Open fire exposure increases the risk of pregnancy loss in South Asia

Interactions between climate change and anthropogenic activities result in increasing numbers of open fires, which have been shown to harm maternal health. However, few studies have examined the association between open fire and pregnancy loss. We conduct a self-comparison case-control study including 24,876 mothers from South Asia, the region with the heaviest pregnancy-loss burden in the world. Exposure is assessed using a chemical transport model as the concentrations of fire-sourced PM2.5 (i.e., fire PM2.5). The adjusted odds ratio (OR) of pregnancy loss for a 1-μg/m3 increment in averaged concentration of fire PM2.5 during pregnancy is estimated as 1.051 (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 1.035, 1.067). Because fire PM2.5 is more strongly linked with pregnancy loss than non-fire PM2.5 (OR: 1.014; 95% CI: 1.011, 1.016), it contributes to a non-neglectable fraction (13%) of PM2.5-associated pregnancy loss. Here, we show maternal health is threaten by gestational exposure to fire smoke in South Asia.

“Barrage Fire”: Pyrotechnics in the Traditional Economy of Western Siberia and the Transformation of the Environment

This article carries out a comprehensive study of the use of open fire in the traditional economy of Western Siberia between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. For this purpose, the author studies the use of fire in the Russian peasant economy and by the native population of the region. The region’s environment was affected by the use of open fire while the effect of the pyrogenically altered agro-industrial structure of the region. In the article, special attention is paid to the traditional and administrative regulation of the use of fire in economic activities. The ecological-historical method considers landscape and climate zoning in the study of local economic structures. The author uses historical and ethnographic methods, handling data from field ethnography and agricultural history. Documents from the Forest Department of the Ministry of Agriculture and State Property have the greatest potential for the subject explored. Open fire was widely used by Russian peasant farms. Fields and their boundaries were singed in order to destroy stubble and weeds. Last season’s grass was burnt in the spring on pastures and meadows. In the north of the region, Russians and indigenous peoples “renewed” the forest areas where they grew berries with the help of fire. The indigenous peoples of the taiga and tundra (Khanty, Mansi, Nenets) set the taiga on fire in order to attract fur-bearing animals and renew areas grown over with reindeer moss. In order to get rid of blood-sucking insects, both Russian cattle breeders and indigenous reindeer herders could not do without smudges. Russian peasants set forests on fire in order to create spacious insect-free pastures. All the aforementioned economic methods, as well as forest industries, often led to disastrous forest fires. They were especially destructive for the agro-industrial structure of northern floodwater cultivation, plunging the economy into a prolonged depression (impoverishment of hunting, fishing, and cedar production). Forest fires in the southern taiga and forest-steppe zones not only led to forest destruction but to soil degradation, marsh drainage, and the shallowing of rivers. The Russian and indigenous communities tried to regulate fire setting and singeing. However, the restrictions quite often existed on paper only. In the mid-nineteenth century, the administration started paying attention to the problem. As a result, singeing of meadows and fields was limited to a certain spring period. At the beginning of the twentieth century, because of mass migration, anthropogenic forest fires occurred more often and, consequently, resulted in a regional catastrophe. The pyrogenic changes in the environment had an adverse effect on the region’s agro-industrial structure. The administration tightened control of the use of open fire in order to achieve economic aims.

Using characterization techniques for determining the history of a 2 millennia old kettle made of bronze alloyed with iron

A bronze kettle dating from the 1st to 2nd Century was found in a riverbed of the Kupa river in Croatia. After excavation it spent another 50 years in a depot of a museum in atmospheric conditions prior to starting the conservation treatment and our studies. A study on the surface layers development was performed to determine the history of the object. This study is a demonstration of how such analysis can be used to reconstruct what the object went through during its life span.It was determined that the kettle is made of low-tin bronze, called mild bronze, with addition of iron, aluminum, calcium and nickel. Using iron for alloying copper is unusual since pure iron is generally not added to bronze, thus the presented case is a rare subject. Presence of cassiterite SnO2 showed that the kettle was used for preparing food on open fire prior to ending up in the river. While being in the riverbed malachite formed on the kettle. After longer exposure to the river Si-oxides and CaCO3 formed on the surface of the kettle, over malachite. It was shown that the kettle probably had a ferrous alloy handle which degraded and disappeared in time. After excavation, the kettle came again in an oxygen-enriched atmosphere and developed additional surface layers over the malachite layer.

