Assessment of PM10 Concentrations from Domestic Biomass Fuel Combustion in Two Rural Bolivian Highland Villages

PM10 concentrations were measured in two contrasting rural Bolivian villages that cook with biomass fuels. In one of the villages, cooking was done exclusively indoors, and in the other, it was done primarily outdoors. Concentrations in all potential microenvironments of exposure (i.e., home, kitchen, and outdoors) were measured for a total of 621 samples. Geometric mean kitchen PM10 concentrations were 1830 and 280 μg/m3, and geometric mean home concentrations were 280 and 440 μg/m3 for the indoor and outdoor cooking villages, respectively. An analysis of pollutant concentrations using generalized estimating equation techniques showed significant effects of village (indoor cooking vs outdoor cooking) (p = 0.0244), location (home, kitchen) (p < 0.0001), and interaction of village and location (p < 0.0001) on log-transformed PM10 concentrations. Pollutant concentrations and activity pattern data were used to estimate total exposure using the indirect method of exposure assessment. Daily exposure for women during the nonwork season was 15 120 and 6240 μg h-1 m-3 for the indoor and outdoor cooking villages, respectively. Differences in exposure to pollution between the villages were not as great as might be expected based on kitchen concentrations alone. This study underscores the importance of measuring pollutant concentrations in all microenvironments where people spend time and of shifting the focus of air pollution studies to include rural populations in developing countries.