The black soot that kills while you make yourself a nice meal

Dar es Salaam. Alfred Godfrey, 28, has been using a kerosene stove to cook food at his home for over a year now. But he wants to stop. “I’ve realized that it’s not safe,’’ he says.

Godfrey, who rents a single room that he also uses as a kitchen at Vingunguti suburb in Dar es Salaam, is bothered by the fumes that emanate from the stove. He admits that at times, when cooking, he feels like he is suffocating. So sometimes, he cooks outdoors.

“When indoors, I am forced to leave the door and windows wide open for about ten minutes after cooking so that the thick air inside the room can escape. That’s when I can then sit comfortably and eat my food,’’ he says.

When he began renting—after graduating from college last year—Godfrey believed that using a kerosene stove was a cheaper and more convenient option. But, he says, “Over time, the fumes have become uncomfortable.’’

In developing countries such as Tanzania, kerosene is an important source of energy for cooking and lighting in homes. It is used as a cooking fuel in portable stoves for travelers too.

The current Budget Survey Report from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows that 61 percent of people in Tanzania use paraffin/kerosene for lighting in their homes.

“Use of kerosene/paraffin in rural areas is highest (70 percent) compared to Other Urban Areas (55 percent) and Dar es Salaam (23 percent),’’ says the Report.

World Health Organization (WHO) is now warning of the hazards of inefficient cooking fuels and technologies that can produce high levels of household air pollution.

In this year’s report on household pollution, the agency says the burning fumes from the fuels produce with a wide range of health-damaging pollutants, including small soot particles that penetrate deep into the lungs.

“In poorly ventilated dwellings, indoor smoke can be 100 times higher than acceptable levels for fine particles. Exposure is particularly high among women and young children who spend the most time near the domestic hearth,’’ says WHO’s Report.

Godfrey says, “To me, a kerosene stove was cheaper than using charcoal every day.” But, he adds, “I now want to switch to gas stoves. I have heard from friends that gas-powered stoves are healthier to use in homes than kerosene stoves.’’

An expert in physiology from Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Scinces (Muhas), Dr Mashili Fredrick, says that people like Godfrey and others who use kerosene for cooking or lighting while indoors,are exposing themselves to poisonous gases such as Carbon monoxide (CO) which have far-reaching health implications.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odourless and highly poisonous gas produced by the incomplete combustion of carbon or a carbon compound. Any fuel-burning appliance is a potential source of CO.

Dr Fredrick says, “Burning kerosene must be done in a well-ventilated house or out-doors. People who burn kerosene or any other carbon fuel while in-doors may end up with serious lungs problems or even death.”

According WHO, over 4 million people around the world die prematurely from illnesses attributable to the household air pollution from cooking with solid fuels each year.

About two months ago, a Tanzanian man living in Australia, Mr Jaeric Bukuru, 25, ended up in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a hospital in Perth state because of carbon monoxide poisoning. That was, after he used a barbecue to heat his bedroom.

According to Australian media, Bukuru was found lying unconscious by family members at his house in South Lake, Perth. He was later reported to be in stable condition, according to the Australian media outlet, Perth Now.

Over the years, cases of people dying due to carbon-monoxide poisoning have been reported in regions across the country. In most incidents, charcoal stoves have been the cause of the problem.

Recently, three people of the same family died in Chunya District, Mbeya Region, after inhaling the CO while they were asleep in the same house. The Chunya District Commissioner, Rehema Madusa told Your Health that bodies of the deceased were found lying in their house and there were no signs that they struggled during the process.

Reports say the deceased—two men and one woman--- went to sleep and left the charcoal stove burning in a house. This means, the CO gas widely circulated in a poorly ventilated house as the charcoal burnt—and they inhaled it.

According to Dr Fredrick, carbon monoxide usually competes with oxygen when it enters the blood stream of an individual after inhalation.

“The CO binds to the oxygen carrying substance, haemoglobin, and displaces whatever amount of oxygen the person may have breathed in.”

“A person will die painlessly and in silence because of lack of oxygen and nutrients supply to the vital tissues and organs,’’ he explains.

A study published early this year in the Pub Med Journal warned that pregnant women who have been exposed to carbon monoxide are more likely to give birth to babies with low weight.

Titled, ‘Maternal exposure to carbon monoxide and fine particulate matter during pregnancy in an urban Tanzanian cohort,’ the study involved 239 women in Dar es Salaam.

“Our findings contribute to the evidence that exposure to household air pollution, and specifically fine particulate matter may adversely affect birth weight,’’ concluded the study.

Recent data released by the WHO revealed that more than 50 percent of premature deaths due to pneumonia among children under the age of five were caused by the particulate matter (soot) inhaled from household air pollution.

The World Health Agency further notes that 3.8 million premature deaths occur annually from Non Communicable Diseases, such as, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer—all said to be attributed to exposure to household air pollution.

Mr Joseph Bukalasa, from Umeå International School of Public Health, Umea University, Sweden noted a trend of acute respiratory diseases in children in Tanzania about five years ago.

In his study, titled, “Indoor Air Pollution, Social Inequality and Acute Respiratory Diseases in Children in Tanzania,” Bukalasa said that children from the low income households were suffering more of the respiratory infections compared to children from high income households.

Ministry of Energy and Minerals in Tanzania estimates that biomass fuels account for more than 90 percent of the primary energy supply in the country.

But this is not limited to Tanzania—the largest portion of the world’s population still does not have access to modern energy sources, other studies show.

A medical officer in Dar es Salaam, Dr Renick Kihongo, recommends the use of cooking gas in homes, instead of kerosene or charcoal which produce the harmful carbon monoxide gases.

But, she cautions, “There are other risks associated with the use of gas. The users must be very watchful of the likelihood of explosions. There are many cases where the gas taps have been mishandled, leading accidents in homes.’’

Researchers have established that the use of cooking gas (Liquefied Petroleum Gas) does not produce poisonous gases such as Carbon Monoxide.

Published in 2013 in the Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering, the study, titled, “Carbon Monoxide Exposure during Cooking in Households: A Case of Dar es Salaam City,” noted that the observed CO concentrations from charcoal stove highlights questionable life support atmosphere.

It then recommended, “It can therefore be suggested that switching to LPG or natural gas from charcoal will reduce CO exposure to persons during cooking.”