Analysis of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in Heregovački pršut—Traditionally Smoked Prosciutto

Hercegovački pršut as a traditional dry-cured smoked ham (prosciutto) produced by using an open fire that can be potentially contaminated with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and can pose a health risk for consumers. The aim of this research was to identify the types and concentrations of 16 PAHs in 34 samples of traditionally smoked prosciutto. Out of 16 investigated PAHs, identified in the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) list of priority pollutants, 14 compounds were detected. Average levels of cancerogenic benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) and PAH4 (benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), benzo[b]fluoranthene (BbF), chrysene (Chry), and benzo[a]pyrene (BaP)) ranged from <LOQ (level of quantification) to 5.08 μg/kg and 0.45 μg/kg to 22.67 μg/kg. Two analyzed samples exceeded currently prescribed values according to the Bosnia and Herzegovina legislation for BaP concentrations and one sample for PAH4 content. PAH16 concentrations were on average between 2.92 μg/kg and 87.6 μg/kg. The highest PAH concentrations were found in samples from the Herzegovina-Neretva canton. The results of the research highlight the importance of standardizing smoking procedures and manufacturing practice, in the production of Hercegovački pršut, in order to reduce the PAH content.

The Developmental Patterns of Injera Baking Stoves: Review on the Efficiency, and Energy Consumption in Ethiopia

Injera will continue to be the staple food for Ethiopians and Eritreans and some parts in east Africa in years to come. In order to efficiently bake Injera using various types of stoves, research and development work for Injera baking have been conducted so far and is critical. The use of energy sources is dominantly biomass is used for Injera baking followed by electricity yet. Electricity is mainly used in urban dwellers of the country which is limited one. Alternative energy sources such as solar thermal and biogas can be used for baking Injera alternatively. There are different types of Injera baking stoves design in Ethiopia using biomass energy such as open fire three stone stove, Mirt stove (includes improved one with high chimney, stand types), Burayou Injera baking stove Sodo, Awuramba, Tehesh indicating developmental patterns of stove based on the aim to reduce specific fuel consumption as well as efficiency by reducing energy losses during baking. Thus, it is determined that the average specific fuel consumption of three stone open fire was 929 g/kg of Injera, Mirt stove is 535g/kg of Injera, Gonziye is 617 g/kg of Injera, Awuramba is 573 g/kg of Injera while Sodo is 900 g/kg of Injera. The other Injera baking stoves were developed for baking Injera using solar thermal energy and biogas sources are designed to attain the average required surface temperature of Injera baking pan or Mitad. It is found that the average surface temperature of the concentric type solar thermal Injera baking stove is 148 oC, parabolic type solar Injera baking stove is 200 oC, electric stove is 225 oC using 3.75 KW electricity, WASS electrical is 220 oC consuming 1.4 KW electricity and biogas 210 oC. Further investigation needed to continue the developmental patterns of Injera baking system by improving the efficiency of the stove by reducing energy losses there has needed that the baking pan or Mitad to be improved.

Bamboo scraps and hardwood chips biochar derived from a cone-truncated open fire kiln for use as a nutrition medium for agricultural purpose

An experiment on the production of biochar from bamboo scraps and hardwood chips for use as materials to improve soil was done by burning the biomass of the bamboo scraps and hardwood chips in Pyrolysis conditions at a temperature range of 500 - 700C with a cone-truncated open fire kiln which reduces burning time to 45-60 min. Experimental results revealed that the average bamboo-scrap biochar of 2.5 kg resulted from burning 15 kg of the bamboo scraps; likewise, the average hardwood-chip biochar of 2.2 kg resulted from burning 15 kg of the hardwood chips. According to analyses, the bamboo-scrap biochar was composed of 8.6% moisture content, 8.0% volatile substance, 9.0% ash, 83% fixed carbon, 250mg/g iodine and pH 10.3; whereas, the hardwood-chip biochar was composed of 6% moisture content, 8.2% volatile substance, 3% ash , 88.8% fixed carbon, 300 mg/g iodine, and pH 10.1. The result of planting experiments showed that after mixing the biochar for soil nourishment and compost into the planting soil, the morning glory and kale can grow better than those planted in normal soil and soil with compost.