Five Things to Know About Indoor Air Pollution

Published June 04, 2009 @ 04:50PM PT

1. In the developing world, indoor air pollution is a rural problem, not an urban problem. It results primarily from cooking smoke emitted by indoor stoves or open fires that burn solid fuels. Solid fuels include coal, crop residues, wood, and dung. Burning biomass like crops and dung causes fewer health impacts than coal.

2. Cooking smoke can contain a whole range of ugly stuff, including small particles, carbon monoxide, toxic hydrocarbons, formaldehyde, benzene, and nitrogen and sulfur oxides. Women, as primary cooks in most households, bear the brunt of the exposure to these toxins.

3. According to the WHO's world health report 2002, indoor air pollution causes 2.7% of the global burden of disease. There are 23 countries in which indoor air pollution causes 10% of deaths. The health effects of indoor air pollution include acute respiratory infections, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, cataracts, tuberculosis, and bad pregnancy outcomes.

4. Reducing indoor air pollution generally focuses on moving the polluted air outside, through improved ventilation and improved stoves. This improves the health of the residents of a given house, but better venting contributes to outdoor air pollution. In some cases, venting all houses would lead to a toxic outdoor environment.

5. Solar cookers are often discussed as a solution that doesn't just move the toxins from inside to outside. However, people are very resistant to learning a whole new way of cooking, and food tastes different from a solar cooker.

Spread the Word

More You Can Do

Get action and news alerts about Global Health »
Browse top Global Health organizations to support »
Find out more about Global Health and what you can do to help »

Comments (3)

Thanks for this post - I haven't heard much about this topic in reading about global health. Cooking on a stove is definitely something I take for granted.

Posted by Lillian Gu on 06/06/2009 @ 09:44PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
Reply to thread
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Lillian
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Point 5: That solar cooking tastes different from cooking over polluting smoke is a very weak argument against solar cookers. Hand out bottles of smoke flavoring, but you might be surprised that people don't want them. If women are made aware that their lives will be shortened if they cook using biomass burning, they will thank you a thousand times for a solar cooker. For perspective on the toll wood smoke particulates take in the United States through residential heating see http://woodsmokenuisance.spaces.live.com

Posted by Linda Karr on 10/16/2009 @ 03:20PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Linda
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply
Point 5: Wood smoke produces PM2.5 particulates which are smaller than the particulates that coal burning produces. Since PM2.5 is the perfect size to infiltrate human lungs and circulatory systems, the wood smoke has more negative health impacts on humans than the same amount of coal smoke. And since wood smoke is produced where people spend most of their time, their homes, wood smoke has more time to affect people, than coal smoke emitted in an industrial area. Wood smoke causes heart disease, lung cancer and cataracts. Soot or Black Carbon is the 2nd leading cause of Global Warming, and stopping it is the quickest way to slow climate change.

Posted by Linda Karr on 10/16/2009 @ 03:28PM PT
- Report close
  You must be signed in to report content.
- Reply
- Like
For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment. In the process we will also create a Change.org account for you so you can track this and future conversations. Don't worry - we won't spam you. We just want to promote constructive dialogue and find that people are more respectful when they are not anonymous.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

reply to thread started by by Linda
Check Spelling
- Email me when there are new posts to this thread
- Comment Policy
Cancel Reply

Add a Comment

For your comment to be published, you will need to confirm your email address after submitting your comment.

If you already have an account, click here to log in.

First Name:

Last Name:

Email:

Create Password:

Comment

Check Spelling

Email me when there are new posts to this thread
Comment Policy

Comments on Change.org are meant for further exploration and evaluation of the ideas covered in the posts. To that end, we welcome constructive comments. However, we reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive, abusive, or off-topic; that contain ad hominem attacks; or that are designed to subvert or hijack comment threads rather than contribute to them. Repeat offenders may be permanently removed from the site at our discretion.

Author

Alanna Shaikh has spent the last ten years immersed in global health; she has worked for NGOs, companies, universities, and the US government on projects that ranged from preventing antibacterial resistance to improving maternal and child health.