Assessment 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.