Difference between revisions of "Indoor Air Pollution (IAP)"

From energypedia
***** (***** | *****)
m
***** (***** | *****)
m
Tag: 2017 source edit
 
(66 intermediate revisions by 11 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
= Overview<br/> =
 
= Overview<br/> =
  
[[File:Cooking on open fire, Indonesia 2011, Katharina Wiedemann.jpg|thumb|Cooking on open fire, Indonesia, Purwodadi Area]]
+
[[File:Cooking on open fire, Indonesia 2011, Katharina Wiedemann.jpg|thumb|180px|alt=Cooking on open fire, Indonesia 2011, Katharina Wiedemann.jpg]] '''Indoor air pollution (IAP) also called household air pollution (HAP)''' in developing countries is a major environmental and public health challenge. According to data from the World Health organisation<ref name="https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health#:~:text=Over%203.8%20million%20people%20a,27%25%20are%20due%20to%20pneumonia">WHO (2021): Household air pollution and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health#:~:text=Over%203.8%20million%20people%20a,27%25%20are%20due%20to%20pneumonia</ref> as many as 3.8 million people die each year as a result of it worldwide. This can be compared with one death every 8 seconds. Most of the death occur in middle and low income countries in South East Asia with 1.69 million death, followed by the Western Pacific regions 1.62 million, Africa 600,000, Eastern Mediterranean region 200,000, Europe 99,000, and in the Americas 81,000 death. In high income countries 19,000 people died because of IAP. IAP/HAP has to be distinguished from outdoor '''ambient air pollution (AAP)''' which supposedly caused the death of another 3.7 million people in 2012.<br/>Indoor sources of IAP/HAP are cooking and heating with solid fuels, burning candles or oil lamps, fuel-burning space heaters and tobacco smoke. Of special importance is inefficient and insufficiently vented cooking and heating with solid fuels (biomass and coal) on simple stoves or open fires. Burning these fuels in inefficient stoves results in poor combustion efficiency and high levels of emissions of health-damaging pollutants including both fine and coarse particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO<sub><font size="2">2</font></sub>), sulfur dioxide (SO<sub><font size="2">2</font></sub>), and a variety of organic air pollutants (e.g., formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, acetaldehyde, acrolein, phenols, pyrene, benzopyrene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenzopyrenes, dibenzocarbazoles, and cresols). In a typical solid fuel stove, about 6–20% of the solid fuel is converted into toxic emissions (by mass). The exact quantity and relative composition of the emissions is determined by various factors such as the fuel type and moisture content, stove type and the way the stove and fuel is used by the cook. <ref name="http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/FINAL_HAP_AAP_BoD_24March2014.pdf?ua=1">http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/FINAL_HAP_AAP_BoD_24March2014.pdf?ua=1</ref> Most measurements of emissions and the corresponding literature focus on the concentration of particulate matter of different sizes (e.g., PM<sub><font size="2">2.5</font></sub>, PM<sub><font size="2">10</font></sub>) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are main products of incomplete combustion and are considered to pose the greatest health risk. According to estimations 2.9 billion people used solid fuels (mainly biomass, in the form of wood, charcol, dung, and crop residue) for cooking and other heating purposes in 2012 <ref name="http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-air-pollution-assessment-larsen">http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-air-pollution-assessment-larsen</ref>. Around 80% of them reside in rural and 20% in urban areas. Because much of the burning of solid fuels is carried out indoors in environments with insufficient ventilation, millions of people, primarily poor women and children face serious health risks.<br/>
  
'''Indoor air pollution (IAP)''' in developing countries is a major environmental and public health challenge. According to the
+
<br/>
 +
= Health Effects<br/> =
 +
 
 +
According to WHO there is consistent evidence that exposure to household air pollution is a major risk factor leading to '''acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI)''' in children under five, and ischaemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, '''chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)''' and '''lung cancer (LC)''' in adults.<ref name="http://www.who.int/gho/phe/indoor_air_pollution/en/">http://www.who.int/gho/phe/indoor_air_pollution/en/</ref>In addition, the smoke from burning biomass is also causing eye irritations.<br/>Smoke in form of particulate matter with particle diameters of less than 10 micrometers in diameter penetrate deep into the lungs. At sizes of 2.5 micrometers particles can enter the finest parts of the lungs. Ultrafine particles get even into the bloodstream. Exposure to particulate matter has short-term effects such as nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath as well as more severe effects on the respiratory system such as pneumonia and asthma. Children are especially affected by ALRI. A child exposed to smoke in the home is two to three times more likely to catch pneumonia. Globally, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections represent the single most important cause of death in children under five years. Exposure to IAP more than doubles the risk of pneumonia. Women exposed to indoor smoke are three times as likely to suffer from chronic bronchitis and other obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) than women who cook and heat with electricity, gas and other cleaner fuels. In addition, there are indications, that indoor smoke is also causing tuberculosis, cataracts, low birth weight and high infant mortality. Most of the victims of IAP are women and children, as they are exposed to the source of indoor smoke and the large associated health risks the most. Women spend daily three to seven hours near the stove with their kids breathing polluted air during cooking. At the early age of the children, when they are newborns or infants, their immature lungs and immune systems make them particularly vulnerable. Over 10 million children aged under five years die every year – 99% of them in developing countries.<ref name="Fuel for Life - Household Energy and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006 http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/fuelforlife.pdf">Fuel for Life - Household Energy and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006. http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/fuelforlife.pdf</ref> According to Global Disease Study 2010 the relationship between exposure to pollutants and health effects is often not linear. In the case of PM<sub><font size="2">2.5</font></sub> an exposure response model estimating health effects by using '''relative risk (RR)''' information for ALRI, IHD,stroke, COPD, and LC is assuming a kind of exponential saturation curve. The health risks rise significantly with increasing concentrations of PM<sub><font size="2">2.5</font></sub>at lower levels. The effect becomes less pronounced at higher PM<sub><font size="2">2.5</font></sub> exposure levels. This has major implications for strategies to reduce health risks by controlling air pollution at high exposure concentration levels.<br/>The actual health impacts of pollutants depends on the inhaled dose which is the result of the inhalation rate (m³/hr) x the average exposure concentration (mg/m³)x exposure duration (hr).<br/>
 +
 
