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The effects of indoor air pollutants range from short-term effects including eye and throat irritation, to long-term effects including respiratory disease and cancer. Exposure to high levels of some pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, can even result in immediate death. More than three billion people worldwide continue to depend on solid fuels, including biomass fuels (wood, dung, agricultural residues) and coal, for their energy needs. Many groups are especially susceptible to the health effects of indoor pollutants which include infants and the elderly, those with heart and lung diseases, people with asthma, and individuals who have developed extreme sensitivity to chemicals.
Indoor smoke contains a range of health-damaging pollutants, such as small particles and carbon monoxide, and particulate pollution levels may be 20 times higher than accepted guideline values.
This study focuses on the use of solid fuels for cooking and heating which is probably the largest, traditional source of indoor air pollution globally. It estimates the burden of respiratory ill health in South African children and adults from exposure to indoor air pollution associated with household use of solid fuels in 2000 using the comparative risk assessment methodology developed by the WHO. View the results. (pdf format, 362 kb) |
