Department of Community Health & Epidemiology, Dalhousie University, 5790 University Avenue, Halifax, NS B3H 1V7, Canada.
J Environ Public Health. 2012;2012:636298. doi: 10.1155/2012/636298. Epub 2012 Aug 28.
Biomass burning in indoor environments has been highlighted as a major cause of respiratory morbidity for women and children in low-income countries. Inexpensive technological innovations which reduce such exposures are needed. This study evaluated the impact of low tech compost digesters, which generate biogas for cooking, versus traditional fuel sources on the respiratory health of nonsmoking Kenyan farmwomen. Women from 31 farms with biogas digesters were compared to age-matched women from 31 biomass-reliant farms, in June 2010. Only 43% of the biogas group reported any breathing problems, compared to 71% in the referent group (P = 0.03). Referent women self-reported higher rates of shortness of breath (52% versus 30%), difficulty breathing (42% versus 23%), and chest pain while breathing (35% versus 17%) during the last 6 months (P = 0.09 to 0.12) compared to biogas women. Biogas women demonstrated slightly better spirometry results but differences were not statistically significant, likely due to limited latency between biogas digester installation and spirometry testing. Most biogas women reported improved personal respiratory health (87%) and improved children's health (72%) since biogas digester installation. These findings suggest that using biogas in cookhouses improves respiratory symptoms but long-term impacts on lung function are unclear.
室内生物质燃烧已被认为是低收入国家妇女和儿童呼吸发病率的主要原因。需要廉价的技术创新来减少这种暴露。本研究评估了产生沼气用于烹饪的低技术堆肥消化器与传统燃料来源对肯尼亚非吸烟农场妇女呼吸健康的影响。2010 年 6 月，将 31 个拥有沼气消化器的农场的妇女与 31 个依赖生物质的农场的年龄匹配的妇女进行了比较。只有 43%的沼气组报告有任何呼吸问题，而对照组为 71%（P=0.03）。对照组妇女自我报告在过去 6 个月中呼吸急促（52%比 30%）、呼吸困难（42%比 23%）和呼吸时胸痛（35%比 17%）的发生率更高（P=0.09 到 0.12）比沼气妇女。沼气妇女的肺活量测定结果略好，但差异无统计学意义，可能是由于沼气消化器安装和肺活量测定测试之间的潜伏期有限。大多数沼气妇女报告自沼气消化器安装以来个人呼吸健康状况有所改善（87%），儿童健康状况有所改善（72%）。这些发现表明，在厨房使用沼气可以改善呼吸症状，但对肺功能的长期影响尚不清楚。
