scholarly journals Estimate suggests many infant deaths in sub-Saharan Africa attributable to air pollution

Nature ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 559 (7713) ◽  
pp. 188-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lance A. Waller
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Infant Deaths ◽  
Sub Saharan

scholarly journals Using a Network of Locally Developed Low Cost Particulate Matter Sensors for Land Use Regression Modeling of PM2.5 in Urban Uganda

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric S. Coker ◽  
Ssematimba Joel ◽  
Engineer Bainomugisha
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Air Quality ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Additive Models ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Land Use Regression ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background: There are major air pollution monitoring gaps in sub-Saharan Africa. Developing capacity in the region to conduct air monitoring in the region can help estimate exposure to air pollution for epidemiology research. The purpose of our study is to develop a land use regression (LUR) model using low-cost air quality sensors developed by a research group in Uganda (AirQo). Methods: Using these low-cost sensors, we collected continuous measurements of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) between May 1, 2019 and February 29, 2020 at 22 monitoring sites across urban municipalities of Uganda. We compared average monthly PM2.5 concentrations from the AirQo sensors with measurements from a BAM-1020 reference monitor operated at the US Embassy in Kampala. Monthly PM2.5 concentrations were used for LUR modeling. We used eight Machine Learning (ML) algorithms and ensemble modeling; using 10-fold cross validation and root mean squared error (RMSE) to evaluate model performance. Results: Monthly PM2.5 concentration was 60.2 µg/m3 (IQR: 45.4-73.0 µg/m3; median= 57.5 µg/m3). For the ML LUR models, RMSE values ranged between 5.43 µg/m3 - 15.43 µg/m3 and explained between 28% and 92% of monthly PM2.5 variability. Generalized additive models explained the largest amount of PM2.5 variability (R2=0.92) and produced the lowest RMSE (5.43 µg/m3) in the held-out test set. The most important predictors of monthly PM2.5 concentrations included monthly precipitation, major roadway density, population density, latitude, greenness, and percentage of households using solid fuels. Conclusion: To our knowledge, ours is the first study to model the spatial distribution of urban air pollution in sub-Saharan Africa using air monitors developed from the region itself. Non-parametric ML for LUR modeling performed with high accuracy for prediction of monthly PM2.5 levels. Our analysis suggests that locally produced low-cost air quality sensors can help build capacity to conduct air pollution epidemiology research in the region.

scholarly journals Infant mortality among native-born children of immigrants in France, 2008–17: results from a socio-demographic panel survey

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Wallace ◽  
Myriam Khlat ◽  
Michel Guillot
Keyword(s):  
Infant Mortality ◽  
Children Of Immigrants ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Infant Deaths ◽  
Western Africa ◽  
National Public Health ◽  
Multi Level ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Within Europe, France stands out as a major country that lacks recent and reliable evidence on how infant mortality levels vary among the native-born children of immigrants compared with the native-born children of two parents born in France. Methods We used a nationally representative socio-demographic panel consisting of 296 400 births and 980 infant deaths for the period 2008–17. Children of immigrants were defined as being born to at least one parent born abroad and their infant mortality was compared with that of children born to two parents born in France. We first calculated infant mortality rates per 1000 live births. Then, using multi-level logit models, we calculated odds ratios of infant mortality in a series of models adjusting progressively for parental origins (M1), core demographic factors (M2), father's socio-professional category (M3) and area-level urbanicity and deprivation score (M4). Results We documented a substantial amount of excess infant mortality among those children born to at least one parent from Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, Western Africa, Other Sub-Saharan Africa and the Americas, with variation among specific origin countries belonging to these groups. In most of these cases, the excess infant mortality levels persisted after adjusting for all individual-level and area-level factors. Conclusions Our findings, which can directly inform national public health policy, reaffirm the persistence of longstanding inequality in infant mortality according to parental origins in France and add to a growing body of evidence documenting excess infant mortality among the children of immigrants in Europe.

scholarly journals Air Pollution Measurements and Land-Use Regression in Urban Sub-Saharan Africa Using Low-Cost Sensors—Possibilities and Pitfalls

Atmosphere ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. 1357
Author(s):  
Asmamaw Abera ◽  
Kristoffer Mattisson ◽  
Axel Eriksson ◽  
Erik Ahlberg ◽  
Geremew Sahilu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Air Pollution ◽  
Low Cost ◽  
Pollution Monitoring ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Land Use Regression ◽  
Rapid Urbanization ◽  
Final Model ◽  
Sub Saharan

