Biomass Smoke Exposure and Atopy among Young Children in the Western Highlands of Guatemala: A Prospective Cohort Study

Wenxin Lu (), Laura Ann Wang, Jennifer Mann, Alisa Jenny, Carolina Romero, Andrea Kuster, Eduardo Canuz, Ajay Pillarisetti, Kirk R. Smith, John Balmes and Lisa Thompson
Additional contact information
Wenxin Lu: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Laura Ann Wang: Department of Pediatrics, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO 80045, USA
Jennifer Mann: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Alisa Jenny: Institute for Global Health Sciences, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Carolina Romero: Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City 01015, Guatemala
Andrea Kuster: School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94158, USA
Eduardo Canuz: Centro de Estudios en Salud, Universidad del Valle de Guatemala, Guatemala City 01015, Guatemala
Ajay Pillarisetti: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Kirk R. Smith: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
John Balmes: School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Lisa Thompson: Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Women and children in rural regions of low-income countries are exposed to high levels of household air pollution (HAP) as they traditionally tend to household chores such as cooking with biomass fuels. Early life exposure to air pollution is associated with aeroallergen sensitization and developing allergic diseases at older ages. This prospective cohort study assigned HAP-reducing chimney stoves to 557 households in rural Guatemala at different ages of the study children. The children’s air pollution exposure was measured using personal CO diffusion tubes. Allergic outcomes at 4–5 years old were assessed using skin prick tests and International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC)-based questionnaires. Children assigned to improved stoves before 6 months old had the lowest HAP exposure compared to the other groups. Longer exposure to the unimproved stoves was associated with higher risks of maternal-reported allergic asthma (OR = 2.42, 95% CI: 1.11–5.48) and rhinitis symptoms (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.13–3.58). No significant association was found for sensitization to common allergens such as dust mites and cockroaches based on skin prick tests. Reducing HAP by improving biomass burning conditions might be beneficial in preventing allergic diseases among children in rural low-income populations.

Keywords: CRECER study; biomass smoke; household air pollution; child health; allergy; asthma; rhinitis; eczema (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/14064/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/14064/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:14064-:d:956199

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().