 +
<br/>
 +
 
 +
= Regulations and Recommended Maximum Concentrations of PM and CO<br/> =
  
'''World Health Organization ([http://www.who.int/en/ WHO]) '''as many as 1.5 million people die each year as a result of it. This can be compared with one death every 20 seconds.
+
Due to the severe health risks of air pollutants, many governments and international organisations have defined maximum concentrations of pollutants for emissions allowed from certain types of pollution sources, for the ambient air (immissions) and for workplaces or short periods of exposure. This chapter only presents the data for PM and CO as they are most widely used to measure the degree of air pollution.<br/>The following table gives an overview about current standards.<ref name="Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates#Regulation; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/directive.htm;">Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates#Regulation; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/directive.htm; </ref><br/><br/>
  
The overwhelming cause of this pollution is inefficient und poorly ventilated cooking and heating with solid-fuels. More than half the world’s population are still cooking with wood, dung, coal or agricultural residues on simple stoves or open fires. Burning these fuels results in poor combustion efficiency and high levels of IAP. Respirable particulates, small particles of smoke which get into the lungs, are considered to be the most dangerous pollutant, and carbon monoxide is another known hazard.
+
{| style="width: 100%" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1" border="1"
 +
|-
 +
| '''Pollutant'''
 +
| '''Standard'''
 +
| '''Averaging Time'''
 +
| '''Country/Region'''
 +
|-
 +
| PM<sub>10</sub><br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 150 μg/m³
 +
|}
  
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 24-hour
 +
|}
  
 +
| USA
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 50 μg/m³
 +
|}
  
= Health Effects<br/> =
+
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 24-hour
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
| EU
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 40 μg/m³
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | annual
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 99px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 99px;  height: 17px" | EU
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 150 μg/m³
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 24 hrs
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 99px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 99px;  height: 17px" | China
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 70 μg/m³
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | annual
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 99px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 99px;  height: 17px" | China
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 50 μg/m³
 +
| 24 hrs
 +
| WHO
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 20 μg/m³
 +
| annual
 +
| WHO
 +
|-
 +
| PM<sub>2.5</sub>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 35 μg/m³
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 24-hour
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
| USA
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 15 μg/m³c
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | annual
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
| USA
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 25 μg/m³c
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
| annual
 +
| EU
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 75 μg/m³c
 +
|}
 +
 
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 24 hours
 +
|}
  
Most of the victims are women and children, they are exposed to the indoor smoke and the large associated health risks the most.
+
|
 +
{| style="width: 99px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 99px;  height: 17px" | China
 +
|}
  
Indoor smoke is the fourth most risk to death and disease in the world's poorest countries (only malnutrition and underweight, unsafe sex and the lack of clean water cause more victims then cooking indoor on open fires.<ref>"World Health Report's estimates of death and ill-health (DALYs) from leading risk factors in the year 2000 (source: Warwick/ Doig: smoke – the killer in the kitchen)" http://72.26.206.144/sites/default/files/itdgSmokeReport.pdf</ref>)
+
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 35 μg/m³c
 +
|}
  
Indoor smoke hits women and small children the hardest, they are exposed to very high levels of IAP and inhale significant amounts of seriously health-damaging pollutants on a daily basis. Often they are exposed to levels of smoke more than 100 times above accepted safety levels. According to the World Energy Assessment, the smoke produced from indoor fires is the equivalent to smoking two packs of cigarettes a day. Especially newborns and infants are often spending many hours breathing polluted air during their first year of life because they are carried on their mother‘s back while she is cooking. Over 10 million children aged under five years die every year – 99% of them in developing countries.<ref name="Fuel for Life - Household Energy and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006">http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/fuelforlife.pdf</ref>
+
| annual
 +
| China
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 25 μg/m³c
 +
| 24 hrs
 +
| WHO
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 10 μg/m³c
 +
| annual
 +
| WHO
 +
|-
 +
| CO
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 35 ppm (40 mg/m³)
 +
|}
  
These women self spend daily three to seven hours near the fire with their kids. At that early age of the children their immature lungs and immune systems make them particularly vulnerable.
+
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 1-hour
 +
|}
  
Fuels like wood, dung, crop waste, coal and charcoal typically burn in the house as open fires or in stoves with incomplete combustion. Particles with diameters less than 10 micron (PM10) deeply enter into the lungs. Such particles include carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, sulphur oxides, formaldehyde, and polycyclic organic matter, including carcinogens accordingly IAP can have a cruel impact on health.<ref name="Adam Biran and Caroline Hunt, WELL factsheet, Indoor air pollution, cooking stoves and health, March 2003">http://www.lboro.ac.uk/well/resources/fact-sheets/fact-sheets-htm/iap.htm</ref><ref name="WHO, Fact sheet N°292, June 2005">http://www.cetesb.sp.gov.br/userfiles/file/laboratorios/fiea/poluicao_do_ar_ingles.pdf</ref>
+
|
 +
{| style="width: 99px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 99px;  height: 17px" | USA
 +
|}
  
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 9 ppm (10 mg/m³)
 +
|}
  
 +
| 8-hour
 +
| USA
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 9 ppm (10 mg/m³)
 +
|}
  
*<u>Pneumonia and respiratory infections:</u> The respiratory and immune systems can be damaged by the particulates from smoke. This again makes those affected more vulnerable to sickness. The biggest health impact known is on kids in the form of acute respiratory infections. A child exposed to smoke in the home is two to three times more likely to catch pneumonia. Globally, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections represent the single most important cause of death in children under five years. Exposure to IAP more than doubles the risk of pneumonia and is responsible for more than 900 000 of the 2 million annual deaths from pneumonia.
+
|
*&nbsp;<u>Chronic diseases:</u> Women exposed to indoor smoke are three times as likely to suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (e.g. chronic bronchitis) than women who cook and heat with electricity, gas and other cleaner fuels. IAP is responsible for approximately 700 000 out of the 2.7 million global deaths due to chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases.
+
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
*&nbsp;<u>Lung cancer:</u> To be exposed to smoke from coal fires doubles the risk of lung cancer, in particular among women who tend to smoke less than men in most developing countries. Every year, more than one million people die from lung cancer globally, and indoor air pollution is responsible for approximately 1.5% of these deaths.
+
|-
*&nbsp;In addition, there are indications, that indoor smoke is also causing <u>asthma, tuberculosis, cataracts, low birth weight and high infant mortality.</u>
+
| style="width: 95px; height: 17px" | 1-hour
 +
|}
  
 +
| EU
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 127px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 127px;  height: 17px" | 10-20 mg/m³
 +
|}
  
 +
|
 +
{| style="width: 95px" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0"
 +
|-
 +
| style="width: 95px;  height: 17px" | 1-hour
 +
|}
  
