Using ventilation hood during cooking reduced household air pollution exposure and brought cardiometabolic and pulmonary health benefits: A community-based, cluster-randomized controlled intervention study.

Abstract

Trial evidence is lacking from real-world community setting regarding whether use of ventilation hood during cooking could reduce household air pollution exposure and bring health benefits. We conducted a cluster-randomized controlled intervention study of using ventilation hood during cooking at five economically underdeveloped villages in southwest China over an 8-month period, where wood remained the dominant cooking fuel. We assessed changes in personal 24-h PM2.5 exposure and indicators of cardiometabolic and pulmonary health pre- to post-intervention among 115 intervention and 60 control participants. We found significant reductions in 24-h average PM2.5 level after intervention by 29.6 % (95 % confidence interval [CI]: -57.8 %, -1.4 %). Favorable changes were also observed in heart rate variability (low frequency/high frequency ratio; 47.0 % [95 % CI: 2.4 %, 91.5 %]), diastolic blood pressure (-3.9 % [-7.5 %, -0.3 %]), hemoglobin A1c (-4.1 % [-6.8 %, -1.3 %]), and lung function (forced expiratory volume in one second/forced vital capacity; 8.0 % [0.7 %, 15.2 %]), with additional improvement in insulin sensitivity in per-protocol analysis. The study provided the first line of trial evidence that using ventilation hood during cooking could effectively reduce PM2.5 exposure and bring broad cardiometabolic and pulmonary health benefits.