title: Impact of biogas digesters on cookhouse volatile organic compound exposure for rural Kenyan farmwomen.
abstract: Women living on rural Kenyan smallholder dairy farms burn wood as biofuel in family cookhouses. Unventilated biofuel combustion produces harmful levels of respirable particles and volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions in indoor environments. Biogas digesters, which can generate high methane-content biogas from livestock manure composting were recently installed on 31 farms. The study objectives were to compare VOC exposure profiles for women cooking on farms with and without biogas digesters, and to compare seasonal variations in VOC exposures for those women cooking with biogas. Participants (n=31 biogas farms, n=31 referent farms) wore passive thermal desorption VOC sampling tubes and recorded cookhouse fuel use on time activity sheets for 7 days. Women using biogas spent significantly less time (mean=509 min/week) exposed to cookhouse wood smoke compared with the referent group (mean=1122 min/week) (P<0.01). Total VOC exposure did not differ between farm groups (P=0.14), though concentrations of trans-1,3-dichloropropene, bromoform, and 1,4-dichlorobenzene in biogas cookhouses were significantly lower than in referent cookhouses, even after Bonferroni correction. The composition of VOC species was also significantly different, reflecting the different fuel sources. Biogas digester technologies have great potential for reducing exposure to wood smoke VOCs in low-income countries.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dohoo
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada [2] Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada.
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Read Guernsey
authors.affiliation: Department of Process Engineering and Applied Science, Faculty of Engineering, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Gibson
authors.affiliation: 1] Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Faculty of Medicine, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada [2] Centre for Veterinary Epidemiological Research, Department of Health Management, Atlantic Veterinary College, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, Canada.
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: VanLeeuwen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000383:Agriculture; D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D000498:Allyl Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D056804:Biofuels; D002722:Chlorobenzenes / Q000032:analysis*; D003296:Cooking; D003612:Dairying; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D007630:Kenya; D008372:Manure; D008875:Middle Aged; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis; D012424:Rural Population; D012621:Seasons; D022882:Trihalomethanes / Q000032:analysis; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000032:analysis*; D014934:Wood; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D000498:Allyl Compounds; D056804:Biofuels; D002722:Chlorobenzenes; D006843:Hydrocarbons, Chlorinated; D008372:Manure; D052638:Particulate Matter; D022882:Trihalomethanes; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds; C023891:1,3-dichloro-1-propene; C018511:4-dichlorobenzene; C015044:bromoform
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