Assessing The Role Of Advanced Cooking Technologies To Mitigate Household Air Pollution In Rural Areas Of Solan, Himachal Pradesh, India

The problem of household air pollution (HAP) due to the use of inefficient cooking devices continues to affect the rural population of India. With the ongoing efforts to improve indoor air quality (IAQ) through intervention of clean cooking options it is imperative to assess these interventions in real world conditions before large scale rollouts. The present study is an attempt to assess the impact of three clean cooking solutions - induction stove (IS), forced draft cookstove (FDC) and a traditional cookstove with hood (TCH) in rural area of Solan, Himachal Pradesh in India. Using a cross-sectional study design mean 24 h kitchen area concentration of PM2.5 and PM1, carbon monoxide (CO) along with cooking time black carbon (BC) were measured. A significant (p<0.05) reduction of >70% in mean 24 h and cooking time concentrations of all the pollutants was observed in all three clean cooking interventions compared to the traditional cookstove. However, in case of IS the reduction in mean 24 h PM2.5 and PM1 concentrations were 72% and 74% respectively which were much lower than nearly 100% reduction in CO and BC. Low cost interventions such as TCH were also found to improve IAQ significantly. However, higher BC fraction in PM in FDC indicated a scope for technological improvement in design of such stoves and a need for integrating BC as a stove performance indicator was also realized. Additionally, a comparative analysis using IAQ data from related studies highlighted the role of kitchen geometry and ambient air quality in causing variation in IAQ. So, for large scale community programs and initiatives that aim to mitigate HAP it is important to have multi-pronged approach that takes into cognizance factors other than cookstove which impact IAQ. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.