| 1 | Household fuel use | The aim of this review was to summarize the fuels and associated technologies used by different populations around the world for meeting household energy needs. The following questions were defined:
What sources of information are available on household energy use, and what are the strengths and limitations of these data? What are the main fuels (and associated technologies) used by households for cooking, heating and lighting in both low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and high-income countries? What other sources of combustion are found in the home (other than tobacco smoking)?
|
| 2 | Emissions of health-damaging pollutants from household stoves | The aim of this review was to assess the levels of emission of health damaging pollutants released from household combustion technologies. The following key questions were defined:
What are the levels of emission of health damaging pollutants from household solid fuel burning stoves in both laboratory and field tests, to be used as a basis for modelling indoor air concentrations? What are the implications of differences between laboratory and field emission results?
|
| 3 | Model for linking household energy use with indoor air quality | The aim of this review was to provide guidance on the emissions performance of household combustion technologies that would be required for households to meet WHO air quality guidelines (AQGs). Key factors that have an impact on the relationship between emissions and indoor air quality and the approaches that can be used to quantify this relationship are also discussed. The following questions are addressed by this review:
What considerations are important for linking indoor emissions to indoor pollutant levels? What are the modelling options for linking emission rates with indoor air pollutant levels? Based on the model, what particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO) emission rates will correspond to achievement of goals involving various percentages of homes meeting WHO AQGs for both unvented and vented combustion technologies?
|
| 4 | Health effects of household air pollution (HAP) exposure | The aim of the review was to compile and review the evidence on the impacts household fuel combustion have on child and adult health, with an emphasis on solid fuel use in developing countries. The review examined estimates of risk and strength of causal evidence, sought exposure-response evidence and estimates of intervention impacts. It also summarized the health risks of household use of gas, and any impacts the control of HAP have on vector-borne disease. The key questions for the review are as follows (note: further elaboration of these is provided in the sections relating to specific disease outcomes).
What child and adult disease outcomes are linked to solid fuel HAP exposure, and what are the estimated risks and strength of causal evidence? What information is available on the relationships between exposure level and risk of important disease outcomes? What are the shapes of these relationships (exposure-response functions)? What are the health risks of exposure to gas used as a household fuel? What are the impacts of potential interventions to reduce HAP exposure (reduced smoke levels, increased ventilation) on the risk of vector-borne disease? What are the effects of smoke on insecticide treated nets (ITNs)?
|
| 5 | Population levels of HAP and exposures | The aim of this review was to assess population levels of HAP and exposure. The following key questions were defined:
What are some of the key features of the HAP exposure setting? What are some common methods and technologies used for estimating HAP concentrations or exposures? How do selected household level determinants such as type of fuel or location of stove affect levels of HAP exposure that are experienced by household members? How do the pooled estimates of exposure from studies reviewed compare to pollutant-specific WHO AQGs?
|
| 6 | Impacts of interventions on HAP concentrations and personal exposure | The aim of this review was to compile all available information on the impacts that solid and clean fuel interventions used in homes for everyday needs have on HAP and personal exposure. The key questions for the review were as follows:
Are improved solid fuel stoves and cleaner fuel interventions in everyday use, compared to traditional solid fuel stoves, effective for reducing average concentrations of, or exposure to, PM and among households in LMICs? By what amount (in absolute and relative terms) do the interventions reduce PM and CO, and how do post-intervention (in-use) levels compare with WHO AQGs?
|
| 7 | Factors influencing the adoption and sustained use of improved cookstoves and clean household energy | The aim of this review was to identify the factors that influence the large-scale uptake by households of cleaner and more efficient household energy technologies. The key questions addressed by this review were:
Which factors enable or limit adoption and sustained use of improved solid fuel stoves, biogas, liquefied petroleum gas, alcohol fuels and solar stoves? Can any specific lessons be derived with respect to scaling up programmes for cleaner and more efficient household energy technologies in equitable ways in relation to poverty, urban-rural location and gender? What are the implications of findings for programme and policy planning, as well as future research?
|
| 8 | Household coal combustion: unique features of exposure to intrinsic toxicants and health effects | The aim of this review was to identify the unique characteristics of coal, including toxic contaminants, and its health risks in household use to supplement the material in Review 4 on solid fuels (Health effects of household air pollution) on solid fuels. This review addressed the following four questions:
What characteristics of combustion emissions are specific to coal? What are the specific adverse health effects of household coal combustion, in addition to the effects of products of incomplete combustion shared with biomass? What are the health risks from toxic contaminants in coal? What are the impacts of interventions to reduce risk from household use of coal, including the history and extent of bans on household coal use (with focus on China)?
|
| 9 | Summary of systematic review of household kerosene use | The aim of this review was to summarize the evidence, drawing primarily on a recently published systematic review, relating to the following key questions:
How is kerosene used in households, including technology types used for combustion, and fuel quality? What types and levels of pollutants are emitted, and what area concentrations and personal exposure levels result? What is the evidence for health risks, as reported from epidemiological studies?
|
| 10 | Burns and poisoning | The aim of this review was to synthesize and present the current evidence base for burns associated with the combustion of household fuels used for cooking, heating, and lighting in LMICs. A second objective was to summarize the evidence concerning poisoning related to the unintentional ingestion of liquid household fuel. The main questions addressed by this evidence review were:
What is the epidemiology (incidence, morbidity, mortality, sequelae) of burns and poisoning in LMICs attributable to household fuel combustion and use? What are the important risk factors, including the role of household fuel use, for burns and poisoning in LMIC homes? What are the impacts of technology and behavioural interventions on the risks of burns and poisoning in LMIC homes?
|
| 11 | Costs and financing for adoption at scale | The aim of this review was to provide data on, and frameworks of analysis for, the financial implications of trying to improve air quality through changes in cooking technologies and fuels. |
