Assessing carbon monoxide as a surrogate measure of fine particulate matter for household air pollution
Citation: Carter E, Norris C, Dionisio KL, et al. Assessing exposure to household air pollution: a systematic review and pooled analysis of carbon monoxide as a surrogate measure of particulate matter. Environmental Health Perspectives. 2017;125(7):076002.
What is this?
Household air pollution caused by the burning of solid fuel is a leading contributor to global disease and with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is thought to be responsible for many of these health impacts. Carbon monoxide is often used as a surrogate measure of (PM2.5) in studies of household air pollution.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of household air pollution to assess the relationship between PM2.5 and carbon monoxide. They restricted their searches to articles published in Chinese, English, French or Spanish and did the search in 2016. They included 61 studies from 27 countries, which were published between 1968 and 2016.
What was found: Carbon monoxide is not a consistently valid surrogate measure of exposure to PM2.5 in settings with household air pollution, and the relationship may vary according to age and gender.
The personal exposure relationship between carbon monoxide and PM2:5 was strongest in rural areas.
PM2:5 and carbon monoxide exposures are affected by other air pollution sources, such as those that do not involve cooking.
What doesn’t work:
This review exposed inconsistencies in the reporting of quality assurance and quality control protocols for PM2:5 and CO measurements due to systematic error which may lead to bias.
What’s uncertain:
The PM2:5-CO relationship might vary according to age and gender. There is limited data available on exposures in infants, young children and adult men. Study participants were aged 18 months to 90 years, with most being adult women.