title: Kerosene lighting contributes to household air pollution in rural Uganda.
abstract: The literature on the contribution of kerosene lighting to indoor air particulate concentrations is sparse. In rural Uganda, kitchens are almost universally located outside the main home, and kerosene is often used for lighting. In this study, we obtained longitudinal measures of particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller in size (PM2.5) from living rooms and kitchens of 88 households in rural Uganda. Linear mixed-effects models with a random intercept for household were used to test the hypotheses that primary reported lighting source and kitchen location (indoor vs outdoor) are associated with PM2.5levels. During initial testing, households reported using the following sources of lighting: open-wick kerosene (19.3%), hurricane kerosene (45.5%), battery-powered (33.0%), and solar (1.1%) lamps. During follow-up testing, these proportions changed to 29.5%, 35.2%, 18.2%, and 9.1%, respectively. Average ambient, living room, and kitchen PM2.5levels were 20.2, 35.2, and 270.0 μg/m3. Living rooms using open-wick kerosene lamps had the highest PM2.5levels (55.3 μg/m3) compared to those using solar lighting (19.4 μg/m3; open wick vs solar, P=.01); 27.6% of homes using open-wick kerosene lamps met World Health Organization indoor air quality standards compared to 75.0% in homes using solar lighting.
authors.affiliation: Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Muyanja
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vallarino
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, USA.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Valeri
authors.affiliation: Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kakuhikire
authors.affiliation: Oregon Health & Science University - Portland State University School of Public Health, Portland, OR, USA.
authors.forename: D R
authors.initials: DR
authors.lastname: Bangsberg
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Christiani
authors.affiliation: Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies, Cambridge, MA, USA.
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Tsai
authors.affiliation: Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA.|Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.|Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: P S
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-9501-8606
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Lai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis*; D002244:Carbon / Q000032:analysis; D003296:Cooking; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D005260:Female; D006798:Housing; D006801:Humans; D019570:Inhalation Exposure; D007648:Kerosene; D008029:Lighting / Q000379:methods*; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000032:analysis*; D012140:Respiratory Tract Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology; D012424:Rural Population; D053260:Soot / Q000032:analysis; D014454:Uganda
chemical_list: D007648:Kerosene; D052638:Particulate Matter; D053260:Soot; D002244:Carbon
keywords: PM2.5; cookstove; indoor air pollution; kerosene; resource-limited setting; uganda