Introduction Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a major and growing cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The global prevalence of COPD is growing faster in women than in men. Women are often exposed to indoor pollutants produced by biomass fuels burning during household activities. Methods We conducted a meta-analysis to establish the association between COPD and exposure to biomass smoke in women. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, we searched MEDLINE and Scopus databases in 31December 2016, with the terms: “wood”, “charcoal”, “biomass”, “solid fuels”, “organic fuel”, “biofuel”, “female”, “women”, “COPD”, “chronic bronchitis”, “emphysema”, “chronic obstructive pulmonary disease”. Studies were eligible if they were case–control or cross-sectional studies involving exposure to indoor biomass smoke, conducted at any time and in any geographic location. Fixed-effects or random-effects meta-analysis was used to generate pooled OR. Results 24 studies were included: 5 case–control studies and 19 cross-sectional studies. Biomass-exposed individuals were 1.38 times more likely to be diagnosed with COPD than non-exposed (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.28 to 1.57). Spirometry-diagnosed COPD studies failed to show a significant association (OR 1.20, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.40). Nevertheless, the summary estimate of OR for chronic bronchitis (CB) was significant (OR 2.11, 95% CI 1.70 to 2.52). The pooled OR for cross-sectional studies and case–control studies were respectively 1.82 (95% CI 1.54 to 2.10) and 1.05 (95% CI 0.81 to 1.30). Significant association was found between COPD and biomass smoke exposure for women living as well in rural as in urban areas. Conclusions This study showed that biomass smoke exposure is associated with COPD in rural and urban women. In many developing countries, modern fuels are more and more used alongside traditional ones, mainly in urban area. Data are needed to further explore the benefit of the use of mixed fuels for cooking on respiratory health, particularly on COPD reduction.

Artisanal gold mining is an activity ensuring the survival of about 700,000 families in Burkina Faso with a considerable contribution to the national economy. Techniques and chemicals used in the operation, have adverse impacts on health and the environment. Our study aims to evaluate the perceptions and knowledge of these different impacts among artisanal gold miners. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in artisanal gold mines Bouda and Nagsene in the region of the North of Burkina Faso. Two hundred miners over 18 years of age were interviewed. All the participants have recognized that gold mining has health impacts and 88.5% felt these impacts as important with a significantly higher proportion among those with more than 3 years' seniority (p = 0.001). The environmental impacts were perceived as important by 64.5% of miners, with a significant difference according to the position (p = 0.004). Sixty percent (60%) of respondents could identify at least 3 of the 5 health impacts of gold mining listed and 49.5% acknowledged at least 3 impacts on the environment. The diggers had significantly more knowledge about the symptoms (p < 0.001). Study highlights the lack of knowledge of the Stampeders on the health and environmental impacts of artisanal gold mining. Findings might be used to develop more effective awareness campaigns in the future. Communication with diggers must focus on the risk perception because it appears that raising risk perceptions from low to high would have a major effect on behavior.

Background: Approximately 3 billion people, worldwide, rely primarily on biomass for cooking. This study aimed to investigate the association between respiratory symptoms among women in charge of household cooking and the type of fuel used for cooking. Methods: A community-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. A total of 1705 women that were randomly selected, completed the survey. We also performed a bivariate and a multivariate analysis to verify the possible associations between respiratory symptoms in women in charge of household cooking and the type of cooking fuel used. Results: Dry cough, breathing difficulties, and throat irritation frequencies were statistically high in biomass fuel users when compared to liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) users. It was also the case for some chronic respiratory symptoms, such as sputum production, shortness of breath, wheezing, wheezing with dyspnea, wheezing without a cold, waking up with shortness of breath, waking up with coughing attacks, and waking up with breathing difficulty. After adjustment for the respondents’ and households’ characteristics; dry cough, breathing difficulties, sneezing, nose tingling, throat irritation, chronic sputum production, wheezing, wheezing with dyspnea, wheezing without a cold, waking up with shortness of breath, waking up with coughing attacks, and waking up with breathing difficulty were symptoms that remained associated to biomass fuel compared to LPG. Women who used charcoal reported the highest proportion of all the chronic respiratory symptoms compared to the firewood users. However, this difference was not statistically significant except for the wheezing, waking up with coughing attacks, and waking up with breath difficulty, after adjustment. Conclusion: Exposure to biomass smoke is responsible for respiratory health problems in women. Charcoal, which is often considered as a clean fuel compared to other biomass fuels and often recommended as an alternative to firewood, also presents health risks, including increased respiratory morbidity in women. Effective and efficient energy policies are needed to accelerate the transition to clean and sustainable energies.

INTRODUCTION: Women exposed to smoke are three times more likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease than women who cook with clean fuels. The present study aims to compare the level of exposure to particulate matter (PM 2.5), carbon monoxide (CO), and total volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inside kitchens, between women with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and healthy women, in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. METHODS: a pilot case-control study was conducted from January 7th to 25th, 2020, in 2 neighborhoods of Ouagadougou. Cases were women diagnosed with COPD and controls were women without COPD. The diagnosis of COPD was made on the basis of a standardized questionnaire administered and followed by a spirometry test. The sample comprised 9 cases and 9 controls. Exposure was assessed by using a multi-pollutant hand-held device, over a 24-hour period. Exposures of cases and controls were compared using the independent Student´s t-test and in cases where the distribution was not normal, the Kruskal-Wallis test was used. RESULTS: the mean age was 59 ± 9.86 years in the cases group and 58.56 ± 7.45 years in the controls group and there is no significant difference (p = 0.757) . The mean concentrations of PM 2.5 measured in the 2 groups were above the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended threshold of 15 ?g/m3 for 24 h exposure. The mean PM 2.5 concentration was 127.10 ?g/m3 in the cases and 16.23 ?g/m3 in the control group (p = 0.133). Concentrations of CO and VOCs were also higher in the kitchens of the cases than in those of the controls. However, no differences were statistically significant. CONCLUSION: although no statistically significant differences were observed, pollutant concentrations were higher in the kitchens of women with COPD. In addition, PM 2.5 levels measured in both groups exceeded WHO-recommended thresholds, underlining the need to reduce household exposure to pollutants. Further research is needed to better understand these impacts.