Respiratory symptoms in Indian children exposed to different cooking fuels.

ABSTRACT

Smoke emission from fuels is an important source of indoor air pollution. Children spend considerable time indoors. It is therefore important to determine whether air contaminants from indoor air sources affect incidence of respiratory illness, cause symptoms and changes in pulmonary function status in them. Two hundred children in the age group of 7-15 were selected randomly. They were stratified according to the fuel used in their homes and respiratory symptoms were inquired from them according to a questionnaire recommended by the American Thoracic Society. The most symptomatic children were those whose households used kerosene (52%) and mixed fuels (46%) although different symptoms were present in varying extent in all 4 groups of children. Cough, cold, congestion or phlegm for one week or more occurred more frequently with mixed fuel use followed by kerosene. The present study thus showed that mixed fuel and kerosene fuel had worst effects on respiratory system in children whose households used these fuels.