Human and environmental health in vulnerable households

Environmental factors influence 25% -33% of diseases worldwide, making them a public health risk. The survival of indoor pollutants depends on climatic factors and the thermal and physical characteristics of the dwelling, among other variables, such as habits and customs. The primary environmental pollutants are gases, chemical compounds, and suspended particles. The time of exposure to environmental pollutants determines the level of health effects on users. The World Health Organization estimates that, globally, indoor air pollution was responsible for 4.3 million deaths in 2012 in households where coal, wood, and biomass stoves are used for cooking. This problem affects, to a greater extent, people from socially and economically vulnerable sectors who can hardly invest in their physical and mental well-being.

In developing countries, health conditions are limited by the need for more information on indoor pollutants, climate change, and other issues related to environmental degradation. In Mexico, it is estimated that 20% of the population uses wood to cook food and heat their homes. Most of this population is located in rural areas. More than 50% of the population is exposed to environmental pollution from cooking with firewood in southern Mexico. The solution benefits the users most vulnerable to this problem and strengthens human and environmental health knowledge, a priority area of national interest. In this context, the project seeks to integrate interdisciplinary research with a participatory methodology to generate a diagnosis of the current state and proposals to benefit the most vulnerable people.

We propose a system with data loggers that measure variables of environmental quality and comfort of users who cook with firewood in southern Mexico. This study focuses on human and environmental health, so it is also proposed to increase the impact in other areas in future stages. The collaboration of national and international researchers from different disciplines enriches the results. The partnership extends to the users, who receive informative workshops and advice to improve environmental quality. The interdisciplinary experience includes a report that can be disseminated among governmental, private, and public actors. This way, participation is strengthened, and knowledge about human and environmental health is broadened. The objective is to answer the following questions: What are the current indoor environmental conditions and construction materials used in homes where people cook with wood and charcoal? To what extent is human and environmental health related to new proposals in food processing and other variables that impact climate change mitigation? 

This problem affects more than half of the people living in warm climates with average temperatures above 33 °C for most of the year, making it a global challenge for public health, social equity, and climate change mitigation.

The solution is an innovative proposal integrating a multidisciplinary team divided into stages and scales. In this first stage, environmental quality will be determined for homes where cooking with charcoal and firewood is used, corresponding to economically and socially vulnerable users in developing countries. This stage will use commercial sensors that comply with regulations and cover homes in southeastern Mexico. As part of this innovation, a participatory methodology that includes social perception surveys and integrates a measurement system with environmental quality and comfort sensors for users who can hardly invest in their own needs will be applied. It is essential to consider that the southern zone of Mexico integrates rural areas and cultural richness with more than 60 linguistic groupings. 

The multidisciplinary solution integrates the use and customs of the study area with the measured data to obtain a diagnosis and a database, as well as local, national, and international dissemination events. The diagnosis will provide recommendations for improving the quality of life of vulnerable users and a reliable database to support other projects with social, economic, and environmental impact. In subsequent stages, we plan to integrate a greater number of beneficiaries and national and international outreach events of greater scope and include other study zones. To incorporate a national environmental quality index that can be an example for other developing countries with similar problems.

The subjects of this study belong to the 50% of the population in Mexico that is exposed to environmental pollution from cooking with firewood and is located in the area with the highest poverty rate: the south. This area is a priority because it also concentrates the most significant number of users who are economically and socially vulnerable to human and environmental health problems, such as contamination from a fundamental activity in any household: cooking. It is a priority to solve this problem because the lack of information and attention prevails for generations, affecting their quality of life.

The solution directly impacts the quality of life of the users who can hardly invest in their own needs and benefits their health. The subjects of this study are vulnerable people who live in rural communities and are unaware of the health impact of cooking with charcoal and firewood. For this reason, informative workshops will be conducted for the users in their localities, and their uses and customs will be considered. The solution was approached from conceptualization and planning, as well as the integration of the multidisciplinary team. The selection of the first locality corresponds to Yucatan, located in the southeast of Mexico. From there, a participatory methodology was generated, which included social perception surveys and research on the data loggers needed to create the measurement system. Where conditions of poverty and vulnerability to the effects of climate change prevail, the prototype will be approached through the placement of the measurement system and periodic visits to verify the system's proper functioning, as well as the design of workshops. The first results will be used to prepare a diagnosis, and a dissemination event will be held to publicize the recommendations for improvement. The diagnosis may serve as a reference for improving energy efficiency and social equity policies. The dissemination events will be extended nationally and internationally. The proposed solution will provide scientifically proven strategies and construction systems to improve indoor environment quality with a lower environmental impact. It will provide elements for improvements in energy policies with 30, 50, and 100-year projections.

The multidisciplinary team comprises Ph.D. professionals and people interested in serving rural communities with experience in social projects. There are trained professionals and people who, through their own experience, know the needs of the communities in the south of Mexico. Our professional preparation supports with experience the participatory methodology developed, which simultaneously allows the integration of the users themselves in implementing the solution. The method involves the users to the extent of their possibilities with professional accompaniment. User participation begins with a perception survey. During the measurement process, we will provide advice and workshops in the localities to report progress, and periodic visits will be made to verify the systems' operation. Above all, the process will be guided by the uses and customs of the determined localities. 

To determine indoor environmental quality improvement needs in vulnerable housing areas, characterization was conducted to identify vulnerable areas in the south of Mexico. For two years, social perception interviews have been completed. The proposed solution is in the prototype stage, so the users have yet to be involved. However, this point is contemplated to be addressed with communication between the team and the users of vulnerable areas to inform, monitor and follow up on the implemented strategies.

