Carbon monoxide exposures and kitchen concentrations from cookstove-related woodsmoke in San Marcos, Peru

Nearly half of the world's population is exposed to household air pollution (HAP) due to long hours spent in close proximity to biomass-fueled fires.

We compare CO exposures and concentrations among study promoted intervention stove users and control stove users in San Marcos Province, Cajamarca region, Peru.

Passive CO diffusion tubes were deployed over a 48-hour sampling period to measure kitchen CO concentrations and personal mother and child CO exposures in 197 control and 182 intervention households.

Geometric means (95% CI) for child, mother, and kitchen measurements were 1.1 (0.9-1.2), 1.4 (1.3-1.6), and 7.3 (6.4-8.3) ppm in control households, and 1.0 (0.9-1.1), 1.4 (1.3-1.6), and 7.3 (6.4-8.2) ppm among intervention households, respectively.

With no significant differences between control and intervention CO measurements, results suggest that intervention stove maintenance may be necessary for long-term reductions in CO exposures.