Hanoi (VNA) - Many people know the environmentalharm of using a traditional earthenware stove with coal, but due to its cheapprice, many families still use it for cooking and warming their house,endangering their health, according to experts.

A survey of the environment sub-department under the Hanoi Departmentof Natural Resources and Environment showed that on average, Hanoi consumesmore than 528 tonnes of coal per day, meaning 1,870 tonnes of carbon dioxideare released into the air daily.

Thousands of coal traditional earthenware stoves contributeto this figure, with many placed on pavements, in public places and at smallrestaurants.

Statistics of the Poisoning Prevention Centre under the BachMai Hospital showed that dozens of patients need treatment for coal airpoisoning per year, and fatalities have been reported.

Its latest survey on hundreds of households in Ba Dinh, DongDa and Soc Son districts showed that the rate of residents using coal stove was73, 63 and 56 percent, respectively. A coal stove costs about 100,000-200,000 VND (4-8 USD).

Nguyen Thi Hoa, a Dong Da district resident, said that shehas sold rice vermicelli for the past two years, using a coal stove.

“It takes only 3,000 VND (0.1 USD) per piece of coal for thestove, I can cook for two hours,” she said.

Hoa added that all restaurants nearby use the cooker.

“I know that it is poisonous, but if I use a modern cooker, Iwill not have profits, and would even suffer losses,” she said.

Le Dinh Cong, a resident in Dong Da district, said his familyused a gas cooker, but many neighbours use coal stoves.

“All of my small alley is full of coal smell causingdifficulty breathing,” he said.

“I’m not sure it is because of coal stoves or not, but everynight I feel a tightness across my chest, dizzyness and difficulty breathing,”said Cong.

Nguyen Thanh Mai, a doctor of the Bach Mai Hospital, saidcoal stoves could lead to different diseases such as pneumonia, bronchitis, lungcancer and coal air poisoning.

But, she said, it was difficult to ban the stoves, especiallyfor those with low income.

|“We need to give more instruction to residents to limit thestoves’ harm,” said Mai.

People should use the stoves in airy places, and not it innarrow or closed rooms to avoid poisoning, she said.

In 2011, a mother and her two children in the centralprovince of Ha Tinh died of coal air poisoning after using coal stove to warmtheir house at night. 

In February 2014, a man in the central province of Thanh Hoapassed out unconscious whereas his daughter died after using the stove to staywarm.-VNA