The annual average PM10 limit agreed upon by the European Union is 40 micrograms per cubic meter (ig/m<sup>3)</sup>, while the typical 24-hour levels of PM10 in biomass-using homes in Africa, Asia or Latin America range from 300 to 3,000ig/m3. Peaks during cooking may be as high as 10,000ig/m<sup>3 </sup>especially during the beginning ignition process when combustion is especially incomplete.<ref name="WHO: Air quality and health, Fact sheet N°313">http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html</ref>
+
| China
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 35 mg/
 +
| 1-hour
 +
| WHO
 +
|-
 +
| <br/>
 +
| 10 mg/
 +
| 8-hours
 +
| WHO
 +
|}
  
 +
The table shows a certain variability of the air quality standards in different countries and regions. The variability is mainly caused by different short and long term air quality targets of the countries, the path to obtain these targets considering resources, location, economic structure etc..<br/>In the case of PM2.5 WHO has defined three interim air quality targets for annual outdoor PM2.5., taking into consideration that achieving the full target will not be realistic for most developing countries in a short period of time. The interim air quality targets are: Level 1: 35, level 2: 25, and level 3: 15 μg/m3 per year.<br/>
  
 +
<br/>
  
= Status Quo<br/> =
+
= IAP/HAP, KAP&nbsp;and Cooking Systems<br/> =
  
The problem with polluted indoor air has been around since men had fire in caves. But there has been very little evidence of the IAP health impact. Compared with the enormous damages caused to people’s health and actions on the other main risks there has been extremely limited funding and activities to dam up this issue.
+
The term indoor air pollution (IAP) refers to toxic contaminations of the air in buildings (homes and workplaces). It is identifical with the term household air pollution (HAP) if referred to the air quality of dwellings.&nbsp;&nbsp;The concentration of pollutants is higher indoors compared to the ambient air pollution, if sources inside the house emit pollutants that do not diffuse rapidly to the outside.<br/>
  
<u>There are several reasons which indicate why this problem has not received more attention<ref name="Practical Action, Smoke, health and household energy, Volume 1, 2005">http://practicalaction.org/docs/smoke/Smoke_Health_and_Household_Energy.pdf</ref>:</u>
+
The level of exposure to IAP is not uniform in dwellings&nbsp;but depends on the air quality in the different rooms or areas in the building and the time a person is spending in the different rooms.&nbsp;Thus, the term kitchen air pollution refers&nbsp;specifically&nbsp;to the cooking place where concentrations of pollutants can be significantly higher than in the living room.<br/>In many&nbsp;industrial countries maximum concentrations of pollutants are defined for the air quality at workplaces but not for household situations under diferent denominations such as&nbsp; AGW (Arbeitsplatzgrenzwerte), MAK (Maximale Arbeitsplatzkonzentration),&nbsp;MAC (Maximaal Aanvaardbare Concentratie)&nbsp;VLEP (Valeur limites d'exposition professionelle), WEL (Workplace Exposure Limits), PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) and TLV (Threshold Limit Values).&nbsp;An overview about the different regulations are given by the International Labour Organisation on the following website [http://www.ilo.org/safework/info/publications/WCMS_151534/lang--en/index.htm. http://www.ilo.org/safework/info/publications/WCMS_151534/lang--en/index.htm.]&nbsp;<br/>
  
*Lack of recognition of the weight of challenge by policy-makers.
+
In several countries different types of maximum workspace concentrations are defined:<br/>
*Lack of funds, at government level, to address the scale of the problem.
 
*Low status of women and children in many poor communities.
 
*Failure to recognize that fuel-efficient stoves do not always alleviate smoke.
 
*Many households that use biomass are often overlooked in favor of electrification.
 
*Affected people are very poor and regularly biomass can be obtained at no monetary cost. Time cost is often not considered.
 
  
 +
#maximum average exposure values on the basis of a 8h/day, 40h/week work schedule<br/>
 +
#maximum short-term&nbsp;exposure limits&nbsp;for a duration of 1h, 15-30 minutes&nbsp;or less<br/>
 +
#maximum absolute exposure&nbsp;limits that should not be exceeded at any time.&nbsp;<br/>
  
 +
Most occupational&nbsp;exposure&nbsp;limits refer to the average&nbsp;values.&nbsp;This means that concentrations can be higher&nbsp;for&nbsp;periods lower than 8 hours. As a general rule: worker exposure levels may exceed 3 times the average level&nbsp; for no more than a total of 30 minutes during a workday, and under no circumstances should they exceed 5 times the average.&nbsp;<ref name="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissible_exposure_limit; ^">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissible_exposure_limit; ^ "437-002-0382 Oregon Rules for Air Contaminants" (PDF). Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division. Retrieved 30 January 2014.</ref>&nbsp;<br/>
  
According to '''Practical Action (PA)'''<ref name="Practical Action, Smoke - key questions answered">http://practicalaction.org/faq-2</ref>cleaning up the air in people’s homes will cost as little as $500m each year, less than 1% of what the West spends on aid to poor countries. The total cost of providing 3 billion people with access to healthy indoor air would be in the region of US$2.5 billion annually over the next 12 years. To set in motion an effective market in low cost smoke solutions, it is estimated that government spending and international development aid would be in the region of 20% this total - $500m.
+
For respirable dust, which penetrates the alveoles (comparable to PM2.5), occupational exposure limits in industrialized countries generally vary between 1.25 mg/m<sup>3</sup>&nbsp;and 5 mg/m<sup>3.</sup>. For&nbsp;inhalable dust (comparable to PM10) the respective values are between 10 and 15 mg/m<sup>3</sup>.<br/>
  
 +
For carbon monoxide, many&nbsp;countries established an average exposure limit of 35 mg/m<sup>3</sup>.&nbsp;The short-term maximum level for CO is generally higher, &nbsp;in the UK for example&nbsp;225 mg/m<sup>3</sup>.<ref name="http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/eh40.pdf">http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/eh40.pdf</ref>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<br/>
  
 +
Household air pollution&nbsp;caused by&nbsp;using&nbsp;solid fuels&nbsp;and simple inefficient stoves&nbsp;for cooking and heating,&nbsp;and by lighting&nbsp; homes with kerosene and simple wick lamps, is in many ways comparable to occupational air pollution. Both household practices produce high levels of pollutant emissions&nbsp;in specific areas for a limited&nbsp;period of time during the day. Cooking is generally done 3-4 times a day with a total time of roughly 4 hours. The cook and other people in the kitchen area are&nbsp;exposed to the pollution level at the cooking place only&nbsp;during that time.&nbsp;When leaving the kitchen for the rest of the day&nbsp;they are exposed to air quality situations, where the emissions from the stove&nbsp;are diluted up to a insignificant&nbsp;level. The same is applicable for using kerosene as fuel for lighting. The lights are used for a limited period of time in the evening and early morning in specific rooms. The exposure to pollutants&nbsp;depends again on the&nbsp;length and frequency of a person using these rooms. Generally these are less than 8 hours a day.&nbsp;<br/>
  
