RE: Particulates and toxicity

["Grant Ballard-Tremeer" <stoves@ecoharmony.com>]

Hi Jon

Good question! The message is essentially that both particulates and
CO have a negative impact on health and need to be reduced, and it's
not sufficient just to reduce one (ie the visible smoke).

There is now growing evidence that particulates increase the risk of a
range of health problems including acute lower respiratory infections
(ALRI) in young children (mostly pneumonia) and chronic obstructive
lung disease in adults, particularly women, and this is causes the
major impact on health. It also seems that the pollutants increase the
risk of perinatal mortality, low birth weight, TB, cataract and cancer
of the nasopharynx and larynx. Low birth weight is probably a result
of long term exposure to CO, cataract and cancer though appears to
come from the smoke particulates.

I recommend Dr Nigel Bruce's article reviewing this at
http://www.ehproject.org/PDF/Capsule/capsule3_ari.pdf (550KB) as well
as the work of Prof Kirk Smith, much of which is downloadable at
http://ehs.sph.berkeley.edu/krsmith/. Links to other useful resources
in this field are available from the "Resource Portal" at the HEDON
household energy network (http://ecoharmony.net/hedon)

Regards
Grant

-------------------
Grant Ballard-Tremeer, visit ECO Ltd on the web at
http://ecoharmony.com
HEDON Household Energy Network http://www.ecoharmony.net/hedon/
-------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Jonathan Rouse [mailto:J.R.Rouse@lboro.ac.uk]
Sent: 13 March 2001 15:10
To: stoves@crest.org
Subject: Particulates and toxicity


Hi,

I am involved in a little work on improved stoves and health at the
moment and an old question has cropped up. If a stove burns with
less VISIBLE smoke does this necessarily mean that its
emissions are less harmful? I realise that a poorly ventilated fire
may produce lethal carbon monoxide, but other than that...

I remember some discussions about grates and emissions about a
year ago. I have a feeling someone said that the introduction of
grates can create less smokey BUT MORE TOXIC emissions.
Anyone know / remember more about this? Is it particulates or
gaseous hydrocarbons which are really poisonous?

Cheers

Jon




---------
Jonathan Rouse
Research Assistant
Water, Engineering and Development Centre
www.lboro.ac.uk/wedc/

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Pyromid Inc. http://www.pyromid.net
Stoves Webpage, Charcoal, Activated Carbon
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