Burning cowdung cakes can be 10 times more harmful than burning wood in poorly ventilated kitchens, something that can damage the lungs,a study comparing the two widely used kitchen fuels has found. Women who spend many hours cooking food in poorly ventilated homes can develop chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD),asthma,tuberculosis and lung cancer,says Dr Sundeep Salvi,director of Punes Chest Research Foundation. Exposure to biomass fuel smoke,he says,is a bigger risk factor for COPD than smoking. In India,70 per cent of homes use such fuel,mostly in poorly ventilated kitchens. In the study,a collaboration between CRF and Johns Hopkins University,US,a machine was taken to homes in Vadu village in Pune where smoke was collected by burning cowdung cakes (gobar) and compared with smoke collected from burning wood. The dust from the smoke was also tested in mice. The smoke from the cowdung,the study found,had 10 times more pollutants per unit weight than that in the smoke from the wood. Salvi says he will present the findings at international conferences.A visiting senior lecturer at Imperial College,London,he has also presented a case for setting up a national COPD prevention and control programme. The February issue of the Journal of Association of Physicians of India has devoted a supplement to the subject. COPD kills half a million people every year,more than those who die due to TB,malaria or HIV According to a report of the National Centre for Macroeconomics and Health,COPD causes India an estimated loss of around Rs 35,000 crore,which more than the total health budget of 2010-11,Rs 25,154 crore. According to estimates,30 million people suffer with COPD in India. While traditionally it was believed that tobacco smoking was the only major risk factor, Salvi says,new studies are showing that exposure to high levels of indoor air pollution due to burning of biomass fuel seems to be a greater risk factor. Agarbattis too In a study of 50 priests in temples in Pune,CRF scientists have found a possible health hazard in the burning of agarbattis. Thirteen priests said they suffered from obstructive airway disorder, Selvi said. In fact,he said,scientists had to stop collecting smoke dust when a black,oily,tar-like substance formed in the machine.