Awareness by the international community about the quality of indoor air has improved initial in the last years. There is now sufficient data to start action and to tackle the problem.
+
Based on this considerations, average maximum exposure limits of 5 - 10 mg/m<sup>3 </sup>for respirable dust, of 15 - 30 mg/m<sup>3</sup> for inhalable dust and of 70 mg/m<sup>3</sup> for carbon monoxide seem acceptable for the 2 billion people which use solid fuels for cooking<br/>
  
<u>Recent launches of new initiatives and several programs in different Organizations:</u>
+
<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 205)">The&nbsp;typical 24-hour levels of PM10 in biomass-using homes (kitchen) in Africa, Asia or Latin America range from 300 to 3,000 μg/m3. Peaks during cooking may be as high as 10,000 μg/m<sup>3 </sup>especially during the beginning ignition process when combustion is especially incomplete.<ref name="WHO: Air quality and health, Fact sheet N°313 http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html">WHO: Air quality and health, Fact sheet N°313fckLRhttp://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html</ref>&nbsp;Kitchen Air pollution for PM 2.5 average 100 - 1000 <font color="#0000cd">μg/m<sup><font size="2">3</font></sup></font>&nbsp; with peak levels of up to 2500 <font color="#0000cd">μg/m<sup><font size="2">3</font></sup></font>. </span><br/><br/><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 205)">Remote rural areas are likely to have better ambient air quality (even when biomass use is higher) than urban or periurban or well-connected rural locations where a more intensive use of commercial fuels and the higher traffic affect stronger the ambient air quality.</span><br/>
  
*World Health Organization’s Healthy Environments for Children Alliance (HECA),
+
<br/>
<div><div id="ftn3">
 
*United States Environmental Protection Agency-led Partnership on Clean Indoor Air,
 
*United Nations Development Program’s LPG Challenge,
 
*World Bank Energy Sector Management Program (ESMAP), significant research and development program
 
*Shell Foundation (established by the Shell Group in 2000 as an independent, UK registered charity operating with a global mandate)
 
*and many research institutions and non-governmental agencies around the world.
 
  
  
 +
= <span style="color:#000000">WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality and Emission Rate Targets (ERTs)</span><br/> =
  
A lot of research and field work is done already to find solutions and to raise awareness of the problem.
+
<br/>
  
  
</div></div>
 
 
= Reducing Indoor Air Pollution (IAP)<br/> =
 
= Reducing Indoor Air Pollution (IAP)<br/> =
  
<u>Measures to reduce IAP in developing countries:</u>
+
<u>Measures to reduce IAP in developing countries:</u><br/>
  
*Changes in energy technology, switching to cleaner alternatives (kerosene, liquid petroleum gas, biogas, electricity or solar energy)
+
*Changing the fuel, switching to cleaner alternatives, the so-called [[BLEENS - Biogas, Liquefied Petroleum Gas, Electricity, Ethanol, Natural Gas, and Solar|BLEENS]] (biogas,&nbsp;liquid petroleum gas(LPG),&nbsp;electricity, ethanol, natural gas&nbsp;or solar energy)<br/>
 +
*Improving the design and construction of traditional stoves to improve the combustion&nbsp;(improved stoves, advanced stoves clean stoves)&nbsp;<br/>
 +
*Improving the ventilation in the kitchen ([[Smoke Hoods|smoke hoods]] that vent pollutants to the outside, ventilation through windows, doors, chimney)<br/>
 +
*Inducing behavioral changes (using a pot lid when cooking to speeds up the cooking, drying wood before burning it, awareness-raising activities).<br/>
  
*Improving the design and construction of traditional stoves (improved stoves or [[Smoke Hoods|smoke hoods]] that vent pollutants to the outside
 
  
*Behavioral changes using a pot lid when cooking to speeds up the cooking, drying wood before burning it, awareness-raising activities)
+
== Cleaner Fuels / Improved Cookstoves<br/> ==
*Change the living environment (kitchen ventilation)
 
  
 +
The most effective way to reduce smoke in the home is to switch to cleaner fuels (liquid petroleum gas, kerosene or [[Biogas Basics|biogas]]). It’s also possible to improve the air quality and promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability by promoting [[Improved Cookstoves and Energy Saving Cooking Equipment|improved cooking stoves]].<br/>
  
 +
Gasifier stove can reduce kitchen air pollution values to 100-200 <font color="#0000cd">μg/m<sup><font size="2">3</font></sup></font> with peak levels of up to 1500 <font color="#0000cd">μg/m<sup><font size="2">3</font></sup></font>.<br/>
  
== Cleaner Fuels / Improved Cookstoves<br/> ==
 
  
The most effective way to reduce smoke in the home is to switch to cleaner fuels (liquid petroleum gas, kerosene or [[About Biogas|biogas]]). It’s also possible to improve the air quality and promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability by promoting [[Improved Cookstoves – What is it all about?|improved cooking stoves]].
+
== Chimney, Smoke Hoods<br/> ==
  
 +
The huge majority of people in developing countries who are still cooking on open fires are often too poor to change to improved stoves and cleaner fuels or have no access to modern combustibles. Where the use of biomass, wood or charcoal remains predominant, and the indoor environment remains subject to high levels of smoke, other alternatives have to be found to improve air quality and related health issues.<br/>
  
 +
The use of chimneys will remove all&nbsp;emissions from the stove away from the cooking space if there are no leaks in the stove and chimney. A functional chimney will thus protect household members from pollutants caused by&nbsp;burning fuels under the condition that it is regularly cleaned.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The installation of a [[Smoke Hoods|smoke hood]] can aslo be extremely effective in improving the air quality in houses, too. This applies especially, when traditional biomass burning stoves are being used without a chimney. In addition, some efficient stoves may not be clean and therefore employing a smoke hood allows for health benefits coupled with lower operating costs. Moreover, in some cultures, an open fire plays a special social role as a place around which the family gathers, traditional meals are cooked or other important rituals. As a result the introduction of improved cookstoves is difficult and a smoke hood serves as the best alternative for improving indoor air quality.<br/>
  
