Indoor combustion and asthma.
Indoor combustion produces both gases (eg, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide) and particulate matter that may affect the development or exacerbation of asthma. Sources in the home include both heating devices (eg, fireplaces, woodstoves, kerosene heaters, flued [ie, vented] or nonflued gas heaters) and gas stoves for cooking. This article highlights the recent literature examining associations between exposure to indoor combustion and asthma development and severity. Since asthma is a chronic condition affecting both children and adults, both age groups are included in this article. Overall, there is some evidence of an association between exposure to indoor combustion and asthma, particularly asthma symptoms in children. Some sources of combustion such as coal stoves have been more consistently associated with these outcomes than other sources such as woodstoves.
Yale University School of Medicine, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, New Haven, CT 06510, USA. kathleen.belanger@yale.edu
Kathleen
K
Belanger
Elizabeth W
EW
Triche
D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000209:etiology*; D003296:Cooking; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D006361:Heating; D006801:Humans; D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide
D009585:Nitrogen Dioxide