Dataset Information

Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2.5 air pollution and the burden of disease.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Approximately 2.8 billion people cook with solid fuels. Research has focused on the health impacts of indoor exposure to fine particulate pollution. Here, for the 2010 Global Burden of Disease project (GBD 2010), we evaluated the impact of household cooking with solid fuels on regional population-weighted ambient PM2.5 (particulate matter ? 2.5 ?m) pollution (APM2.5).

Objectives

We estimated the proportion and concentrations of APM2.5 attributable to household cooking with solid fuels (PM2.5-cook) for the years 1990, 2005, and 2010 in 170 countries, and associated ill health.

Methods

We used an energy supply-driven emissions model (GAINS; Greenhouse Gas and Air Pollution Interactions and Synergies) and source-receptor model (TM5-FASST) to estimate the proportion of APM2.5 produced by households and the proportion of household PM2.5 emissions from cooking with solid fuels. We estimated health effects using GBD 2010 data on ill health from APM2.5 exposure.

Results

In 2010, household cooking with solid fuels accounted for 12% of APM2.5 globally, varying from 0% of APM2.5 in five higher-income regions to 37% (2.8 ?g/m3 of 6.9 ?g/m3 total) in southern sub-Saharan Africa. PM2.5-cook constituted > 10% of APM2.5 in seven regions housing 4.4 billion people. South Asia showed the highest regional concentration of APM2.5 from household cooking (8.6 ?g/m3). On the basis of GBD 2010, we estimate that exposure to APM2.5 from cooking with solid fuels caused the loss of 370,000 lives and 9.9 million disability-adjusted life years globally in 2010.

Conclusions

PM2.5 emissions from household cooking constitute an important portion of APM2.5 concentrations in many places, including India and China. Efforts to improve ambient air quality will be hindered if household cooking conditions are not addressed.

SUBMITTER: Chafe ZA

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4256045 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2.5 air pollution and the burden of disease.

Chafe Zoë A ZA Brauer Michael M Klimont Zbigniew Z Van Dingenen Rita R Mehta Sumi S Rao Shilpa S Riahi Keywan K Dentener Frank F Smith Kirk R KR

Environmental health perspectives 20140905 12

<h4>Background</h4>Approximately 2.8 billion people cook with solid fuels. Research has focused on the health impacts of indoor exposure to fine particulate pollution. Here, for the 2010 Global Burden of Disease project (GBD 2010), we evaluated the impact of household cooking with solid fuels on regional population-weighted ambient PM2.5 (particulate matter ≤ 2.5 μm) pollution (APM2.5).<h4>Objectives</h4>We estimated the proportion and concentrations of APM2.5 attributable to household cooking w ...[more]

PMID: 25192243

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Project description:BackgroundHousehold air pollution (HAP) due to biomass cooking fuel use is an important risk factor for a range of diseases, especially among adult women who are primary cooks, in India. About 80% of rural households in India use biomass fuel for cooking. The aim of this study is to estimate the attributable cases (AC) for four major diseases/conditions associated with biomass cooking fuel use among adult Indian women.MethodsWe used the population attributable fraction (PAF) method to calculate the AC of chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis (TB), cataract, and stillbirths due to exposure to biomass cooking fuel. A number of data sources were accessed to obtain population totals and disease prevalence rates. A meta-analysis was conducted to obtain adjusted pooled odds ratios (ORs) for strength of association. Using this, PAF and AC were calculated using a standard formula. Results were presented as number of AC and 95% confidence intervals (CI).ResultsThe fixed effects pooled OR obtained from the meta-analysis were 2.37 (95% CI: 1.59, 3.54) for chronic bronchitis, 2.33 (1.65, 3.28) for TB, 2.16 (1.42, 3.26) for cataract, and 1.26 (1.12, 1.43) for stillbirths. PAF varied across conditions being maximum (53%) for chronic bronchitis in rural areas and least (1%) for cataract in older age and urban areas. About 2.4 (95% CI: 1.4, 3.1) of 5.6 m cases of chronic bronchitis, 0.3 (0.2, 0.4) of 0.76 m cases of TB, 5.0 (2.8, 6.7) of 51.4 m cases of cataract among adult Indian women and 0.02 (0.01, 0.03) of 0.15 m stillbirths across India are attributable to HAP due to biomass cooking fuel. These estimates should be cautiously interpreted in the light of limitations discussed which relate to exposure assessment, exposure characterization, and age-specific prevalence of disease.ConclusionsHAP due to biomass fuel has diverse and major impacts on women's health in India. Although challenging, incorporating the agenda of universal clean fuel access or cleaner technology within the broader framework of rural development will go a long way in reducing disease burden.

