Environmental Health and Indoor Air Pollution in China

Since humans typically spend 90 percent of their time indoors, the indoor environment is an important determinant of health. Indoor air pollution attributed to fuel combustion products from heating and cooking is a major public health challenge in rural China. While most of rural China utilizes coal as their domestic fuel source, some also use biomass. The use of these fuels in homes with poor or no ventilation is worrisome because this smoke has been associated with a variety of negative health outcomes, the most notable being lung cancer.