Effects of cooking with liquefied petroleum gas versus biomass on hemoglobin concentrations in pregnant women: a pre-specified exploratory analysis of the HAPIN trial

S Sheela S. Sinharoy W Wenlu Ye A Ajay Pillarisetti S Sant-Rayn Pasricha L Lisa M. Thompson A Anaite Diaz-Artiga U Usha Ramakrishnan G Ghislaine Rosa M Maggie L. Clark V Vigneswari Aravindalochanan K Kyle Steenland S Shirin Jabbarzadeh (Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta) L Lindsay J. Underhill M Miles A. Kirby A Amy E. Lovvorn W William Checkley J Jennifer L. Peel T Thomas F. Clasen K Kirk R. Smith E Eduardo Canuz A Adly Castañaza C Carmen Lucia Contreras O Oscar De León I Irma Sayury Pineda Fuentes M Mayari Hengstermann J John P. McCracken E Erick Mollinedo L Libny Monroy A Alexander Ramirez E Elisa Puzzolo S Sarah Rajkumar B Bonnie N. Young D Dana Boyd Barr P Priya D’Souza S Savannah Gupton I Ian Hennessee G Grace Lee J Jiawen Liao J Julia N. McPeek P Parinya Panuwet P P. Barry Ryan K Kalpana Balakrishnan S Sarada Satyamoorthy Garg K Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay D Durairaj Natesan N Naveen Puttaswamy K Karthikeyan Dharmapuri Rajamani R Rengaraj Ramasami S Sudhakar Saidam S Sankar Sambandam S Saritha Sendhil G Gurusamy Thangavel H Howard H. Chang Y Yunyun Chen L Lisa Elon M Marjorie Howard A Azhar Nizam A Amit Verma L Lance A. Waller (Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta) J Jiantong Wang M Megan Warnock V Victor G. Dávila-Román L Lisa de las Fuentes (Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.) P Patricia M. Lenzen R Rachel Meyers A Ashley K. Toenjes D Dina Goodman-Palmer P Phabiola M. Herrera S Shakir Hossen L Laura Nicolaou K Kendra N. Williams G Gloriose Bankundiye E Ephrem Dusabimana J Jane Mbabazi A Alexie Mukeshimana M Moses Mutabazi B Bernard Mutariyani F Florien Ndagijimana A Adolphe Ndikubwimana J Jean de Dieu Ntivuguruzwa V Vanessa Burrowes S Steven A. Harvey (Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa) E Eric D. McCollum L Lawrence H. Moulton A Alejandra Bussalleu M Marilú Chiang J Juan Gabriel Espinoza S Stella M. Hartinger J J. Jaime Miranda D Devan Campbell K Katherine Kearns J Jacob Kremer L Luke P. Naeher D Damien Swearing R Rachel Craik A Aris T. Papageorghiou A Ashley Younger A Ahana Ghosh M Michael A. Johnson R Ricardo Piedrahita S Sarah Hamid J Joshua Rosenthal S Suzanne Simkovich V Viviane Valdes

Abstract

Abstract Evidence linking household air pollution exposure and blood hemoglobin concentration is lacking. We examine the effect of a liquefied petroleum gas cookstove and fuel intervention on hemoglobin concentration, along with associations between household air pollution exposures and hemoglobin concentration, among pregnant women. We enroll 800 pregnant women each in Guatemala, Peru, India, and Rwanda in an open-label randomized controlled trial (NCT02944682). In 3178 women (intervention=1585; control=1593), we measure hemoglobin concentration and 24-hour personal exposure to particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter ≤2.5μm (PM 2.5 ), black carbon (BC), and carbon monoxide (CO) at three timepoints (9-20, 24-28, and 32-36 weeks gestation). We evaluate the effects of the intervention on hemoglobin concentration and conduct exposure-response analyses to examine associations between 24-hour personal exposure to measured pollutants and hemoglobin concentration. We identify a significant increase in hemoglobin in the intervention group (0.074 g/dL, 95% CI: 0.002, 0.145) compared to the control group. In exposure-response analyses, each 1ppm increase in CO exposure is associated with a 0.015 g/dL (95% CI: 0.008, 0.023) increase in hemoglobin. In our analyses, neither PM 2.5 nor BC are associated with hemoglobin concentration. Further research may be needed to examine the biological mechanisms underlying our findings.