== Smoke Hoods<br/> ==
+
However, chimneys&nbsp;and smoke hoods will have only limited effects in areas where homes are tightly clustered together with minimal space&nbsp;between adjacent houses as in the case of urban slums. Under such conditions, the emissions vented through the chimney or hood lead to significant outdoor air pollution around the houses which affects&nbsp;the indoor air quality, too.<br/>
  
The huge majority of people in developing countries who are still cooking on open fires are often too poor to change to improved stoves and cleaner fuels or have no access to modern combustibles. Where the use of biomass, wood or charcoal remains predominant, and the indoor environment remains subject to high levels of smoke, other alternatives have to be found to improve air quality and related health issues.
+
<br/>
  
The installation of a [[Smoke Hoods|smoke hood]] can be extremely effective in &nbsp;improving the air quality in houses. This applies especially, when traditional biomass burning stoves are being used without a chimney. In addition, some efficient stoves may not be clean and therefore employing a smoke hood allows for health benefits coupled with lower operating costs. Moreover, in some cultures, an open fire plays a special social role as a place around which the &nbsp;family gathers, traditional meals are cooked or other important rituals. As a resultthe introduction of improved cookstoves is difficult and a smoke hood serves as the best alternative for improving indoor air quality.
+
== What&nbsp;prevents households&nbsp;from applying the different methods to reduce IAP?<br/> ==
  
 +
*male and female sometimes like the smoky taste of food. Therefore, they are not interested in 100% smokeless cooking.<br/>
 +
*some household cook inside with little ventilation to avoid higher&nbsp;firewood consumption because of the wind;<br/>
 +
*households often do not have a stock of cut wood drying over months as the stock is difficult to be protected against theft;<br/>
 +
*the use of chimney is difficult for thatched roofs;<br/>
  
  
 
= Impacts<br/> =
 
= Impacts<br/> =
  
Reaching this goal to reduce this extremely harmful IAP would significantly help to achieve several of the internationally agreed Millennium Development Goals<ref name="The Millennium Development Goals (MDG): Each MDG has specific targets and indicators and are results of the United Nations Millennium Declaration. All 191 UN member states have signed this declaration in September 2000 and agreed with this to try to achieve this eight goals by 2015: 1. End Poverty and Hunger, 2. Universal Education, 3. Gender Equality, 4. Child Health, 5. Maternal Health, 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, 7. Environmental Sustainability, 8. Global Partnership">https://energypedia.info/index.php/MDGs_and_Result_Chains</ref>, especially Goal 4<ref name="WHO: Indoor Air Pollution, Household Energy and the Millennium Development Goals, Indoor Air Thematic Briefing1">http://www.who.int/indoorair/info/iabriefing1rev.pdf</ref><ref name="United Nation: The Millennium Development Goals Report 2010">http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/pdf/MDG%20Report%202010%20En%20r15%20-low%20res%2020100615%20-.pdf</ref>. Reduce child mortality with the target to decrease by two thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate. Since 1990, the mortality rate for children under age five in developing countries dropped by 28% (from 100 deaths per 1,000 live births to 72 in 2008), but not quickly enough to reach the target by 2015. Many organizations are already working on this field to make improvements in this issue. This is exactly where the “Healthy Hoods” project team starts to do its work.
+
<u>SDGs</u>: Reaching the goal to reduce this extremely harmful IAP would significantly help to achieve several of the internationally agreed [https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/?menu=1300&nbsp Sustainable Development Goals] (see [[Energy and the Sustainable Development Goals|Energy and the SDGs]]), especially [[Energy and the Sustainable Development Goals#Goal 7 on Energy in Detail|Goal 7]], 2, 3, and 13.
 +
 
 +
Targets include
 +
 
 +
*'''access to clean energy''' (Indicator 7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology),
 +
*'''improve nutrition''' (food needs to be cooked) and '''increase agricultural productivity''' (2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment),
 +
*'''health issues''' like the child mortality rate, (3.2.1 Children under 5 mortality rate and 3.9.1: Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution), and
 +
*'''climate change''' (Up to 25% of black carbon emissions come from burning solid fuels for household energy needs).
  
 +
Many organizations are already working on this field to make improvements in this issue.
  
 +
In absolute, the number of people relying on biomass has not decreased yet, and will not in the future neither.
 +
 +
<u>Deaths due to IAP stay constant at around 3 million per year</u>: Exposure to indoor air pollution from cooking with solid fuels has declined since 1990, but in 2013 still two-fifths of the world’s population was exposed. In low-income countries, population growth (exposing a growing number of people) offset the declines in death rates. This means that the overall death caused by indoor air pollution declined by 38% from 75 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 47 per 100,000 people in 2013. However, the total number of deaths associated with indoor air pollution has mostly remained constant at about 2.9 million per year, mostly in low and lower-middle-income countries.<ref name="The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.">The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.</ref>
 +
 +
<u>Child mortality rates</u> dropped from 100 in 1990 to 72 per 1,000 live births in 2008, (not) reaching the MDG goal to decrease by two thirds (1990-2015).<ref name="http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/child_mortality/en/">http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/child_mortality/en/</ref>
 +
 +
<br/>
 +
 +
= The Cost of Air Pollution =
 +
 +
Indoor air pollution reduces development potentials and quality of life through the health related risks. Therefore, there is also a business case for Governments to invest in reducing IAP.
 +
 +
<u>Global costs are very high</u>: The cost of exposing people to air pollution amounted some $5.11 trillion in welfare losses of the world’s economy in 2013 (this figure includes ambient and household pollution). Welfare losses due to indoor air pollution grew by 63% since 1990, because the percentage of population depending on solid fuels for cooking did not change fast enough to (over)compensate other developments like population growth.<ref name="The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.">The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.</ref>
 +
 +
<u>Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are most affected by IAP</u>: Indoor air pollution is the biggest cause of welfare losses (% of GDP) in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (see green columns in figure below), while ambient air and ozone pollution are major drivers in America, North Africa, Europe and East Asia. <ref name="The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.">The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.</ref>
 +
 +
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the costs due to IAP amount to 2.5% of GDP equivalent; in East Asia to 3.1% and in South Asia even to 4.9%. This is a higher percentage of losses in GDPs than in total for Latin America, Middle East and North America respectively.<ref name="The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.">The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.</ref>
 +
 +
Figure: Welfare Losses Due to Air Pollution by Region, 2013 <ref name="The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.">The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.</ref>[[File:FigureWelfareLossesDueToAirPollution.2013.WorldBank.png|border|left|707px|FigureWelfareLossesDueToAirPollution.2013.WorldBank.png|alt=FigureWelfareLossesDueToAirPollution.2013.WorldBank.png]] Since deaths rates due to IAP stay constant over the past decade, the costs will not decline either. Therefore, indoor air pollution remains a persistent challenge despite some gains in the past decades.
 +
 +
<br/>
  
