Interventions to improve indoor air quality: effects on household air pollution and health
Citation: Quansah R, Semple S, Ochieng CA, et al. Effectiveness of interventions to reduce household air pollution and/or improve health in homes using solid fuel in low-and-middle income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Environment International. 2017;103:73-90.
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What is this? About one third of the world population uses solid fuel, such as wood, as a source for energy. This causes household air pollution which can cause various health problems. Cookstove intervention programmes are used in low- and middle-income countries to try to improve this.
In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies of the effects of interventions intended to improve indoor air quality on household air pollution and health in low- and middle-income countries. They restricted their articles to articles published in Chinese, English and Spanish and did the most recent search in December 2015. They included 28 studies of personal indicators of indoor air quality, 26 studies of micro-environment indicators of household air pollution from solid fuel use and 29 studies of health outcomes.
What was found: Interventions to improve indoor air quality reduced household air pollution and carbon monoxide, but levels remained above recommendations from the World Health Organizations.
The health effects of interventions to improve indoor air quality in low- and middle-income countries are uncertain.