Assessment of Indoor Air Quality and Health Impact associated with the use of Different Types of Cooking Stoves amongst Rural Households in Kwara State, Nigeria

Abstract

The study focused on assessing the health impact of indoor air pollution and coping strategies adopted among rural households in Kwara state, Nigeria. A three-stage random sampling techniques was used to select 150 household respondents. The data for the study were collected using a well-structured questionnaire and an MSA gas-detector used to monitor the concentration of Carbon-monoxide (CO), Sulphur-dioxide (SO2) and Hydrogensulphide (H2S) pollutants. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the data. However, the result revealed that the mean concentration of CO, SO2 and H2S in the kitchen during cooking were 77.20, 1.97 and 0.25 parts-per millions (ppm) respectively. The World Health recommends exposure limits of 35ppm for 1hour and 9ppm for 8hours for CO concentration in a household. While, the recommended exposure limits of 0.5ppm and 1.0ppm for 8 hours, and 5.0ppm and 10.0ppm for 15minutes for SO2 and H2S concentrations in a household respectively. Eye irritation, Sneezing and headache were the 1st, 2nd and 3rd perceived health problems found to be associated with indoor air pollution. Also, the Pearson χ2 result (15.051, 15.454, and 11.853 with P<0.05) revealed that cold/catarrh/cough, headache/fever, and body pain ailments respectively have significant association with types of cooking stove used by rural households. Thus, inefficient wood and charcoal stoves influence rural household health negatively and they cope by adopting indigenous management practices.

Keywords: Pollution, concentration, irritation, stove, ailments