Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from common cooking fuels in Nigeria

Cooking fuels are sources of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), which are persistent in the environment and have detrimental effects on human health. Fifteen PCBs congeners from the smoke of eight (8) commonly used cooking fuels in Nigeria were investigated in this study. Glass fiber filters were used to collect air emissions during the combustion of cooking fuels in a controlled chamber. PCB congeners in the smoke of studied cooking fuels were analyzed using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) and their associated health risks were evaluated. The health risks of PCBs (both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic) from inhalation exposure were evaluated for both children and adults. The daily inhalation rate ranged from 4.44 × 10⁵ to 6.16 × 10⁵ fgTEQkg^-1 for adults and 9.94 × 10⁵ to 1.38 × 10⁶ fgTEQkg^-1 for children. Hazard quotient (HQ) values obtained for both adults and children were higher than the acceptable limit of 1. The Incremental Lifetime Cancer Risk (ILCR) varied between 2.40 × 10^-3 and 3.33 × 10^-3 for adults and $6.211\times {10}^{-4}$ and $8.62\times {10}^{-4}$ for children. This study recommends promoting clean cooking technologies through policy interventions, public awareness campaigns, and investment in research and development, to reduce risks associated with harmful cooking emissions.