Description

Solid biomass fuels (SBFs) burning in traditional cookstoves (TCS) has been acknowledged as a major global concern (Goldemberg et al., 2018; Bonjour et al., 2013). Worldwide, around 3 billion people still rely on SBFs like wood, crop residue, dung cake or coal for cooking and other household activities (WHO, 2017). The dependence on SBFs leads household air pollution (HAP) which, according to Global burden of disease study, resulted in 85.6 million premature deaths globally (GBD, 2015). A recent estimate by The Health Effects Institute (HEI) reported 1.8 million premature deaths and 48.7 million disability adjusted life years (DALYs) attributable to exposure to HAP in India (GBD MAPS Working Group, 2018). In addition, in India HAP has accounted to cause approx. 32% of the premature deaths due to ischematic heart disease, followed by chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD i.e. 28%) and lower respiratory infections (24%), as shown in Figure 1.1 (WHO, 2018). Moreover, poorly ventilated kitchens aggravate the problem of HAP leading exposure to very high concentrations of toxic pollutants. (Du et al., 2018; Baumgartner et al., 2011).