We are a non-profit organization that offers a solution that has a prototype backed by two years of work, the result of stages such as conceptualization, methodology design, integration of the multidisciplinary team, the definition of potential study areas, and integration of preliminary surveys. The locations developed include research on national and international regulations and the market study of data loggers to measure environmental quality and comfort variables focused on human and environmental health.

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Despite being a problem of national interest, as a non-profit organization with professional training, we need more economic and human resources to implement social projects such as the one proposed. The support required is to acquire the measurement data loggers and to provide advice during the implementation process of the measurement system and on effective strategies to promote social participation in marginalized areas. Although we have a multidisciplinary team, international collaboration enriches the methods and techniques to achieve more effective results.

The application's main objective is to obtain resources and network with experts to enrich the proposed solution's positive impact and translate the results into an effective professional business model.

The solution addresses a global problem that requires methodologies by the uses and customs of the localities involved. The innovation of this proposal consists, in the first instance, in attending to a marginalized area with high use of dialects that socially make it a challenge. The previous experience allowed us to design a participatory methodology that involves, to the extent possible, the users and perception surveys. The monitoring system involves national public health regulations and includes surveys throughout the 21st century on climate change mitigation. It is also expected to contribute elements favoring energy policies with the less environmental impact on Mexico.

Impact objectives are concise statements of the specific external impact you want to create through your solution. Your impact objectives guide all aspects of your work. We look for solutions that have a transformative effect on people's lives. Use this space to describe your impact objectives and how you plan to achieve them.

The first impact objective is to understand the current state of human and environmental health in households where cooking with wood and charcoal is practiced. With this information, we can reorient strategies and courses of action. At the same time, within the first year, the first social perception survey will be applied, and at the end of the first year, with the first results, an informative session will be held for users and the general public.

To improve the quality of life of a more significant number of economically and socially vulnerable people. In the medium term, before five years, the objective is to expand the study subjects in the south of Mexico and consolidate the results and action strategies for improving human and environmental health. In five years, there will be a database, with the consolidation of the participatory methodology and with the prospective throughout the 21st century, so that the design of the solution will be ready to be integrated into other areas and sectors, as well as the integration of different locations in Latin America.

The UN Sustainable Development Goals that are in line with the solution are:

3. Good health and well-being. The solution provides human and environmental health indicators that can be used to reduce mortality from fuelwood and charcoal pollution in vulnerable households. This objective is expected to be achieved in the medium term in at least 3 locations in southern Mexico.

10. Reduced inequalities. From the first year, this objective will be addressed, focusing the solution on economically and socially vulnerable users in the poorest area of Mexico to improve the quality of life and reduce inequality.

11. Sustainable cities and communities. The proposed solution also focuses on the sustainable development of rural communities in the most vulnerable areas of developing countries such as Mexico.

 It is proposed to measure the objectives with an initial survey of human and environmental health conditions, social perception surveys, and observed data, following up on the strategies implemented. It is also proposed to provide social follow-up with workshops developed in the communities in the short, medium, and long term. The follow-up will give excellent reliability to the proposed solution.

 Installing at least 4 measurement systems during the first year is proposed. The team conducted outreach events in potential locations to achieve this objective as part of the outreach and information strategy.

 In the next 5 years, it is expected to have a reliable database, adjust the measurement system to cover other localities, and provide advice and participatory dissemination. Additional resources will be allocated to acquiring measuring devices to cover more households to achieve this objective. During this period, it is expected to resolve the uncertainties that arise. It is proposed to disseminate the knowledge acquired, for which international public and private institutions will be contacted to exchange knowledge.

The theory on which this solution is based is the participatory methodology involving specialists, users, and stakeholders. The design of the participatory methodology involves the users from the first year onwards. The consultancies and workshops in the localities are designed to increase the users' interest in their well-being.

The accompaniment, which begins with a social perception survey, provides tools to adjust the plan to the uses and customs of each locality and evaluate current human and environmental health conditions. A positive impact is expected from the first year with intermediate surveys on social perception and data that validate the impact on the environment.

All activities are interlinked to obtain results that improve the quality of life of socially and economically vulnerable people. The database can be published to provide certainty of developments and information that can be used in other locations in developing countries. Currently, there are no reliable databases, so this solution reduces the knowledge gap in addressing global problems of inequality.

In the short term, the impact will be on the database. In the medium term, the effect will increase in scope with strategies that directly benefit the population in vulnerable conditions. In a long time, the impact will be quantitative and qualitative with experimentation in the same homes with the strategies incorporated into the daily lives of people living in vulnerable situations and with an evaluation of human and environmental health.

Artificial intelligence and simulation software are proposed to observe the performance of thermal comfort variables and human and environmental health beforehand. The measurement system includes calibrated and validated Onset or similar comfort and environmental pollution sensors. The internet will be used as far as possible to monitor the measured data in real-time.

The core team includes national and international scientists and people from the study area. A Mexican scientist woman led all from different social and cultural backgrounds. The inclusion policy does not discriminate against the incorporation of minorities during the implementation of the solution.

Given that this is not a for-profit project but to develop solutions that benefit the most vulnerable society, the professional services provided in the first phase corresponding to the assessment of the current state of homes where cooking with charcoal and firewood is used. The development of the solution is focused on improving the quality of life of vulnerable people, and the database will provide certainty of the objectives achieved. Dissemination events and workshops will offer the team experience and international exposure. A patent on measurement systems in vulnerable areas is planned as a long-term business model.

No financial support has been received. The project participants have financed the equipment used. However, it is intended to additionally generate a virtual company offering advisory services, consultancy, and workshops on environmental quality and, with international support, to create sustainable business strategies that improve human and environmental health.

The financing has worked because each member has a professional job. However, the project's scope requires a business plan with external participation.