Indoor air pollution

Kitchen smoke causes about 1.5 million people to die prematurely each year, double the number of people who die from air pollution in cities .

Around the world there are about 3 million people daily burning wood, coal, straw or animal manure in the house for cooking and heating. Kitchen smoke is ranked fourth among the biggest health-damaging agents in poor countries but this is not paid attention to.

The Associated Press led the medical journal " The Lancet " recently emphasized the issue in the series on energy and health.

On " The Lancet ", Paul Wilkinson and his colleagues at the London School of Tropical and Hygiene Medicine estimated that about 2.4 million people worldwide are exposed to toxic gases from hard-to-burn solid fuels like firewood, charcoal and dried cow dung. This causes about 1.5 million premature deaths every year - twice the number of deaths due to air pollution in cities - and many respiratory diseases do not kill others .

Coal cooking is harmful to health!(Photo: Reuters)

Still on " The Lancet ", Eva Rehfuess works for a World Air Agency specialized in the World Health Organization (WHO): ' Most people are not aware of the risk. When living in a tent full of smoke . Living there is ten times more dangerous when living in heavily polluted cities . '

She said even WHO was surprised at the severity of indoor air pollution. This issue was first mentioned in the 2002 World Health Report (the 2002 World health Report) and it follows the issue of water and sanitation on the greatest health impact of the environment in developing country.

Prior to 2007, WHO had the first assessment of the impact of indoor air pollution on human health in each country. In 2002, the world had nearly two-thirds of deaths related to heating and burning solid fuels in Asia Pacific.

Although indoor air pollution causes about 800,000 children to die each year mainly due to pneumonia, this problem is less of a concern. Smoke is associated with a wide range of diseases from lung cancer to cataracts and respiratory diseases.

If people repair kitchens with chimneys, they can reduce the risk of indoor smoke exposure by 30 to 50%.

Minh Minh