MILPAAHEL-Miljøpåvirkning og helse

Almost 3 billion people worldwide use traditional fuels for home cooking and heating. It is well documented that high levels of air pollution from solid fuel burning contribute to enhanced rates of acute and chronic respiratory diseases. According to the World Health Organization, smoke from solid fuels (biomass and coal) burned in households is among the leading health risks for people in developing countries, estimated to be responsible for more than 1.6 million premature deaths annually. Although there is general consensus that IAP is a major risk factor, there is very little knowledge of actual exposure experienced by the population subject to indoor air pollution, and the link between exposure and morbidity/mortality. In order to improve the understa nding of how the environment affects human health we need both a better understanding of population exposure, and more knowledge of the exposure-response relationships. In this proposed project both exposure to particulate matter (PM) experienced by diff erent socio-economic groups in China, and its relationship with burden of disease will be studied. Exposure will be estimated using a Monte Carlo based method, making use of new indoor PM measurements. The project will provide a detailed exposure analysis for three provinces in China, and a generalised analysis for all of China. By use of health statistics at different detail level in conjunction with the exposure estimates, the impact of exposure on human health will be studied. The project aims at quant ifying possible difference in disease burden associated with exposure to coal and biomass smoke. The project is collaboration between CICERO in Norway and University of California, with two of the leading scientist on IAP and health in developing countrie s. Professor Kirk Smith (UC Berkeley) and Associate Professor Rufus Edwards (UC Irvine) have offered scientific collaboration and provide the project with important field measurements of IAP in rural China