A recent ESMAP funded multidisciplinary study, conducted by Chinese and international scientists, reveals the relationship between energy consumption and the health risks from indoor air pollution and assesses potential solutions. Friday, July 13, 2007, from ESMAP
Findings of the study, Household Energy, Indoor Air Pollution and Health: A Multisectoral Intervention Program in Rural China confirm that improved heating stoves were effective in reducing IAP from the burning of coal and biomass fuels regardless of user behaviors.Surprising to researchers was that no IAP reduction benefits resulted from health education and behavioral interventions alone, despite the relative extensiveness of the program. Introducing alternative stove handling behaviors (as part of the health education program) led to changes in specific behavioral indicators (for example, covering stove door after fuel is added), based on self-reported data; but these changes had no measurable benefits for indoor air quality. Three reasons account for this finding. First, awareness of health risks and interventions cannot lead to changes in fuel and stove choices without sufficient physical and financial access to alternative fuels and stoves. Second, the specific behavioral changes reported by participants may not have been sufficient to lead to reduced emissions, given the central role of cooking and heating in daily life. And third, the health impact of behavioral changes would accrue over time, requiring a longer period of observation and measurement.
Decades of research have shown that Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) resulting from household cooking and heating using low quality fuels and poorly ventilated stoves is responsible for an array of respiratory-related and other diseases. In 2000, IAP from household burning of coal and biomass resulted in more than 1.6 million deaths, nearly 3 percent of the global burden of disease.China’s large rural population – more than 900 million residents – suffers extensively from the ill health effects of exposure to IAP,[1] exacerbated by the growing use of contaminated coal. Today, biomass accounts for 55 percent of rural energy use and the use of coal has risen 14 percent since 1990. Despite global recognition of IAP’s enormous relevance to international development and global health, identifying the most effective ways to tackle the problem has proved daunting.
The emerging evidence has two implications for scaling up intervention programs. First, stove programs must emphasize design and construction to ensure that solid fuel combustion is isolated from the living and working environment (to the extent possible) and is robust to user behavior. Evidence on alternative stove limitations also means that sustained reduction to IAP exposure requires strategies that promote alternative fuels. “This study sheds important light on the effectiveness of certain interventions to reduce IAP and takes research a step closer to specific policy recommendations” added Douglas Barnes, Energy Poverty thematic leader for ESMAP.
The report may be downloaded here (very large file, 7MB)
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