Cargando…

Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana

The study aimed to assess the concentrations of particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced from the burning of biomass fuel from the smoking of fish. It also sought to determine the proportion of fish smokers reporting health symptoms associated with exposure to thes...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Obeng, Gifty Mensah, Aram, Simon Appah, Agyei, Daniel, Saalidong, Benjamin M.
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10038312/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36961812
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283438
_version_ 1784912053385822208
author Obeng, Gifty Mensah
Aram, Simon Appah
Agyei, Daniel
Saalidong, Benjamin M.
author_facet Obeng, Gifty Mensah
Aram, Simon Appah
Agyei, Daniel
Saalidong, Benjamin M.
author_sort Obeng, Gifty Mensah
collection PubMed
description The study aimed to assess the concentrations of particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced from the burning of biomass fuel from the smoking of fish. It also sought to determine the proportion of fish smokers reporting health symptoms associated with exposure to these pollutants. A cross-sectional study was conducted among fish smokers at Abuesi in the Western Region of Ghana. Systematic sampling was employed to choose 60 smokehouses for PM(2.5) and VOC monitoring. A total of 434 fish smokers were also randomly sampled for the study. Measurements were taken at indoor, outdoor and control locations. The highest concentration of PM(2.5) was recorded in the indoor environment. The mean concentration of PM(2.5) between the indoor and control environment was significantly different unlike between the outdoor and control environments. The concentration of VOCs systematically varied across indoor, outdoor and control locations. The most reported disease symptoms were eye infection, cough, and headaches. There was a strong positive association between the number of years spent smoking fish and the frequency of eye problems reported by fish smokers. The study demonstrated that fish smokers inside the smokehouse or smoking rooms are exposed to higher PM(2.5) and VOC levels which are detrimental to their health. There is therefore the need for further studies to explore other energy sources which may have a lesser negative effect on human health.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-10038312
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2023
publisher Public Library of Science
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-100383122023-03-25 Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana Obeng, Gifty Mensah Aram, Simon Appah Agyei, Daniel Saalidong, Benjamin M. PLoS One Research Article The study aimed to assess the concentrations of particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced from the burning of biomass fuel from the smoking of fish. It also sought to determine the proportion of fish smokers reporting health symptoms associated with exposure to these pollutants. A cross-sectional study was conducted among fish smokers at Abuesi in the Western Region of Ghana. Systematic sampling was employed to choose 60 smokehouses for PM(2.5) and VOC monitoring. A total of 434 fish smokers were also randomly sampled for the study. Measurements were taken at indoor, outdoor and control locations. The highest concentration of PM(2.5) was recorded in the indoor environment. The mean concentration of PM(2.5) between the indoor and control environment was significantly different unlike between the outdoor and control environments. The concentration of VOCs systematically varied across indoor, outdoor and control locations. The most reported disease symptoms were eye infection, cough, and headaches. There was a strong positive association between the number of years spent smoking fish and the frequency of eye problems reported by fish smokers. The study demonstrated that fish smokers inside the smokehouse or smoking rooms are exposed to higher PM(2.5) and VOC levels which are detrimental to their health. There is therefore the need for further studies to explore other energy sources which may have a lesser negative effect on human health. Public Library of Science 2023-03-24 /pmc/articles/PMC10038312/ /pubmed/36961812 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283438 Text en © 2023 Obeng et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Obeng, Gifty Mensah
Aram, Simon Appah
Agyei, Daniel
Saalidong, Benjamin M.
Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title_full Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title_fullStr Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title_full_unstemmed Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title_short Exposure to particulate matter (PM(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: A case study in the Western Region of Ghana
title_sort exposure to particulate matter (pm(2.5)) and volatile organic compounds (vocs), and self-reported health symptoms among fish smokers: a case study in the western region of ghana
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10038312/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36961812
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0283438
work_keys_str_mv AT obenggiftymensah exposuretoparticulatematterpm25andvolatileorganiccompoundsvocsandselfreportedhealthsymptomsamongfishsmokersacasestudyinthewesternregionofghana
AT aramsimonappah exposuretoparticulatematterpm25andvolatileorganiccompoundsvocsandselfreportedhealthsymptomsamongfishsmokersacasestudyinthewesternregionofghana
AT agyeidaniel exposuretoparticulatematterpm25andvolatileorganiccompoundsvocsandselfreportedhealthsymptomsamongfishsmokersacasestudyinthewesternregionofghana
AT saalidongbenjaminm exposuretoparticulatematterpm25andvolatileorganiccompoundsvocsandselfreportedhealthsymptomsamongfishsmokersacasestudyinthewesternregionofghana