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Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) Information and Resources

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 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.

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.

NIH News and Resources

Creative minds: harnessing technologies to study air pollution’s health risks
NIH Director's Blog, May 21, 2015
Measuring health impact of indoor air pollution is key
Jan / Feb 2015 Global Health Matters

Evaluating the health benefits of clean cooking adoption: Indicators and biomarkers of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
Meeting report and presentations from the December 2014 Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves / NIH household air pollution workshop
Glossary: BEST (Biomarkers, EndpointS, and other Tools) Resource
from the FDA-NIH Biomarker Working Group, January 28, 2016

Archive: NIH request for information (RFI): Global cookstove distribution programs and projects for evaluation of health benefits, released May 7, 2014
Grantee news: Pollutants from coal-burning stoves strongly associated with miscarriages in Mongolia
Children's Hospital Los Angeles news, April 23, 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

Related journal article: Household Air Pollution in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Health Risks and Research Priorities
PLOS Medicine, June 4, 2013
Experts describe research needed to reduce air pollution from stoves in developing world [podcast]
Fogarty Director Dr. Roger Glass guest-hosts podcast from NICHD, June 2013

NIH holds cookstove research training workshop
Nov / Dec 2012 Global Health Matters
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

Acoustic fan could ease indoor air pollution
Mar / Apr 2009 Global Health Matters

Chronic disease alliance sets priorities, including addressing indoor pollution caused by cooking stoves
Nov / Dec 2009 Global Health Matters

Research Review: The Health Impacts of Exposure to Indoor Air Pollution from Solid Fuels in Developing Countries: Knowledge, Gaps, and Data Needs
NIEHS Environmental Health Perspectives via PubMed, November 2002

Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases includes reducing indoor pollution caused by crude cooking stoves in developing countries during its November 2009 inaugural scientific summit in New Delhi in its list of initial priority areas.

NIH IAP Health Impacts - Related Resources

Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) information from NHLBI's COPD Learn More Breathe Better® campaign

COPD fact sheets from NHLBI

What Is COPD? from NHLBI Diseases and Conditions Index

What Is Asthma? from NHLBI Diseases and Conditions Index