Fueling Clean Household Environments

Excerpt

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines household air pollution (HAP) as air pollution generated by household fuel combustion, leading to indoor air pollution and contributing to ambient air pollution (WHO 2014). From the first study some 30 years ago, which reported rural Indian women’s personal exposure measurements to particulate matter from using biomass cookstoves to the hundreds of studies that now present HAP exposure measurements, these have collectively and unequivocally shown air pollution levels in homes that burn solid fuels to be unacceptably high, exposing women, men and children to pollutant concentrations well in excess of WHO air quality guidelines. The health burden attributable to HAP is massive, with WHO estimating 2.6–3.8 million premature deaths resulting from child pneumonia, ischemic heart disease, stroke, chronic obstructive lung disease and lung cancer, mostly among the rural poor of low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The list of diseases impacted by HAP continues to expand, including early data for diabetes and cognitive effects, and now includes nearly every health end point shown to be previously associated with active and passive tobacco smoking. …