Biomass fuels, charcoal and kerosene are the most used cooking fuels in Tanzania. Biomass fuel use has been linked to Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI) in children. It is not clear whether the use of charcoal and kerosene has health advantage over biomass fuels. In this study, the effects of biomass fuels, charcoal/kerosene on ARI in children under five years old in Tanzania are quantified and...

BACKGROUND Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from cooking with solid fuels affects 2.8 billion people in developing countries, including children and pregnant women. The aim of this review is to propose intervention estimates for child survival outcomes linked to HAP. METHODS Systematic reviews with meta-analysis were conducted for ages 0-59 months, for child pneumonia, adverse pregna...

BACKGROUND Over half the world is exposed daily to the smoke from combustion of solid fuels. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is one of the main contributors to the global burden of disease and can be caused by biomass smoke exposure. However, studies of biomass exposure and COPD show a wide range of effect sizes. The aim of this systematic review was to quantify the impact of bioma...

For hundreds of years, chimneys have been swept with long steel brushes inserted manually into the chimney from the top and from the bottom. Chimney sweeps are exposed to soot, with concurrent exposure to sulfur dioxide and arsenic (Bagchi & Zimmerman, 1980). Soot is black particulate matter that is formed as a by-product of combustion or pyrolysis of organic (carbon-containing) materials, such...