Dangers of cooking with charcoal, firewood

Charcoal and firewood have been generally accepted as cheaper fuel options for cooking. In this clime, some people even believe that cooking with charcoal or firewood adds a peculiar flavor to food, an example of which is the ‘party Jollof rice’. Unfortunately, the implications of cooking with these solid fuels have dire consequences on both human health and the environment.

According to the WHO, approximately 7 million premature deaths around the world every year are caused by air pollution and of that number, more than 60% corresponds to pollution in residential environments. This means that at least 4.3 million people die from burning solid fuels with inefficient ventilation and this is the main source of indoor pollution across the globe. In Nigeria, about 98,000 women die every year due to the continuous use of firewood to prepare meals. A person who cooks breakfast, lunch, and dinner with firewood, will have an equivalent health outcome as somebody who smoked between three and 20 packets of cigarettes.

Most of these deaths occur due to heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and lung cancer precipitated by long-term use of these dirty fuels. Also, a significant number of acute respiratory diseases also occur in children who are exposed to such environments.

Asides from being injurious to the health, charcoal or firewood for cooking takes longer, taking up productive time and this makes it an inefficient method of cooking. For instance, a cup of rice that averagely takes 17mins to cook using a gas burner will end up taking about 25min to get done using a charcoal burner.

Currently, Lagos State with a population of over 20 million people has less than 25% of its households using LPG for cooking – an abysmal figure for a developing megacity, as a high margin of the population still relies on dirty fuels such as kerosene, firewood, and charcoal. At IOGC we are aligning with the Lagos State Government cleaner energy initiative to improve gas for domestic utilization from the current 16% to 80% by 2023 by addressing the four key challenges hindering LPG adoption: Accessibility, Availability, Affordability, and Awareness.

References

Ojerinde, D. (2020, January 20). Expert warns against cooking with firewood. Punch Newspapers. https://punchng.com/expert-warns-against-cooking-with-firewood/

Sindigas, Indoor Pollution Caused by Firewood Group, PUC-RJ, & UERJ. (2017, March). Burning Firewood and Charcoal Indoors – Air pollution and health risks. Conceito Comunicação Integrada.