 
= Further Information<br/> =
 
= Further Information<br/> =
  
 
*[[Smoke Hoods|Smoke Hoods - "Healthy Hoods" Project]]
 
*[[Smoke Hoods|Smoke Hoods - "Healthy Hoods" Project]]
*[http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/78%289%291078.pdf Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge]
+
*[http://www.who.int/bulletin/archives/78(9)1078.pdf Indoor air pollution in developing countries: a major environmental and public health challenge]
*[[Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) Measurement|Indoor air pollution (IAP) Measurements]]
+
*[https://leo-green.com Indoor air pollution (IAP) Measurements]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrsRsKascI Health Hoods, Smoke Hoods for developing countries Video ](Project by Practical Action and BSH)
+
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzrsRsKascI Health Hoods, Smoke Hoods for developing countries Video] (Project by Practical Action and BSH)
 
*[http://www.hedon.info/article2837 HEDON Hompepage with Video - THese Women's stories tell the cookstoves story]
 
*[http://www.hedon.info/article2837 HEDON Hompepage with Video - THese Women's stories tell the cookstoves story]
 
+
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isLM4DYMLHg&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=Practical+Action+Limited&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5453628_Small+Talk+-+March+2015&utm_content=Hayley+smoke+hood+video&dm_i=6WS,38W1O,781VYR,BOG7W,1 Hyley in Nepal (The silent killer in Nepal)] (Video by Practical Action)
 +
*[https://ezplaytoys.com Status quo - clean cooking]
  
  
Line 120: Line 393:
 
<references />
 
<references />
  
 +
[[Category:Impacts_Social]]
 +
[[Category:Impacts_Health]]
 +
[[Category:Impacts]]
 
[[Category:Improved_Cooking]]
 
[[Category:Improved_Cooking]]
[[Category:Impacts]]
+
[[Category:Cooking]]
[[Category:Impacts_Ecological]]
+
[[Category:Impacts_Environmental]]
[[Category:Impacts_Health]]
+
[[Category:Indoor_Air_Pollution]]
[[Category:Impacts_Social]]
 

Latest revision as of 08:53, 8 June 2022

Overview

Cooking on open fire, Indonesia 2011, Katharina Wiedemann.jpg

Indoor air pollution (IAP) also called household air pollution (HAP) in developing countries is a major environmental and public health challenge. According to data from the World Health organisation[1] as many as 3.8 million people die each year as a result of it worldwide. This can be compared with one death every 8 seconds. Most of the death occur in middle and low income countries in South East Asia with 1.69 million death, followed by the Western Pacific regions 1.62 million, Africa 600,000, Eastern Mediterranean region 200,000, Europe 99,000, and in the Americas 81,000 death. In high income countries 19,000 people died because of IAP. IAP/HAP has to be distinguished from outdoor ambient air pollution (AAP) which supposedly caused the death of another 3.7 million people in 2012.
Indoor sources of IAP/HAP are cooking and heating with solid fuels, burning candles or oil lamps, fuel-burning space heaters and tobacco smoke. Of special importance is inefficient and insufficiently vented cooking and heating with solid fuels (biomass and coal) on simple stoves or open fires. Burning these fuels in inefficient stoves results in poor combustion efficiency and high levels of emissions of health-damaging pollutants including both fine and coarse particulate matter, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and a variety of organic air pollutants (e.g., formaldehyde, 1,3-butadiene, benzene, acetaldehyde, acrolein, phenols, pyrene, benzopyrene, benzo(a)pyrene, dibenzopyrenes, dibenzocarbazoles, and cresols). In a typical solid fuel stove, about 6–20% of the solid fuel is converted into toxic emissions (by mass). The exact quantity and relative composition of the emissions is determined by various factors such as the fuel type and moisture content, stove type and the way the stove and fuel is used by the cook. [2] Most measurements of emissions and the corresponding literature focus on the concentration of particulate matter of different sizes (e.g., PM2.5, PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO), which are main products of incomplete combustion and are considered to pose the greatest health risk. According to estimations 2.9 billion people used solid fuels (mainly biomass, in the form of wood, charcol, dung, and crop residue) for cooking and other heating purposes in 2012 [3]. Around 80% of them reside in rural and 20% in urban areas. Because much of the burning of solid fuels is carried out indoors in environments with insufficient ventilation, millions of people, primarily poor women and children face serious health risks.


Health Effects

According to WHO there is consistent evidence that exposure to household air pollution is a major risk factor leading to acute lower respiratory infections (ALRI) in children under five, and ischaemic heart disease (IHD), stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer (LC) in adults.[4]In addition, the smoke from burning biomass is also causing eye irritations.
Smoke in form of particulate matter with particle diameters of less than 10 micrometers in diameter penetrate deep into the lungs. At sizes of 2.5 micrometers particles can enter the finest parts of the lungs. Ultrafine particles get even into the bloodstream. Exposure to particulate matter has short-term effects such as nose, throat and lung irritation, coughing, sneezing, runny nose and shortness of breath as well as more severe effects on the respiratory system such as pneumonia and asthma. Children are especially affected by ALRI. A child exposed to smoke in the home is two to three times more likely to catch pneumonia. Globally, pneumonia and other acute lower respiratory infections represent the single most important cause of death in children under five years. Exposure to IAP more than doubles the risk of pneumonia. Women exposed to indoor smoke are three times as likely to suffer from chronic bronchitis and other obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) than women who cook and heat with electricity, gas and other cleaner fuels. In addition, there are indications, that indoor smoke is also causing tuberculosis, cataracts, low birth weight and high infant mortality. Most of the victims of IAP are women and children, as they are exposed to the source of indoor smoke and the large associated health risks the most. Women spend daily three to seven hours near the stove with their kids breathing polluted air during cooking. At the early age of the children, when they are newborns or infants, their immature lungs and immune systems make them particularly vulnerable. Over 10 million children aged under five years die every year – 99% of them in developing countries.[5] According to Global Disease Study 2010 the relationship between exposure to pollutants and health effects is often not linear. In the case of PM2.5 an exposure response model estimating health effects by using relative risk (RR) information for ALRI, IHD,stroke, COPD, and LC is assuming a kind of exponential saturation curve. The health risks rise significantly with increasing concentrations of PM2.5at lower levels. The effect becomes less pronounced at higher PM2.5 exposure levels. This has major implications for strategies to reduce health risks by controlling air pollution at high exposure concentration levels.
The actual health impacts of pollutants depends on the inhaled dose which is the result of the inhalation rate (m³/hr) x the average exposure concentration (mg/m³)x exposure duration (hr).


