Clean Cookstove Research According to the World Health
Organization, cookstove smoke is a major contributor to indoor
air pollution in developing countries causing approximately 2
million premature deaths annually and a wide range of illnesses.
Nearly half of the people in the world still depend on the
burning of biomass (wood, charcoal, crop residues, and dung) and
coal in rudimentary cookstoves or open fires to cook their food.
People in developing countries, primarily women and children,
are exposed to smoke with high concentrations of pollutants such
as fine particles composed of toxic compounds. Health studies
show that exposure to cookstove smoke contributes to a wide
range of illnesses such as pneumonia and low-birth weight in
children, lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease,
blindness, and heart disease in adults, especially women who are
disproportionately exposed in their homes. As part of the Global
Alliance for Clean Cookstoves , EPA is an international leader
in clean cookstove resear