The effect of clean cooking interventions on mother and child personal exposure to air pollution: results from the Ghana Randomized Air Pollution and Health Study (GRAPHS)

Background Clean cooking interventions to reduce air pollution exposure from burning biomass for daily cooking and heating needs have the potential to reduce a large burden of disease globally. Objective The objective of this study is to evaluate the air pollution exposure impacts of a fan-assisted efficient biomass-burning cookstove and a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove intervention in rural Ghana. Methods We randomized 1414 households in rural Ghana with pregnant mothers into a control arm (N = 526) or one of two clean cooking intervention arms: a fan-assisted efficient biomass-burning cookstove (N = 527) or an LPG stove and cylinder refills as needed (N = 361). We monitored personal maternal carbon monoxide (CO) at baseline and six times after intervention and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) exposure twice after intervention. Children received three CO exposure monitoring sessions. Results We obtained 5655 48-h maternal CO exposure estimates and 1903 for children, as well as 1379 maternal PM2.5 exposure estimates. Median baseline CO exposures in the control, improved biomass, and LPG arms were 1.17, 1.17, and 1.30 ppm, respectively. Based on a differences-in-differences approach, the LPG arm showed a 47% reduction (95% confidence interval: 34-57%) in mean 48-h CO exposure compared to the control arm. Mean maternal PM2.5 exposure in the LPG arm was 32% lower than the control arm during the post-intervention period (52 +/- 29 vs. 77 +/- 44 mu g/m(3)). The biomass stove did not meaningfully reduce CO or PM2.5 exposure. Conclusions We show that LPG interventions lowered air pollution exposure significantly compared to three-stone fires. However, post-intervention exposures still exceeded health-relevant targets. Significance In a large controlled trial of cleaner cooking interventions, an LPG stove and fuel intervention reduced air pollution exposure in a vulnerable population in a low-resource setting.

Automated summary

The study evaluated the impact of clean cooking interventions on air pollution exposure in rural Ghana, showing that LPG stoves significantly reduced exposure compared to traditional biomass stoves. However, post-intervention exposures still exceeded health-relevant targets, indicating the need for further improvements in clean cooking technologies to reduce air pollution exposure in low-resource settings.