Air Pollution in Developing Countries

Impacts of household sources on air pollution at village and regional scales in India

Rooney B, Zhao R, Wang Y, Bates KH, Pillarisetti A, Sharma S, Kundu S, Bond TC, Lam NL, Ozaltun B, Xu L, Goel V, Fleming LT, Weltman R, Meinardi S, Blake DR, Nizkorodov SA, Edwards RD, Yadav A, Arora NK, Smith KR, Seinfeld JH (2019) Impacts of household sources on air pollution at village and regional scales in India. Atmos Chem Phys 19:7719–7742.

Let the “A” in WASH Stand for Air: Integrating Research and Interventions to Improve Household Air Pollution (HAP) and Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) in Low-Income Settings

Change in household fuels dominates the decrease in PM2.5 exposure and premature mortality in China in 2005–2015

Zhao B, Zheng H, Wang S, Smith KR, Lu X, Aunan K, Gu Y, Wang Y, Ding D, Xing J, Fu X, Yang X, Liou K-N, Hao J. Change in household fuels dominates the decrease in PM 2.5exposure and premature mortality in China in 2005–2015. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2018. 24:201812955. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1812955115 PDF | Supplement

This work has been covered in the news:

Nature Research Highlights: A switch by China’s home cooks helps to save millions of lives

phys.org: Reduction in wood burning by rural people in China results in less fine particulate matter pollution

Ars Technica: In China, replacing coal and biomass stoves has saved lives

Molecular Composition of Particulate Matter Emissions from Dung and Brushwood Burning in Household Cookstoves in Haryana, India

Fleming LT, Lin P, Laskin A, Laskin J, Weltman R, Edwards RD, Arora NK, Yadav A, Meinardi S, Blake DR, Pillarisetti A,  Smith KR, Nizkorodov SA. Molecular composition of particulate matter emissions from dung and brushwood burning in household cookstoves in Haryana, IndiaAtmos. Chem. Phys, 2018 (18):2461-2480 – final version, doi.org/10.5194/acp-2017-784.  With supplement.

Ambient PM2.5 exposures and expected premature mortality to 2100 in India under climate change scenarios

Chowdhury S, Dey S, Smith KR. Ambient PM2.5 exposures and expected premature mortality to 2100 in India under climate change scenariosNature Communications2018(9):318, Published online January 22 2018, doi: 10.1038/s41467-017-02755-y

Kitchen PM2.5 concentrations and child acute lower respiratory infection in Bhaktapur, Nepal: The importance of fuel type

Bates MN, Pokhrel AK, Chandyo RK, Valentiner-Branth P, Mathisen M, Basnet S, Strand TA, Burnett RT, Smith KR. Kitchen PM(2.5) concentrations and child acute lower respiratory infection in Bhaktapur, Nepal: The importance of fuel type. Environ Res. 2017 Dec 11;161:546-553. doi: 10.1016/j.envres.2017.11.056. [Epub
ahead of print] 

India Leads the Way: A Health-Centered Strategy for Air Pollution

Sagar AD, Balakrishnan K, Chowdhury A, Guttikunda S, Smith KR, 2016, India leads the way: A health-centered strategy for air pollutionEnviron Health Perspect 124(7): A116-117.

 

HAPIT, the Household Air Pollution Intervention Tool to evaluate the health benefits and cost-effectiveness of clean cooking interventions.

 

 

 

PM2.5 in household kitchens of Bhaktapur, Nepal, using four different cooking fuels

Pokhrel AK, Bates MN, Acharya, J, Valentiner-Branth P,  Chandyo RK, Shrestha PS, Raut AK,  Smith KR. PM2.5 in household kitchens of Bhaktapur, Nepal, using four different cooking fuels, Atmospheric Environment 2015 doi: 10.1016/j.atmosenv.2015.04.060

Please note caveat from journal: "This is an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content

The Petroleum Product That Can Save Millions Of Lives Each Year

Forbes, May 27, 2014 • Guest op-ed written by Kirk R. Smith The fracking furor over shale gas is the latest in a series of environmental debates that have bedeviled the oil and gas industry in spite of what might be considered an enviable record compared to related industries, coal for example. From off shore spills to the Keystone Pipeline, the industry probably feels a bit set upon at times. Similarly, its products are often the focus of environmental concern and consequent strict regulation, for example diesel air pollution. Finally, it often bears the brunt of concerns about carbon dioxide emissions leading to climate change risks.

The industry might keep in mind, however, that one of its products, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG ­ bottled gas containing propane and butane), is actually the most effective solution available for the largest environmental health risk in the world: cooking with solid fuels. Read more at Forbes.com

Climate change and health: on the latest IPCC report

Woodward A, Smith KR, Campbell-Lendrum D, Chadee DD, Honda Y, Liu Q, Olwach J, Revich B, Sauerborn R, Chafe Z, Confalonieri U, Haines A. Climate change and health: on the latest IPCC report, The Lancet, Available online 2 April 2014. ISSN 0140-6736, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60576-6. → Download PDF. → Download Supplemental Material.

