Air Pollution in the Household Every third endangered

Air Pollution in the Household: Every third person at risk

09/03/2014

Billions of people worldwide are exposed to health risks from air pollution. Analyzes show that the air in the house is often even worse than outside. More than one in three breathes dangerously bad air in their own homes, millions of people die every year.

Every third person breathes dangerously bad air at home
Not only in big cities does air pollution harm people. According to a news agency dpa, more than one out of three people in the world at home are breathing dangerous air that is produced by the burning of coal or vegetable fuels. Experts report in the British journal „The Lancet Respiratory Medicine“, that "nearly three billion people are exposed to serious health risks, especially in Asia and Africa".

Air in the house partly worse than outside
In many countries, fuels such as wood or coal are used for cooking, heating and as a light source. Often these would be burned in an open fire or in simple ovens, so that the air in very little ventilated rooms will be heavily polluted, writes the team to Stephen Gordon of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the UK and William Martin of Ohio State University in the UNITED STATES. As analyzes in India have shown, in some areas the air in the house is even worse than outside.

Reducing air pollution could save millions of lives
There, the pollution was three times higher than in a London street, well above the recommended limits of the World Health Organization (WHO). In addition, mold and cigarette smoke could severely affect the quality of the breathing air. The researchers write: „Estimates suggest that air pollution in the household in 2010 killed about 3.5 to 4 million people.“ Half a year ago, WHO reported that in 2012, around seven million people around the world had died of airborne illness. This is meanwhile in homes as well as outdoors „the world's largest single environmental health risk. Reducing air pollution could save millions of lives“, At that time, the director of the WHO Department of Public Health and Environment, Maria Neira, explained.

Up to 800 million families at risk worldwide
The scientists from the UK and the US warn that 600 to 800 million families worldwide are at risk, for example, from pneumonia, asthma or lung cancer. Especially women and children living in poverty are affected. One possible solution would be smokeless hotplates and solar systems. However, these would have to be just as cheap, efficient and durable as the traditional methods in the region. Otherwise threatened "an expensive failure," said the researchers. The analysis was co-funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (Ad)