Household and community poverty, biomass use, and air pollution in Accra, Ghana
Open accessAbstract
Many urban households in developing countries use biomass fuels for cooking. The proportion of household biomass use varies among neighborhoods, and is generally higher in low socioeconomic status (SES) communities. Little is known of how household air pollution varies by SES and how it is affected by biomass fuels and traffic sources in developing country cities. In four neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana, we collected and analyzed geo-referenced data on household and community particulate matter (PM) pollution, SES, fuel use for domestic and small-commercial cooking, housing characteristics, and distance to major roads. Cooking area PM was lowest in the high-SES neighborhood, with geometric means of 25 (95% confidence interval, 21–29) and 28 (23–33) μg/m 3 for fine and coarse PM (PM 2.5 and PM 2.5–10 ), respectively; it was highest in two low-SES slums, with geometric means reaching 71 (62–80) and 131 (114–150) μg/m 3 for fine and coarse PM. After adjustment for other factors, living in a community where all households use biomass fuels would be associated with 1.5- to 2.7-times PM levels in models with and without adjustment for ambient PM. Community biomass use had a stronger association with household PM than household's own fuel choice in crude and adjusted estimates. Lack of regular physical access to clean fuels is an obstacle to fuel switching in low-income neighborhoods and should be addressed through equitable energy infrastructure.
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A large share of ambient particulate matter in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa originates from solid fuel.
“A large share of ambient particulate matter in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa originates from solid fuel.172,173”
Household and ambient particulate matter exposures are related, and alternative cooking and heating fuels would benefit both solid fuel users and non-users in the same community.
“Therefore the two exposures are related, and alternative cooking and heating fuels would have benefits for people who currently use solid fuels as well as those who do not, but live in the same community.173”
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References 27 · Cited by 98
Research works printed but not linked: 2
- [1]United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (Population Division) World Urbanization Prospects: The 2006 Revision. New York: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat; 2007. [Google Scholar]
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- Authors
- Zhou, Z., Dionisio, K. L., Arku, R. E., Quaye, A., Hughes, A. F., Vallarino, J., Spengler, J. D., Hill, A., Agyei-Mensah, S., & Ezzati, M.
- Affiliations
- Harvard University (US)
- Environmental Science Program,
- Department of Physics, and
- Department of Global Health and Population,
- MRC Centre for Environment and Health (GB)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2011-06-20
- Volume
- 108
- Issue
- 27
- Pages
- 11028-11033
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC3131368
- OpenAlex
- W2000171265
- Cited by
- 98
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 7 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 2 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 5 · 2014: 7 · 2013: 10 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 6.52
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Pollution › Energy and Environment Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Air Quality and Health Impacts
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Indoor Air Quality and Microbial Exposure
- Keywords
- household air pollution, biomass fuel, cooking fuel use, particulate matter, socioeconomic status, urban slums, traffic-related air pollution, fuel switching, Accra
- MeSH terms
- Conservation of Natural Resources, Ghana, Housing, Humans, Poverty, Social Class, Urbanization, Air Pollution, Indoor, Biomass, Particulate Matter
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