Human Health: Impacts, Adaptation, and Co-Benefits. Chapter 11 in Climate Change 2014.

Smith KR, Woodward A, Campbell-Lendrum D, Chadee D, Honda Y, Liu Q, Olwoch J, Revich B, Sauerborn R, Human Health: Impacts, Adaptation, and Co-benefits. Ch 11 in Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Vol I: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change [Field, C.B., V. Barros, D.J.Dokken, et al. (eds.)]. Cambridge Univ Press, Cambridge, UK and NYC, 2014 Version undergoing copy-editing; final version forthcoming (April 2014)

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Millions Dead: How Do We Know and What Does It Mean? Methods Used in the Comparative Risk Assessment of Household Air Pollution

Smith KR, Bruce N, Balakrishnan K, Adair-Rohani H, Balmes J, Chafe Z, Dherani M, Hosgood DH, Mehta S, Pope D, Rehfuess E, et al. (2014) Millions Dead: How Do We Know and What Does It Mean? Methods Used in the Comparative Risk Assessment of Household Air Pollution. Annu. Rev. Public Health 35: 185-206. doi: 10.1146/annurev-publhealth-032013-182356→ Download PDF → Download Supplementary Material [PDF]

Addressing the Burden of Disease Attributable to Air Pollution in India: The Need to Integrate across Household and Ambient Air Pollution Exposures

Balakrishnan K, Cohen A, Smith KR. (2014) Addressing the Burden of Disease Attributable to Air Pollution in India: The Need to Integrate across Household and Ambient Air Pollution Exposures. Environmental Health Perspectives 122 (1): A6-A7; doi: dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1307822→ Download PDF

State and national household concentrations of PM2.5 from solid cookfuel use: Results from measurements and modeling in India for estimation of the global burden of disease

Balakrishnan K, Ghosh S, Ganguli B, Sambandam S, Bruce NG, Barnes DF, Smith KR. (2013) State and national household concentrations of PM2.5 from solid cookfuel use: Results from measurements and modeling in India for estimation of the global burden of disease. Environmental Health 2013, 12:77 doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-77 → Download PDF

Quantitative metrics of stove adoption using Stove Use Monitors (SUMs)

Ruiz-Mercado I, Canuz E, Walker JL, Smith KR. (2013). Quantitative metrics of stove adoption using Stove Use Monitors (SUMs). Online / Article In-Press (final version forthcoming). Biomass and Bioenergy (2013), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biombioe.2013.07.002→ Download PDF

Joint CO2 and CH4 accountability for global warming

Smith KR, Desai MA, Rogers JV, Houghton RA. Joint CO2 and CH4 accountability for global warming. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (2013). http://doi:10.1073/pnas.1308004110 → Download PDF. → Downloads Database (zipped XLSX).

Improving stove evaluation using survey data: Who received which intervention matters

Mueller V, Pfaff A, Peabody J, Liu Y, Smith KR. Improving stove evaluation using survey data: Who received which intervention matters. Ecological Economics 93:301-312 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2013.06.001. → Download PDF.

Solid Fuel Use for Household Cooking: Country and Regional Estimates for 1980-2010

Bonjour S, Adair-Rohani H, Wolf J, Bruce NG, Mehta S, Pruss-Ustun A, Lahiff M, Rehfuess EA, Mishra V, and Smith KR. Solid Fuel Use for Household Cooking: Country and Regional Estimates for 1980-2010. Environ Health Perspect 121:784-790 (2013). http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1205987. → Download PDF. → Download Supplemental Information.

Pollution: An innovation prize for clean cookstoves

Nature, 497: 317, May 16, 2013 • Ambuj D. Sagar (IIT Delhi) & Kirk R. Smith (UC Berkeley) A radical shift in engine technology in the 1970s (Honda's CVCC) drastically cut motor-vehicle emissions. A comparable game-changer could solve an even bigger pollution problem today.

Household air pollution from the traditional biomass-burning stoves used in many developing countries is the world's largest environmental-health threat, leading to 4 million premature deaths annually (S. S. Lim et al. Lancet 380, 2224–2260; 2012). We propose that a multimillion-dollar innovation prize should be set up, funded by governments or private philanthropy, to rapidly bring cleaner, more efficient and affordable stoves to poor people.

The competition would attract the world's best combustion scientists and engineers, and would help to take the current efforts of non-governmental organizations, small companies and academics to the next level (see S. Anenberg et al. Nature 490, 343; 2012).

The prize would be awarded for a durable, low-emission biomass-combustion unit ­ the 'heart of the hearth' ­ rather than for the stove itself. Stove designs could then be adapted around this to meet local requirements.

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