Half the world's population relies on elemental stoves for cooking or heating. Those using cookstoves usually burn dung, wood, soft coal or rice husks, all of which produce toxic carbon emissions. The resulting indoor air pollution (IAP) is estimated to take 1.9 million lives each year due to increased risks of acute pneumonia in children under five, and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and lung cancer in women.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has invested in research and training to reduce the impact of IAP, and to improve the health of those who rely on cookstoves. NIH is participating in the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, a public-private partnership led by the United Nations Foundation to improve livelihoods, empower women and children, and combat climate change by creating a sustainable market for clean and efficient cooking stoves and fuels. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton announced the initiative at the Clinton Global Initiative meeting in New York in 2010.
Top News
- New projects supported by the Clean Cooking Implementation Science Network
July 2016
- Building global capacity and training to support household air pollution research
NIEHS Global Environmental Health newsletter, June 2016
- Creative minds: harnessing technologies to study air pollution’s health risks
NIH Director's Blog, May 21, 2015
- Unlocking clean cooking and heating solutions key to reaching sustainable energy goals
World Bank news, May 19, 2015
- Measuring health impact of indoor air pollution is key
Jan / Feb 2015 Global Health Matters
- November 2014 Cookstoves Future Summit
- EPA funds university research on cleaner fuel burning to improve air quality
Environmental Protection Agency news, May 28, 2014
- Yale project examines cookstove adoption in India
Yale School Forestry and Environmental Studies news, May 28, 2014
- NIH request for information (RFI): Global cookstove distribution programs and projects for evaluation of health benefits
Comments due: June 30, 2014
- Grantee news: Pollutants from coal-burning stoves strongly associated with miscarriages in Mongolia
Children's Hospital Los Angeles news, April 23, 2014
- WHO: 7 Million Deaths Annually Linked to Air Pollution
World Health Organization, Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, March 25, 2014
- Fogarty posts indoor air pollution training resources
Jan / Feb 2014 Global Health Matters
- Research must validate cleaner cookstoves
Jul / Aug 2013 Global Health Matters
- NIH holds cookstove research training workshop
Nov / Dec 2012 Global Health Matters
- Event: Celebrating two years of accomplishments
Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves, September 24, 2012
- Wood stove intervention can reduce childhood pneumonia
NIH News, November 14, 2011
- Inefficient developing world stoves contribute to 2 million deaths a year
NIH News, October 14, 2011
- A Major Environmental Cause of Death
Science Policy Forum, October 14, 2011
- Curbing Cooking Smoke That Kills More People Than Malaria
The Salt, NPR's Food Blog, October 18, 2011
- 2 Million Deaths a Year Attributed to Pollution from Indoor Cookstove Fires
PBS NewsHour, October 13, 2011
- To push clean cookstoves, involve the cooks, report says
Reuters, October 13, 2011
- The chronic challenge of household air pollution
Sep / Oct 2011 Global Health Matters
- Cookstove workshop targets research gaps, priorities
May / Jun 2011 Global Health Matters
- NIH partners on clean cookstoves initiative
Sep / Oct 2010 Global Health Matters
How institutes, centers and offices at NIH are engaged in this effort.
- Fogarty continues to support research training programs to increase human capacity in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in this field on the topic of indoor air pollution through programs such as the International Training and Research In Environmental and Occupational Health (ITREOH).
- National Cancer Institute (NCI) is investigating the connection between air pollution and lung cancer in China, and is also studying the impact of chimney installation on lung cancer and COPD.
- National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) is funding epidemiology studies on cookstove-related effects on pulmonary and cardiac diseases, including hypertension, atherothrombosis, asthma, chronic lung diseases, and co-contaminant effects, as well as funding work on instrumentation and measurement device technology.
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) is investing in epidemiology studies and clinical trials on the relationship between indoor air pollution and low-birth weight and child pneumonia, with at least one site in India.
- National Institute of Environmental Health Studies (NIEHS) is supporting new and ongoing studies evaluating effectiveness of interventions in Guatemala, India, Nepal, the Gambia and other countries. NIEHS is also evaluating an expanded array of health endpoints including children's neurobehavioral development, and developing and evaluating innovative technologies for monitoring cookstove use and human exposures. Learn more about NIEHS cookstoves and indoor air research.
- Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) is interested in studying the most effective ways to introduce and educate users on safety and proper use of cookstoves
- Office of Research of Women's Health (ORWH) would like to support research on the impact of cookstoves on women's health and safety.
NIH IAP and Cookstove News and Related Resources
NIH IAP Health Impacts - Related Resources