4 research outputs found
Household Cooking with Solid Fuels Contributes to Ambient PM2.5 Air Pollution and the Burden of Disease
Background: Approximately 2.8 billion people cook with solid fuels. Research has focused on the
health impacts of indoor exposure to fine particulate pollution. Here, for the 2010 Global Burden
of Disease project (GBD 2010), we evaluated the impact of household cooking with solid fuels on
regional population-weighted ambient PM₂.₅ (particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm) pollution (APM₂.₅).
Objectives: We estimated the proportion and concentrations of APMâ‚‚.â‚… attributable to household
cooking with solid fuels (PMâ‚‚.â‚…-cook) for the years 1990, 2005, and 2010 in 170 countries, and
associated ill health.
Methods: We used an energy supply–driven emissions model (GAINS; Greenhouse Gas and Air
Pollution Interactions and Synergies) and source-receptor model (TM5-FASST) to estimate the
proportion of APMâ‚‚.â‚… produced by households and the proportion of household PMâ‚‚.â‚… emissions
from cooking with solid fuels. We estimated health effects using GBD 2010 data on ill health from
APMâ‚‚.â‚… exposure.
Results: In 2010, household cooking with solid fuels accounted for 12% of APMâ‚‚.â‚… globally,
varying from 0% of APM₂.₅ in five higher-income regions to 37% (2.8 μg/m³ of 6.9 μg/m³ total)
in southern sub-Saharan Africa. PMâ‚‚.â‚…-cook constituted > 10% of APMâ‚‚.â‚… in seven regions housing
4.4 billion people. South Asia showed the highest regional concentration of APMâ‚‚.â‚… from household
cooking (8.6 μg/m³). On the basis of GBD 2010, we estimate that exposure to APM₂.₅ from
cooking with solid fuels caused the loss of 370,000 lives and 9.9 million disability-adjusted life years
globally in 2010.
Conclusions: PMâ‚‚.â‚… emissions from household cooking constitute an important portion of
APMâ‚‚.â‚… concentrations in many places, including India and China. Efforts to improve ambient air
quality will be hindered if household cooking conditions are not addressed.Population and Public Health (SPPH), School ofNon UBCMedicine, Faculty ofReviewedFacult