PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Om P. Kurmi
AU  - Kin Bong Hubert Lam
AU  - Jon G. Ayres
TI  - Indoor air pollution and the lung in low- and medium-income countries
AID  - 10.1183/09031936.00190211
DP  - 2012 Jul 01
TA  - European Respiratory Journal
PG  - 239--254
VI  - 40
IP  - 1
4099  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/1/239.short
4100  - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/1/239.full
SO  - Eur Respir J2012 Jul 01; 40
AB  - Over half the world’s population, mostly from developing countries, use solid fuel for domestic purposes and are exposed to very high concentrations of harmful air pollutants with potential health effects such as respiratory problems, cardiovascular problems, infant mortality and ocular problems. The evidence also suggests that, although the total percentage of people using solid fuel is decreasing, the absolute number is currently increasing. Exposure to smoke from solid fuel burning increases the risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and lung cancer in adults, and acute lower respiratory tract infection/pneumonia in children. Despite the heterogeneity among studies, the association between COPD and exposure to smoke produced by burning different types of solid fuel is consistent. However, there is strong evidence that while coal burning is a risk factor for lung cancer, exposure to other biomass fuel smoke is less so. There is some evidence that reduction of smoke exposure using improved cooking stoves reduces the risk of COPD and, possibly, acute lower respiratory infection in children, so approaches to reduce biomass smoke exposure are likely to result in reductions in the global burden of respiratory disease.