Filling In the Blanks on Solid Fuel Use: New Model Illustrates Trends, Highlights Needs

Abstract

Based on extensive data compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), a newly developed model now reported in EHP illustrates country- and region-specific solid fuel use trends over the last 30 years, highlights data needs, and sets a course for improved assessment of solid fuel use as a global health indicator.1 Solid fuels used for cooking, such as wood, crop residues, dung, charcoal, and coal, generate household air pollution that is estimated to cause approximately 3.5 million premature deaths worldwide each year and contributes to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, cataracts, poor birth outcomes, and burn and scald injuries.2,3 Combustion products from cookstoves also increase outdoor air pollution, leading to an additional estimated 500,000 premature deaths annually.2,3 Women and children not only receive the greatest exposures to household air pollution but also often face additional hazards of injury or violence while collecting fuel.3,4