By Nidhi DhullReviewed by Susha Cheriyedath, M.Sc.Sep 24 2024A recent article published in StanfordReport proposed a low-carbon flooring mix as a healthy solution to dirt floors common in some rural regions worldwide. Unlike the easy-to-clean but environmentally hazardous concrete floors, the proposed low-carbon concrete floors offer sustainable solutions.
Study: Lower-carbon concrete floors could pave the way to a health solution. Image Credit: 4045/Shutterstock.com
Background
About 1.7 billion children suffer from diarrheal diseases annually. A Stanford School of Medicine team analyzed the effect of sanitation, water, and hygiene interventions on health consequences in low- and middle-income Bangladeshi families in a 2012-2013 trial. It was concluded that many general strategies, such as maintaining latrines or hand washing, were inadequate in protecting children from diseases.
While the adopted strategies were costly and difficult for vulnerable societies to maintain for long, the floor was another potential reason for their inefficacy.
Notably, about 70% of rural households in Bangladesh possess soil-packed floors. Young children crawling, eating, and playing on these floors often ingest disease-transmitting microscopic soil-based parasites and traces of human waste.
Alternatively, upgraded homes with concrete floors could be easier to clean and lower pathogen transmission. Thus, concrete floors were considered a potential hygiene intervention to decrease the exposure of little children to soil. However, replacing soil-packed floors with concrete to enhance health could have unintentional climate consequences.
Methods
Cement, water, and a mix of sand, gravel, or other aggregates form the three primary ingredients of all concrete blends. However, this versatile construction material is environmentally costly, as cement production alone is responsible for 5-10% of the global carbon emissions. Thus, Stanford epidemiologists and engineers are developing a low-carbon concrete mix.
Firstly, the reason behind the effectiveness of concrete in decreasing pathogen transmission is being explored to design low-emission concrete substitutes with similar properties. Additionally, economical ingredients in countries like Bangladesh that can be readily installed with present tools and infrastructure are being considered.
Recycled fly ash, a coal-burning byproduct, is a potential ingredient for lower-emissions cement. The heavy metals in fly ash become inert when integrated into cement, making it harmless for household use. Moreover, such a concrete mix is durable and affordable, generates lower emissions, and utilizes hazardous materials that otherwise end up in landfills.
Accordingly, a doctoral student started experimenting with concrete tiles fabricated from alternative “green” cement at the Blume Earthquake Engineering Center. These tiles were inoculated with pathogens like Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Ascaris suum, common in the soil floors of homes in the study site, to examine their survival on the tile surface without and with cleaning.
Initial Results and Future Studies
The Stanford team’s initial experiments demonstrated similar survival rates of E. coli and Ascaris suum on conventional cement mix slabs and alternative “green” fly ash slabs. Thus, the alternative cement mix-based concrete could be as efficient as traditional concrete in decreasing disease transmission in homes.
Based on these findings, the research team is implementing the new low-carbon concrete mix in field-based trials financed by the National Institutes of Health to thoroughly evaluate the relationship of concrete floors with maternal and child health. Accordingly, concrete floors are being installed in the households of pregnant mothers in their second or third trimesters with the help of the Village Education Research Center, a local non-governmental organization in Bangladesh.
The children’s health status will be monitored in these homes for two years post-birth and compared with children born in households with conventional soil-packed floors. Apart from the physical health advantages, the mental health profits for mothers in the new concrete-floor homes will be measured. This aligns with the public health interventions for children, often focusing on factors that increase a mom's workload.
Conclusion
Overall, the present research has established that concrete floors can reduce the time mothers spend cleaning the home as they are easier to wipe down and sanitize. Notably, a 2009 Mexico-based study demonstrated that mothers had lower rates of stress and depression and higher self-testified satisfaction with life quality after concrete floor installation.
Stanford Medicine is now considering how to practice medicine appropriately without generating significant waste. The project on “green” cement for flooring can be a model for incorporating public health with sustainability. This project involves collaborators from four disciplines: civil engineering, epidemiology, environmental engineering, and sustainability.
Besides enhancing the housing infrastructure, the proposed “green” mix can help lower emissions across the $700 billion global concrete construction industry. Moreover, such public health interventions help mitigate the climate impact in low-lying nations such as Bangladesh, which is highly vulnerable to storms, sea-level rise, agricultural losses, and other intensified climate change impacts.
Journal Reference
Lower-carbon concrete floors could pave the way to a health solution. (2024). StanfordReport, Stanford University. https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2024/09/lower-carbon-concrete-floors-could-pave-the-way-to-a-health-solution
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