Air pollution emitted during traditional coffee ceremonies in Ethiopia, a health risk for women

Abstract: Indoor air pollution is a problem of great concern, estimating to cause around 2 million premature deaths, with 400.000 cases suspected to happen in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this thesis, indoor air pollution emissions associated with the Ethiopian traditional coffee ceremony has been studied as a model for cooking exposure. Coffee preparation is a ceremony which is conducted in almost every Ethiopian home at least twice a day. The purpose of this project is to get a better understanding of the levels and the characteristics of air pollution from the use of small scale stoves in indoor environments. The study has been conducted in 45 Ethiopian homes (measurements was conducted in 28 homes), in the city of Adama. The data from the measurements conducted in this thesis might help to understand the extent of the problem, especially as there is a lack of data from the region. The result of the study shows that particle mass (PM2.5) and particle number (PN0.5) and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) increase when stoves are ignited indoors. The use of incense further increases the number of particles and PAHs. The high concentrations of PM2.5, PN0:5 and Benzo[a]pyrene (BaPyr) that have been measured in this study might be hazardous to women in Ethiopia, therefore further investigations are needed to achieve more knowledge about the health effects of this exposure.