World Health Organization Regional Office for the Americas|Johns Hopkins University|University of California, Berkeley
h3backgroundh3 critical review conducted quantitative literature linking indoor air pollution household use biomass fuels acute respiratory infections young children focused confined acute lower respiratory infection pneumonia children two years less developed countries biomass form wood crop residues animal dung used two fifths world9s households principal fuel h3methodsh3 medline electronic databases used also necessary secure literature colleagues less developed countries publications yet internationally indexed h3resultsh3 studies indoor air pollution household biomass fuels reasonably consistent group show strong significant increase risk exposed young children compared living households using cleaner fuels otherwise less exposed studies able adjust confounders found strong significant risks remained h3conclusionsh3 seems relative risks likely significant exposures considered since acute lower respiratory infection chief cause death children less developed countries exacts larger burden disease disease category world population even small additional risks due ubiquitous exposure air pollution important public health implications case indoor air pollution households using biomass fuels risks also seem fairly strong presumably high daily concentrations pollutants found settings large amount time young children spend mothers household cooking given large vulnerable populations risk urgent need conduct randomised trials increase confidence causeeffect relationship quantify risk precisely determine degree reduction exposure required significantly improve health establish effectiveness interventions