Regulations and Recommended Maximum Concentrations of PM and CO

Due to the severe health risks of air pollutants, many governments and international organisations have defined maximum concentrations of pollutants for emissions allowed from certain types of pollution sources, for the ambient air (immissions) and for workplaces or short periods of exposure. This chapter only presents the data for PM and CO as they are most widely used to measure the degree of air pollution.
The following table gives an overview about current standards.[6]

Pollutant Standard Averaging Time Country/Region
PM10
150 μg/m³
24-hour
USA

50 μg/m³
24-hour
EU

40 μg/m³
annual
EU

150 μg/m³
24 hrs
China

70 μg/m³
annual
China

50 μg/m³ 24 hrs WHO

20 μg/m³ annual WHO
PM2.5
35 μg/m³
24-hour
USA

15 μg/m³c
annual
USA

25 μg/m³c
annual EU

75 μg/m³c
24 hours
China

35 μg/m³c
annual China

25 μg/m³c 24 hrs WHO

10 μg/m³c annual WHO
CO
35 ppm (40 mg/m³)
1-hour
USA

9 ppm (10 mg/m³)
8-hour USA

9 ppm (10 mg/m³)
1-hour
EU

10-20 mg/m³
1-hour
China

35 mg/m³ 1-hour WHO

10 mg/m³ 8-hours WHO

The table shows a certain variability of the air quality standards in different countries and regions. The variability is mainly caused by different short and long term air quality targets of the countries, the path to obtain these targets considering resources, location, economic structure etc..
In the case of PM2.5 WHO has defined three interim air quality targets for annual outdoor PM2.5., taking into consideration that achieving the full target will not be realistic for most developing countries in a short period of time. The interim air quality targets are: Level 1: 35, level 2: 25, and level 3: 15 μg/m3 per year.


IAP/HAP, KAP and Cooking Systems

The term indoor air pollution (IAP) refers to toxic contaminations of the air in buildings (homes and workplaces). It is identifical with the term household air pollution (HAP) if referred to the air quality of dwellings.  The concentration of pollutants is higher indoors compared to the ambient air pollution, if sources inside the house emit pollutants that do not diffuse rapidly to the outside.

The level of exposure to IAP is not uniform in dwellings but depends on the air quality in the different rooms or areas in the building and the time a person is spending in the different rooms. Thus, the term kitchen air pollution refers specifically to the cooking place where concentrations of pollutants can be significantly higher than in the living room.
In many industrial countries maximum concentrations of pollutants are defined for the air quality at workplaces but not for household situations under diferent denominations such as  AGW (Arbeitsplatzgrenzwerte), MAK (Maximale Arbeitsplatzkonzentration), MAC (Maximaal Aanvaardbare Concentratie) VLEP (Valeur limites d'exposition professionelle), WEL (Workplace Exposure Limits), PEL (Permissible Exposure Limit) and TLV (Threshold Limit Values). An overview about the different regulations are given by the International Labour Organisation on the following website http://www.ilo.org/safework/info/publications/WCMS_151534/lang--en/index.htm. 

In several countries different types of maximum workspace concentrations are defined:

  1. maximum average exposure values on the basis of a 8h/day, 40h/week work schedule
  2. maximum short-term exposure limits for a duration of 1h, 15-30 minutes or less
  3. maximum absolute exposure limits that should not be exceeded at any time. 

Most occupational exposure limits refer to the average values. This means that concentrations can be higher for periods lower than 8 hours. As a general rule: worker exposure levels may exceed 3 times the average level  for no more than a total of 30 minutes during a workday, and under no circumstances should they exceed 5 times the average. [7] 

For respirable dust, which penetrates the alveoles (comparable to PM2.5), occupational exposure limits in industrialized countries generally vary between 1.25 mg/m3 and 5 mg/m3.. For inhalable dust (comparable to PM10) the respective values are between 10 and 15 mg/m3.

For carbon monoxide, many countries established an average exposure limit of 35 mg/m3. The short-term maximum level for CO is generally higher,  in the UK for example 225 mg/m3.[8]   

Household air pollution caused by using solid fuels and simple inefficient stoves for cooking and heating, and by lighting  homes with kerosene and simple wick lamps, is in many ways comparable to occupational air pollution. Both household practices produce high levels of pollutant emissions in specific areas for a limited period of time during the day. Cooking is generally done 3-4 times a day with a total time of roughly 4 hours. The cook and other people in the kitchen area are exposed to the pollution level at the cooking place only during that time. When leaving the kitchen for the rest of the day they are exposed to air quality situations, where the emissions from the stove are diluted up to a insignificant level. The same is applicable for using kerosene as fuel for lighting. The lights are used for a limited period of time in the evening and early morning in specific rooms. The exposure to pollutants depends again on the length and frequency of a person using these rooms. Generally these are less than 8 hours a day. 

Based on this considerations, average maximum exposure limits of 5 - 10 mg/m3 for respirable dust, of 15 - 30 mg/m3 for inhalable dust and of 70 mg/m3 for carbon monoxide seem acceptable for the 2 billion people which use solid fuels for cooking

The typical 24-hour levels of PM10 in biomass-using homes (kitchen) in Africa, Asia or Latin America range from 300 to 3,000 μg/m3. Peaks during cooking may be as high as 10,000 μg/m3 especially during the beginning ignition process when combustion is especially incomplete.[9] Kitchen Air pollution for PM 2.5 average 100 - 1000 μg/m3  with peak levels of up to 2500 μg/m3.

Remote rural areas are likely to have better ambient air quality (even when biomass use is higher) than urban or periurban or well-connected rural locations where a more intensive use of commercial fuels and the higher traffic affect stronger the ambient air quality.



WHO Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality and Emission Rate Targets (ERTs)



Reducing Indoor Air Pollution (IAP)

Measures to reduce IAP in developing countries:

  • Changing the fuel, switching to cleaner alternatives, the so-called BLEENS (biogas, liquid petroleum gas(LPG), electricity, ethanol, natural gas or solar energy)
  • Improving the design and construction of traditional stoves to improve the combustion (improved stoves, advanced stoves clean stoves) 
  • Improving the ventilation in the kitchen (smoke hoods that vent pollutants to the outside, ventilation through windows, doors, chimney)
  • Inducing behavioral changes (using a pot lid when cooking to speeds up the cooking, drying wood before burning it, awareness-raising activities).


