[Stoves] report with disappointing results from cleaner cookstoves

[Andrew Heggie]

On 14 December 2016 at 08:07, Xavier Brandao <xvr.brandao at gmail.com> wrote:

>Dear Crispin, Andrew,
>
>Thanks for your clarifications about your point of view.
>So to summarize, you think there is nothing wrong with the study or its=20
>methodology.=20

Xavier I am not competent to decide and, as with all things, there
will have been something that could have been done better. It does
seem to me that the study was thorough and large enough to throw up
statistically meaningful results.

I do not understand some of the statistical terms used in the report
but the method has been peer reviewed.

Roger Samson gave an opinion early in the thread which seems to agree
with the authors of the report. Given what is now known about the
effects of particles which are products of incomplete combustion
(particularly from diesel exhausts in cities) the cleaner stove's
contribution was simply not enough because the children were exposed
to both pollution in their everyday life and had compromised immune
systems.

There is some question whether a biomass stove with an open flame can
ever be clean enough to bring the indoor pollution from its exhaust to
satisfy health practitioners but I agree with Roger that any
improvement is better than none as there is no hope of providing all
these households with electricity or gas for cooking.

>In that case you disagree with Nikhil who//thinks this=20
>study is plain rubbish.

Now why doesn't that surprise me !
>
> This study gives some serious=20
>indications that improved cookstoves may not have a positive impact on=20
>pneumonia, that's a good progress.

I think that maybe a wrong conclusion: if the other factors such as
exposure to disease, proper nutrition, good sanitation and better
outdoor air quality  can also be addressed and all the households
frequented by the children have better air quality (from cleaner
stoves as well) then ...

Nowhere in the report does it suggest that air quality is not a factor
in the problem, just that the cleaner stoves did not have a measurable
impact on respiratory illness.

AJH