Air pollution is recognized as the most important environmental factor that adversely affects human and societal wellbeing. Due to rapid urbanization, air pollution levels are increasing in the Sub-Saharan region, but there is a shortage of air pollution monitoring. Hence, exposure data to use as a base for exposure modelling and health effect assessments is also lacking. In this study, low-cost sensors were used to assess PM2.5 (particulate matter) levels in the city of Adama, Ethiopia. The measurements were conducted during two separate 1-week periods. The measurements were used to develop a land-use regression (LUR) model. The developed LUR model explained 33.4% of the variance in the concentrations of PM2.5. Two predictor variables were included in the final model, of which both were related to emissions from traffic sources. Some concern regarding influential observations remained in the final model. Long-term PM2.5 and wind direction data were obtained from the city’s meteorological station, which should be used to validate the representativeness of our sensor measurements. The PM2.5 long-term data were however not reliable. Means of obtaining good reference data combined with longer sensor measurements would be a good way forward to develop a stronger LUR model which, together with improved knowledge, can be applied towards improving the quality of health. A health impact assessment, based on the mean level of PM2.5 (23 µg/m3), presented the attributable burden of disease and showed the importance of addressing causes of these high ambient levels in the area.

scholarly journals Lung Health in Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: Addressing the Need for Cleaner Air

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (17) ◽  
pp. 6178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Refiloe Masekela ◽  
Aneesa Vanker
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Respiratory Tract ◽  
Respiratory Tract Infections ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Upper Respiratory Tract ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Tract Infections ◽  
Lung Health ◽  
Indoor And Outdoor

Air pollution is increasingly recognized as a global health emergency with its impacts being wide ranging, more so for low- and middle-income countries where both indoor and outdoor pollution levels are high. In Africa, more than 80% of children live in households which use unclean sources of energy. The effects of both indoor and outdoor pollution on lung health on children who are the most vulnerable to their effects range from acute lower respiratory tract infections to long-term chronic health effects. We reviewed the literature on the effects of air pollution in children in Sub-Saharan Africa from prenatal exposure, infancy and school-going children. Data from Sub-Saharan Africa on quantification of exposures both indoor and outdoor mainly utilizes modelling or self-reporting. Exposures to biomass not only increases the risk of acute respiratory tract infections in young children but also increases the risk of carriage of pathogenic bacteria in the upper respiratory tract. Although there is limited evidence of association between asthma and pollution in African children, airway hyper-responsiveness and lower lung function has been demonstrated in children with higher risk of exposure. Interventions at a policy level to both quantify the exposure levels at a population level are urgently needed to address the possible interventions to limit exposure and improve lung health in children in Sub-Saharan Africa.

scholarly journals Use of Biochar-Producing Gasifier Cookstove Improves Energy Use Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality in Rural Households

Energies ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 4285
Author(s):  
James K. Gitau ◽  
Cecilia Sundberg ◽  
Ruth Mendum ◽  
Jane Mutune ◽  
Mary Njenga
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Indoor Air ◽  
Indoor Air Pollution ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Fine Particulate Matter ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Open Fire ◽  
Use Efficiency ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Carbon Dioxide Co2

Biomass fuels dominate the household energy mix in sub-Saharan Africa. Much of it is used inefficiently in poorly ventilated kitchens resulting in indoor air pollution and consumption of large amounts of wood fuel. Micro-gasification cookstoves can improve fuel use efficiency and reduce indoor air pollution while producing char as a by-product. This study monitored real-time concentrations of carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), and amount of firewood used when households were cooking dinner. Twenty-five households used the gasifier cookstove to cook and five repeated the same test with three-stone open fire on a different date. With the gasifier, the average corresponding dinner time CO, CO2, and PM2.5 concentrations were reduced by 57%, 41%, and 79% respectively compared to three-stone open fire. The gasifier had average biomass-to-char conversion efficiency of 16.6%. If the produced char is used as fuel, households could save 32% of fuel compared to use of three-stone open fire and 18% when char is used as biochar, for instance. Adoption of the gasifier can help to reduce the need for firewood collection, hence reducing impacts on the environment while saving on the amount of time and money spent on cooking fuel.

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