ASSESMENT OF CARBON MONOXIDE FROM BIOMASS BURNING IN RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN ADAMAWA STATE, NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA

ASSESMENT OF CARBON MONOXIDE FROM BIOMASS BURNING IN RURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN ADAMAWA STATE, NORTHEASTERN NIGERIA

ABSTRACT

Indoor air pollution (IAP) kills 4 million people worldwide, particularly in developing countries where many people rely heavily on biomass for energy. Globally, 3 billion people use biomass fuel for cooking and heating. Burning biomass emits carbon monoxide (CO) and other pollutants. Hence, IAP is the leading cause of non-communicable diseases in the world. Women and children suffer most of the burden of IAP because they are usually responsible for cooking. In a rural, poor community in Adamawa State, northeastern Nigeria, I assessed risks to human health from biomass burning. I used structured questionnaires to interview heads-of-households about their household composition, cooking habits, cooking fuel, and kitchen area. Using a CO data logger, I also measured CO emissions during cooking for 16 households with indoor kitchens. The number of doors, windows, and gaps were counted and measured to assess ventilation and subjectively categorized into a ventilation index. vii My results showed that adult women (n =134) were mainly responsible for cooking in the Bole community, and mean number of times residents cooked per day was 2.25 ± 0.55. The primary fuel source for all but four households was wood. Most households had outdoor cooking areas (n = 101). Mean CO reading (111.9 ± 41.4 ppm) exceeded World Health Organization recommended safe levels. Ventilation appeared to be important for reducing CO concentrations during cooking. This research reinforces that indoor pollution from biomass burning poses a risk to the human health and contributes to deforestation.

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