Household air pollution news, information and resources

Over 3 billion people in the world rely on open fires and rudimentary stoves for cooking food and heating their homes. The combustion of solid fuels like wood, dung, agricultural waste and coal pollutes the household environment with harmful particulate matter and other toxins that are estimated to result in over 2.6 million premature deaths a year (GBD 2016). More than a million additional deaths are attributable to the contribution of emissions from household air pollution (HAP) to ambient (outdoor) air pollution.

NIH has invested in research and training to reduce the impact of HAP, and to improve the health of those who rely on cookstoves. NIH hosts the Clean Cooking Implementation Science Network and is a co-sponsor, with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, of the Household Air Pollution Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial. Numerous NIH Institutes, Centers and Office at the NIH fund research on the health effects of biomass fuels and on interventions to reduce the health burden of cooking and heating with rudimentary stoves and fuels.

Recent News

• Building global capacity for air quality research:
  Q and A with Dr Jonathan Samet
  Mar / Apr 2019 Global Health Matters
• Implementing clean cookstoves is ongoing challenge
  Opinion by Fogarty Director Dr Roger I Glass
  Jul / Aug 2018 Global Health Matters
• Scaling up clean fuel cooking programs [Open access] edited by Fogarty scientists
  Energy for Sustainable Development special issue, July 25, 2018 (online)
• In utero exposure to carbon monoxide increases infants' risk of poor lung function
  American Thoracic Society news, May 20, 2018
• International approach to environmental and lung health: a perspective from the Fogarty International Center, co-authored by Fogarty scientists
  Annals of the American Thoracic Society via PubMed, April 1, 2018
• Clean cooking and the SDGs: Integrated analytical approaches to guide energy interventions for health and environment goals [Open access] co-authored by Fogarty scientists
  Energy for Sustainable Development via ScienceDirect, December 8, 2017 (online)
• Air pollution exposure in early pregnancy linked to miscarriage, NIH study suggests
  NICHD/NIH news, November 16, 2017
• Implementation science to scale-up clean cooking and improve health
  NIEHS Global Environmental Health newsletter, April 2017
• Implementation science to accelerate clean cooking for public health [Open access], co-authored by Fogarty scientists
  Environmental Health Perspectives, January 2017
• NIH-funded trial to assess benefits of clean cookstoves
  Nov / Dec 2016 Global Health Matters
• Full news release: NIH contributes to global effort to prevent and manage lung diseases
  NIH-funded trial will measure health benefits of clean cookstoves
  Fogarty/NIH news, October 19, 2016
• Grantee news: NIH awards $30M to Emory, Johns Hopkins, Colorado State for household air pollution study
  Emory University news, October 18, 2016
• Grantee news: Emory, Johns Hopkins researchers get $30M to study household air pollution
  Atlanta Business Chronicle, October 26, 2016
• Grantee news: Hopkins to use $30 million grant to study impact of cooking methods on air pollution
  Baltimore Sun, November 7, 2016
• New study finds clean cookstoves may improve women's heart health
  Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves news, November 21, 2016
• Building global capacity and training to support household air pollution research
  NIEHS Global Environmental Health newsletter, June 2016

NIH News and Resources

• NIH-funded research on the health effects of household energy combustion from NIH RePORT
• Household Air Pollution Investigation Network (HAPIN) with NIH Common Fund support
• Clean Cooking Implementation Science Network
• Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (including NIH) lung disease research funding cycle

Other US Government Resources

• U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA):
• EPA - Clean Cookstove Research
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC):
• CDC - Air Quality
• U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID):
• USAID toolkit: Clean and Efficient Technologies and Fuels
• USAID Health Research Program: Clean Cooking to Protect Maternal and Child Health

Other Online Resources

• Clean Cooking Alliance, formerly the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves
• Clean Cooking Alliance 2018 Annual Report
• Clean Cooking Catalog - Product and Performance data for the Cookstove Sector
• Recorded webinars [Video] from the Clean Cooking Alliance and partners
• Health Effects Institute (HEI):
  • Report: Household Air Pollution and Noncommunicable Disease
    HEI Household Air Pollution Working Group, July 2018
• Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME):
  Infographic: Global Burden of Air Pollution, published 2016
• The Lancet Commission:
  Pollution and Health, October 19, 2017
• Household Air Pollution Intervention Tool (HAPIT)
• World Bank:
  Blog posts on cookstoves
• World Health Organization (WHO):
• WHO: Household Air Pollution
• WHO report: Air pollution and child health: prescribing clean air, published October 2018
• WHO report: Burning Opportunity: Clean Household Energy for Health, Sustainable Development, and Wellbeing of Women and Children, published 2016