A Study of the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate in Punjabi Women Using Different Cooking Fuels

The present study was undertaken to study the Peak Expiratory Flow Rate of healthy non-smoking women of Punjab using biomass fuels for cooking. The values of PEFR of these women were also compared with that of healthy non-smoking women using Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) for cooking. The influence of age, height and weight on their PEFR values was also studied. One hundred and fifty healthy non-smoking women in the age group of 20-50 years who were using biomass fuels for cooking were selected randomly from various regions of Punjab and their PEFR values were compared with those of one hundred and fifty healthy non-smoking women in the age group of 20-50 years, who were using LPG as the cooking fuel. Persons who gave history of wheezing, cardiovascular diseases or respiratory diseases were excluded from the study. The PEFR test was performed by using a mini Wright peak expiratory flow meter. The mean PEFR of the biomass fuel users was found to be less than that of LPG users in each group and the results were found to be highly significant (p< 0.005). This decrease of PEFR in biomass fuel users as compared to LPG users is probably due to their continuous exposure to indoor air pollutants which may have caused an adverse effect on their respiratory health. This study revealed that there was a significant decrease in the lung functions of the biomass fuel users as compared to those who use LPG as the cooking fuel.