WHO's website on indoor air pollution http://www.who.int/indoorair/
Provides an overview of the health and broader impacts of cooking and heating with solid fuels, a description of interventions to reduce indoor air pollution, links between household energy and the Millennium Development Goals and WHO's activities towards reducing indoor air pollution. The website also provides easy access to the burden of disease, databases on indoor air pollution and acute respiratory infections in children under five, and useful publications and information resources. "According to The World Health Report 2002 indoor air pollution is responsible for 2.7% of the global burden of disease." http://www.who.int/indoorair/health_impacts/disease/en/ WHO: Health effects http://www.who.int/indoorair/health_impacts/burden_global/en/ WHO: Global burden of disease due to indoor air pollution http://www.who.int/indoorair/health_impacts/burden_regional/en/ WHO: Regional burden of disease due to indoor air pollution http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/health_effects/en/ The health effects of indoor air pollution exposure in developing countries This publication is a concise summary of the evidence for health effects of exposure to indoor air pollution from solid fuel use in children and adults. [pdf, 266 kb] http://whqlibdoc.who.int/hq/2002/WHO_SDE_OEH_02.05.pdf http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/bulletin/en/ Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge This article summarizes the evidence for health effects of exposure to indoor air pollution from solid fuel use in children and adults. [pdf, 1.6 Mb] http://www.who.int/docstore/bulletin/pdf/2000/issue9/bul0711.pdf World Health Report 2002 Solid fuel use is now ranked 8th in health burden worldwide (lost healthy life years - DALYs), and ranked fourth in least-developed countries (which make up about 40% of the world population) according to the World Health Report 2002. This report represents one of the largest research projects ever undertaken by the World Health Organization. The full report can be accessed online at http://www.who.int/whr/en. See Chapter 4 and Annexes 6-15 in particular for details related to environmental risk factors which include solid fuel use. Particularly relevant sections include: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/chapter4/en/index7.html and http://www.who.int/whr/2002/chapter4/en/index10.html#fig_4_10 -- see Figure 4.10 Annexes and Tables http://www.who.int/entity/whr/2002/annex/en From Chapter 4, World Health Report 2002: Indoor smoke from solid fuels Although air pollutant emissions are dominated by outdoor sources, human exposures are a function of the level of pollution in places where people spend most of their time (51 ,53 ). Human exposure to air pollution is thus dominated by the indoor environment. Cooking and heating with solid fuels such as dung, wood, agricultural residues or coal is likely to be the largest source of indoor air pollution globally. When used in simple cooking stoves, these fuels emit substantial amounts of pollutants, including respirable particles, carbon monoxide, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, and benzene. Nearly half the world continues to cook with solid fuels. This includes more than 75% of people in India, China and nearby countries, and 50--75% of people in parts of South America and Africa. Limited ventilation is common in many developing countries and increases exposure, particularly for women and young children who spend much of their time indoors. Exposures have been measured at many times higher than WHO guidelines and national standards, and thus can be substantially greater than outdoors in cities with the most severe air pollution. Studies have shown reasonably consistent and strong relationships between the indoor use of solid fuel and a number of diseases. These analyses estimate that indoor smoke from solid fuels causes about 35.7% of lower respiratory infections, 22.0% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and 1.5% of trachea, bronchus and lung cancer. Indoor air pollution may also be associated with tuberculosis, cataracts and asthma. In total, 2.7% of DALYs worldwide are attributable to indoor smoke, 2.5% in males and 2.8% in females. Of this total attributable burden, about 32% occurs in Africa (AFR-D and AFR-E), 37% in SEAR-D and 16% in WPR-B. Among women, indoor air smoke causes approximately 3--4% of DALYs in AFR-D, AFR-E, EMR-D, SEAR-D and WPR-B. The most important interventions to reduce this impact are better ventilation, more efficient vented stoves, and cleaner fuels. From text with Figure 4.10: http://www.who.int/whr/2002/chapter4/en/index10.html#fig_4_10 Perhaps the most striking finding is the extraordinary concentration of risks in the high mortality developing countries. Among these countries with just over two-fifths of the world's population, not only are the rates of disease and injury particularly high, but the contribution made by relatively few risk factors is particularly great. About one-sixth of the entire disease burden in these countries is attributed to underweight, with a substantial additional proportion attributable to micronutrient deficiencies. The burden resulting from these risks alone approaches that of the entire disease and injury burden in industrialized countries. Just over one-tenth of all disease burden in high mortality developing countries is attributable to unsafe sex, with unsafe water accounting for about 4--5% of the burden. In all the high mortality developing regions, underweight, unsafe water, sanitation and hygiene, and indoor smoke from solid fuels feature in the leading six of these selected risks. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://infoarchive.net/sgroup/biofuel/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Yahoo! 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