Indoor air pollution in rural China: cooking fuels, stoves, and health status.
Solid fuels are a major source of indoor air pollution, but in less developed countries the short-term health effects of indoor air pollution are poorly understood. The authors conducted a large cross-sectional study of rural Chinese households to determine associations between individual health status and domestic cooking as a source of indoor air pollution. The study included measures of health status as well as measures of indoor air-pollution sources, such as solid cooking fuels and cooking stoves. Compared with other fuel types, coal was associated with a lower health status, including negative impacts on exhaled carbon monoxide level, forced vital capacity, lifetime prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma, and health care utilization. Decreasing household coal use, increasing use of improved stove technology, and increasing kitchen ventilation may decrease the short-term health effects of indoor air pollution.
Peabody
John W
JW
Institute for Global Health, University of California, San Francisco, USA. peabody@psg.ucsf.edu
Riddell
Travis J
TJ
Smith
Kirk R
KR
Liu
Yaping
Y
Zhao
Yanyun
Y
Gong
Jianghui
J
Milet
Meredith
M
Sinton
Jonathan E
JE
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China; D003296:Cooking / Q000295:instrumentation*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005579:Fossil Fuels / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012424:Rural Population
D005579:Fossil Fuels