Cleaner Fuels / Improved Cookstoves

The most effective way to reduce smoke in the home is to switch to cleaner fuels (liquid petroleum gas, kerosene or biogas). It’s also possible to improve the air quality and promote energy efficiency and environmental sustainability by promoting improved cooking stoves.

Gasifier stove can reduce kitchen air pollution values to 100-200 μg/m3 with peak levels of up to 1500 μg/m3.


Chimney, Smoke Hoods

The huge majority of people in developing countries who are still cooking on open fires are often too poor to change to improved stoves and cleaner fuels or have no access to modern combustibles. Where the use of biomass, wood or charcoal remains predominant, and the indoor environment remains subject to high levels of smoke, other alternatives have to be found to improve air quality and related health issues.

The use of chimneys will remove all emissions from the stove away from the cooking space if there are no leaks in the stove and chimney. A functional chimney will thus protect household members from pollutants caused by burning fuels under the condition that it is regularly cleaned.   The installation of a smoke hood can aslo be extremely effective in improving the air quality in houses, too. This applies especially, when traditional biomass burning stoves are being used without a chimney. In addition, some efficient stoves may not be clean and therefore employing a smoke hood allows for health benefits coupled with lower operating costs. Moreover, in some cultures, an open fire plays a special social role as a place around which the family gathers, traditional meals are cooked or other important rituals. As a result the introduction of improved cookstoves is difficult and a smoke hood serves as the best alternative for improving indoor air quality.

However, chimneys and smoke hoods will have only limited effects in areas where homes are tightly clustered together with minimal space between adjacent houses as in the case of urban slums. Under such conditions, the emissions vented through the chimney or hood lead to significant outdoor air pollution around the houses which affects the indoor air quality, too.


What prevents households from applying the different methods to reduce IAP?

  • male and female sometimes like the smoky taste of food. Therefore, they are not interested in 100% smokeless cooking.
  • some household cook inside with little ventilation to avoid higher firewood consumption because of the wind;
  • households often do not have a stock of cut wood drying over months as the stock is difficult to be protected against theft;
  • the use of chimney is difficult for thatched roofs;


Impacts

SDGs: Reaching the goal to reduce this extremely harmful IAP would significantly help to achieve several of the internationally agreed Sustainable Development Goals (see Energy and the SDGs), especially Goal 7, 2, 3, and 13.

Targets include

  • access to clean energy (Indicator 7.1.2 Proportion of population with primary reliance on clean fuels and technology),
  • improve nutrition (food needs to be cooked) and increase agricultural productivity (2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment),
  • health issues like the child mortality rate, (3.2.1 Children under 5 mortality rate and 3.9.1: Mortality rate attributed to household and ambient air pollution), and
  • climate change (Up to 25% of black carbon emissions come from burning solid fuels for household energy needs).

Many organizations are already working on this field to make improvements in this issue.

In absolute, the number of people relying on biomass has not decreased yet, and will not in the future neither.

Deaths due to IAP stay constant at around 3 million per year: Exposure to indoor air pollution from cooking with solid fuels has declined since 1990, but in 2013 still two-fifths of the world’s population was exposed. In low-income countries, population growth (exposing a growing number of people) offset the declines in death rates. This means that the overall death caused by indoor air pollution declined by 38% from 75 per 100,000 people in 1990 to 47 per 100,000 people in 2013. However, the total number of deaths associated with indoor air pollution has mostly remained constant at about 2.9 million per year, mostly in low and lower-middle-income countries.[10]

Child mortality rates dropped from 100 in 1990 to 72 per 1,000 live births in 2008, (not) reaching the MDG goal to decrease by two thirds (1990-2015).[11]


The Cost of Air Pollution

Indoor air pollution reduces development potentials and quality of life through the health related risks. Therefore, there is also a business case for Governments to invest in reducing IAP.

Global costs are very high: The cost of exposing people to air pollution amounted some $5.11 trillion in welfare losses of the world’s economy in 2013 (this figure includes ambient and household pollution). Welfare losses due to indoor air pollution grew by 63% since 1990, because the percentage of population depending on solid fuels for cooking did not change fast enough to (over)compensate other developments like population growth.[10]

Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are most affected by IAP: Indoor air pollution is the biggest cause of welfare losses (% of GDP) in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa (see green columns in figure below), while ambient air and ozone pollution are major drivers in America, North Africa, Europe and East Asia. [10]

In Sub-Saharan Africa, the costs due to IAP amount to 2.5% of GDP equivalent; in East Asia to 3.1% and in South Asia even to 4.9%. This is a higher percentage of losses in GDPs than in total for Latin America, Middle East and North America respectively.[10]

Figure: Welfare Losses Due to Air Pollution by Region, 2013 [10]

FigureWelfareLossesDueToAirPollution.2013.WorldBank.png

Since deaths rates due to IAP stay constant over the past decade, the costs will not decline either. Therefore, indoor air pollution remains a persistent challenge despite some gains in the past decades.


Further Information


References

  1. WHO (2021): Household air pollution and health. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/household-air-pollution-and-health#:~:text=Over%203.8%20million%20people%20a,27%25%20are%20due%20to%20pneumonia
  2. http://www.who.int/phe/health_topics/outdoorair/databases/FINAL_HAP_AAP_BoD_24March2014.pdf?ua=1
  3. http://www.copenhagenconsensus.com/publication/post-2015-consensus-air-pollution-assessment-larsen
  4. http://www.who.int/gho/phe/indoor_air_pollution/en/
  5. Fuel for Life - Household Energy and Health. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2006. http://www.who.int/indoorair/publications/fuelforlife.pdf
  6. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particulates#Regulation; http://ec.europa.eu/environment/air/quality/legislation/directive.htm;
  7. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Permissible_exposure_limit; ^ "437-002-0382 Oregon Rules for Air Contaminants" (PDF). Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  8. http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/priced/eh40.pdf
  9. WHO: Air quality and health, Fact sheet N°313fckLRhttp://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs313/en/index.html
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 The World Bank. ‘The Cost of Air Pollution : Strengthening the Economic Case for Action’. Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2016. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/781521473177013155/The-cost-of-air-pollution-strengthening-the-economic-case-for-action.
  11. http://www.who.int/topics/millennium_development_goals/child_mortality/en/