Project description:BackgroundParticulate matter <2.5 micrometer (PM2.5) is associated with adverse perinatal outcomes, but the impact on disease burden mediated by this pathway has not previously been included in the Global Burden of Disease (GBD), Mortality, Injuries, and Risk Factors studies. We estimated the global burden of low birth weight (LBW) and preterm birth (PTB) and impacts on reduced birth weight and gestational age (GA), attributable to ambient and household PM2.5 pollution in 2019.Methods and findingsWe searched PubMed, Embase, and Web of Science for peer-reviewed articles in English. Study quality was assessed using 2 tools: (1) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality checklist; and (2) National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) risk of bias questions. We conducted a meta-regression (MR) to quantify the risk of PM2.5 on birth weight and GA. The MR, based on a systematic review (SR) of articles published through April 4, 2021, and resulting uncertainty intervals (UIs) accounted for unexplained between-study heterogeneity. Separate nonlinear relationships relating exposure to risk were generated for each outcome and applied in the burden estimation. The MR included 44, 40, and 40 birth weight, LBW, and PTB studies, respectively. Majority of the studies were of retrospective cohort design and primarily from North America, Europe, and Australia. A few recent studies were from China, India, sub-Saharan Africa, and South America. Pooled estimates indicated 22 grams (95% UI: 12, 32) lower birth weight, 11% greater risk of LBW (1.11, 95% UI: 1.07, 1.16), and 12% greater risk of PTB (1.12, 95% UI: 1.06, 1.19), per 10 μg/m3 increment in ambient PM2.5. We estimated a global population-weighted mean lowering of 89 grams (95% UI: 88, 89) of birth weight and 3.4 weeks (95% UI: 3.4, 3.4) of GA in 2019, attributable to total PM2.5. Globally, an estimated 15.6% (95% UI: 15.6, 15.7) of all LBW and 35.7% (95% UI: 35.6, 35.9) of all PTB infants were attributable to total PM2.5, equivalent to 2,761,720 (95% UI: 2,746,713 to 2,776,722) and 5,870,103 (95% UI: 5,848,046 to 5,892,166) infants in 2019, respectively. About one-third of the total PM2.5 burden for LBW and PTB could be attributable to ambient exposure, with household air pollution (HAP) dominating in low-income countries. The findings should be viewed in light of some limitations such as heterogeneity between studies including size, exposure levels, exposure assessment method, and adjustment for confounding. Furthermore, studies did not separate the direct effect of PM2.5 on birth weight from that mediated through GA. As a consequence, the pooled risk estimates in the MR and likewise the global burden may have been underestimated.ConclusionsAmbient and household PM2.5 were associated with reduced birth weight and GA, which are, in turn, associated with neonatal and infant mortality, particularly in low- and middle-income countries.

Project description:BackgroundThe Global Burden of Disease (GBD) studies have transformed global understanding of health risks by producing comprehensive estimates of attributable disease burden, or the current disease that would be eliminated if a risk factor did not exist. Yet many have noted the greater policy significance of avoidable burden, or the future disease that could actually be eliminated if a risk factor were eliminated today. Avoidable risk may be considerably lower than attributable risk if baseline levels of exposure or disease are declining, or if a risk factor carries lagged effects on disease. As global efforts to deliver clean cookstoves accelerate, a temporal estimation of avoidable risk due to household air pollution (HAP) becomes increasingly important, particularly in light of the rapid uptake of modern stoves and ongoing epidemiologic transitions in regions like South and Southeast Asia.Methods and findingsWe estimate the avoidable burden associated with HAP using International Futures (IFs), an integrated forecasting system that has been used to model future global disease burdens and risk factors. Building on GBD and other estimates, we integrated a detailed HAP exposure estimation and exposure-response model into IFs. We then conducted a counterfactual experiment in which HAP exposure is reduced to theoretical minimum levels in 2015. We evaluated avoidable mortality and DALY reductions for the years 2015 to 2024 relative to a Base Case scenario in which only endogenous changes occurred. We present results by cause and region, looking at impacts on acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) and four noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). We found that just 2.6% of global DALYs would be averted between 2015 and 2024, compared to 4.5% of global DALYs attributed to HAP in the 2010 GBD study, due in large part to the endogenous tendency towards declining traditional stove usage in the IFs base case forecast. The extent of diminished impact was comparable for ALRI and affected NCDs, though for different reasons. ALRI impacts diminish due to the declining burden of ALRI in the base case forecast, particularly apparent in South Asia and Southeast Asia. Although NCD burdens are rising in regions affected by HAP, the avoidable risk of NCD nonetheless diminishes due to lagged effects. Because the stove transition and the decline of ALRI are proceeding more slowly in Sub-Saharan Africa, avoidable impacts would also be more persistent (3.9% of total DALY due to HAP) compared to South Asia (3.6%) or Southeast Asia (2.5%).ConclusionsOur results illustrate how a temporal dynamic calculation of avoidable risk may yield different estimates, compared to a static attributable risk estimate, of the global and regional burden of disease. Our results suggest a window of rising and falling opportunity for HAP interventions that may have already closed in Southeast Asia and may be closing quickly in South Asia, but may remain open longer in Sub-Saharan Africa. A proper accounting of global health priorities should apply an avoidable risk framework that considers the role of ongoing social, economic and health transitions in constantly altering the disease and risk factor landscape.

