The health status survey of people living near the biomass power plant in Nong Ruea District, Khon Kaen Province
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.14456/dcj.2020.23Keywords:
biomass power plant, Khonkaen Province, health statusAbstract
The combustion from biomass power plants that use sugarcane bagasse as fuel causes some negative impacts to the environment and health of the people living nearby. These pollutants can cause serious health consequences such as respiratory diseases, skin irritation, allergy, eye irritation, and any other health problems. The objectives of the survey were to explore the health status and health effects of people living near the biomass power plant. This study is descriptive research. The participants were recruited through purposive sampling, involving a total of 1,140 people who had lived in 8 communities of the 4 villages, near the biomass power plant, in Nongruea sub district, Nongruea district, Khonkaen province, from September to November 2018. Data was collected from the questionnaire developed, and analyzed by descriptive statistic which includes frequency, percentage, mean, and the correlation of the variables were determined by binary logistic regression. The results showed that the respondents reported having skin irritation and itchy every day (11.1%); having signs of a fever (28.1%), running nose (22.1%) and irritating cough (16.3%) in the past 1 year. Of those, 69.3% reported the daily exposure to biomass power dust every day and 42.6% exposed to the high intensity of dust during 05.00 pm. to 10.00 pm. Additionally, there were 38.8% of respondents having a house located near the biomass power plant within a distance of 1 kilometer. There was a factor significantly associated with abnormal signs and symptoms that occurred (p<0.05) which was a distance from the house to the biomass power plant. The symptoms reported were nasal congestion, runny nose, sore nose, sore throat, hoarseness, dry cough, dyspnea, itchy skin, rash, sore eyes, and red eyes. This study indicated that administrative agencies should seriously concern on the areas around biomass power plants by introducing the environmental monitoring system and health surveillance system in order to assess the health consequences among people who live in the risk areas as well as to educate the people on how to protect themselves from dust exposure.
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