Article Details

Volume / Issue Vol. 17, Issue 1
Published June 10, 2026
ISSN 2041-1723
Publisher Nature Portfolio

Journal Info

Nature Communications

Nature Portfolio

ISSN: 2041-1723 Open Access Life Sciences

Authors (104)

S

Sheela S. Sinharoy

W

Wenlu Ye

A

Ajay Pillarisetti

S

Sant-Rayn Pasricha

L

Lisa M. Thompson

A

Anaite Diaz-Artiga

U

Usha Ramakrishnan

G

Ghislaine Rosa

M

Maggie L. Clark

V

Vigneswari Aravindalochanan

K

Kyle Steenland

S

Shirin Jabbarzadeh

Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta

L

Lindsay J. Underhill

M

Miles A. Kirby

A

Amy E. Lovvorn

W

William Checkley

J

Jennifer L. Peel

T

Thomas F. Clasen

K

Kirk R. Smith

E

Eduardo Canuz

A

Adly Castañaza

C

Carmen Lucia Contreras

O

Oscar De León

I

Irma Sayury Pineda Fuentes

M

Mayari Hengstermann

J

John P. McCracken

E

Erick Mollinedo

L

Libny Monroy

A

Alexander Ramirez

E

Elisa Puzzolo

S

Sarah Rajkumar

B

Bonnie N. Young

D

Dana Boyd Barr

P

Priya D’Souza

S

Savannah Gupton

I

Ian Hennessee

G

Grace Lee

J

Jiawen Liao

J

Julia N. McPeek

P

Parinya Panuwet

P

P. Barry Ryan

K

Kalpana Balakrishnan

S

Sarada Satyamoorthy Garg

K

Krishnendu Mukhopadhyay

D

Durairaj Natesan

N

Naveen Puttaswamy

K

Karthikeyan Dharmapuri Rajamani

R

Rengaraj Ramasami

S

Sudhakar Saidam

S

Sankar Sambandam

S

Saritha Sendhil

G

Gurusamy Thangavel

H

Howard H. Chang

Y

Yunyun Chen

L

Lisa Elon

M

Marjorie Howard

A

Azhar Nizam

A

Amit Verma

L

Lance A. Waller

Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta

J

Jiantong Wang

M

Megan Warnock

V

Victor G. Dávila-Román

L

Lisa de las Fuentes

Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA.

P

Patricia M. Lenzen

R

Rachel Meyers

A

Ashley K. Toenjes

D

Dina Goodman-Palmer

P

Phabiola M. Herrera

S

Shakir Hossen

L

Laura Nicolaou

K

Kendra N. Williams

G

Gloriose Bankundiye

E

Ephrem Dusabimana

J

Jane Mbabazi

A

Alexie Mukeshimana

M

Moses Mutabazi

B

Bernard Mutariyani

F

Florien Ndagijimana

A

Adolphe Ndikubwimana

J

Jean de Dieu Ntivuguruzwa

V

Vanessa Burrowes

S

Steven A. Harvey

Department of Otolaryngology and Communication Sciences, Medical College of Wisconsin, Wauwatosa

E

Eric D. McCollum

L

Lawrence H. Moulton

A

Alejandra Bussalleu

M

Marilú Chiang

J

Juan Gabriel Espinoza

S

Stella M. Hartinger

J

J. Jaime Miranda

D

Devan Campbell

K

Katherine Kearns

J

Jacob Kremer

L

Luke P. Naeher

D

Damien Swearing

R

Rachel Craik

A

Aris T. Papageorghiou

A

Ashley Younger

A

Ahana Ghosh

M

Michael A. Johnson

R

Ricardo Piedrahita

S

Sarah Hamid

J

Joshua Rosenthal

S

Suzanne Simkovich

V

Viviane Valdes