Effects of Household Air Pollution on Pulmonary Function and Respiratory Symptoms of Women in Bhaktapur, Nepal

This project aims to quantify level of household air pollution (HAP) and its effects on pulmonary function of women in Nepal who do most of the cooking. I carried out a cross-sectional study of women in households that used biomass and non-biomass fuel types for cooking. To quantify the level of HAP, I measured the level Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) across households that use various fuel types. To evaluate the respiratory health effects of HAP, I did pulmonary function testing (PFT) using EasyOne Spirometer. And, I used standard questionnaire to evaluate the respiratory symptoms. Of the 383 study participants, 170 (44.39%) used biomass solid fuel (wood and agricultural residues) and 209 (54.57%) used non-biomass fuel (electricity and liquefied petroleum gas), respectively. The mean 24-h indoor NO2 concentration was significantly higher in households that used biomass fuels for cooking compared to the non-biomass users (mean NO2 of 74.33 ug/m3 in biomass cooking households vs. mean NO2 of 53.38 ug/m3 in nonbiomass users). Pulmonary Function indices (FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in one second) and FEV1/FVC ratio) were significantly lower among women that cooked with biomass fuels in comparison to women that cooked with non-biomass fuels. In this study, 9.6% of the total sample size in the randomly chosen sample represented had airflow obstruction and were diagnosed as COPD sufferers. This study found cooking using biomass fuel types as a single great risk factor for elevated concentration of NO2, reduced pulmonary function, and prevalence of increased respiratory health symptoms among women that do most of the cooking.