Project description:Importance:Ambient fine particulate matter (PM2.5) air pollution is associated with increased risk of several causes of death. However, epidemiologic evidence suggests that current knowledge does not comprehensively capture all causes of death associated with PM2.5 exposure. Objective:To systematically identify causes of death associated with PM2.5 pollution and estimate the burden of death for each cause in the United States. Design, Setting, and Participants:In a cohort study of US veterans followed up between 2006 and 2016, ensemble modeling was used to identify and characterize morphology of the association between PM2.5 and causes of death. Burden of death associated with PM2.5 exposure in the contiguous United States and for each state was then estimated by application of estimated risk functions to county-level PM2.5 estimates from the US Environmental Protection Agency and cause-specific death rate data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Main Outcomes and Measures:Nonlinear exposure-response functions of the association between PM2.5 and causes of death and burden of death associated with PM2.5. Exposures:Annual mean PM2.5 levels. Results:A cohort of 4?522?160 US veterans (4?243?462 [93.8%] male; median [interquartile range] age, 64.1 [55.7-75.5] years; 3?702?942 [82.0%] white, 667?550 [14.8%] black, and 145?593 [3.2%] other race) was followed up for a median (interquartile range) of 10.0 (6.8-10.2) years. In the contiguous United States, PM2.5 exposure was associated with excess burden of death due to cardiovascular disease (56?070.1 deaths [95% uncertainty interval {UI}, 51?940.2-60?318.3 deaths]), cerebrovascular disease (40?466.1 deaths [95% UI, 21?770.1-46?487.9 deaths]), chronic kidney disease (7175.2 deaths [95% UI, 5910.2-8371.9 deaths]), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (645.7 deaths [95% UI, 300.2-2490.9 deaths]), dementia (19?851.5 deaths [95% UI, 14?420.6-31?621.4 deaths]), type 2 diabetes (501.3 deaths [95% UI, 447.5-561.1 deaths]), hypertension (30?696.9 deaths [95% UI, 27?518.1-33?881.9 deaths]), lung cancer (17?545.3 deaths [95% UI, 15?055.3-20?464.5 deaths]), and pneumonia (8854.9 deaths [95% UI, 7696.2-10?710.6 deaths]). Burden exhibited substantial geographic variation. Estimated burden of death due to nonaccidental causes was 197?905.1 deaths (95% UI, 183?463.3-213?644.9 deaths); mean age-standardized death rates (per 100?000) due to nonaccidental causes were higher among black individuals (55.2 [95% UI, 50.5-60.6]) than nonblack individuals (51.0 [95% UI, 46.4-56.1]) and higher among those living in counties with high (65.3 [95% UI, 56.2-75.4]) vs low (46.1 [95% UI, 42.3-50.4]) socioeconomic deprivation; 99.0% of the burden of death due to nonaccidental causes was associated with PM2.5 levels below standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. Conclusions and Relevance:In this study, 9 causes of death were associated with PM2.5 exposure. The burden of death associated with PM2.5 was disproportionally borne by black individuals and socioeconomically disadvantaged communities. Effort toward cleaner air might reduce the burden of PM2.5-associated deaths.

Dataset Information

Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2.5 air pollution and the burden of disease.

Background

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Household cooking with solid fuels contributes to ambient PM2.5 air pollution and the burden of disease.

Similar Datasets

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