that eCOHb may be a sensitive biomarker of recent HAP exposures.
Low correlation between household carbon monoxide and particulate matter concentrations from biomass-related pollution in three resource-poor settings.Environmental Research, Volume 142, October 2015, Pages 424–431.
Authors: E. Klasen, et al.
Our analysis does not support the notion that indoor CO concentration is a surrogate marker for indoor PM2.5 concentration
across all settings. Both are important markers of household air pollution with different health and environmental implications and should therefore be independently measured.