National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

Fanning the Flames of Research on Cookstoves and Health

As women in rural Guatemala perform the simple chore of cooking, their lungs, and those of their families fill with smoke and particulate matter. This scene is repeatedly daily in millions of homes around the world, where the poorest three billion people burn wood, dung and other biomass indoors and around their homes for cooking and heating. According to the recently released Global Burden of Disease report, nearly four million people around the world, mostly women and children, die every year as a result. Many more suffer illnesses and disabilities as a result of breathing pollutant-laced smoke.

What Does "Sustainable Development" Mean to You?

Participants in a webinar by the Institute of Medicine and NIEHS Global Environmental Health and Sustainable Development Innovation Collaborative were asked to answer this question in six words or less. The word cloud above illustrates their answers. The font weight of a word correlates to the number of times it was given in a response. The varying colors are just to enhance readability.

Kerosene: A Widely Used Fuel with Unknown Health Risks

In developing countries, kerosene is often advocated as a clean alternative to solid fuels, like wood or coal, for use in cooking. Globally, an estimated 500 million people also commonly use kerosene as fuel for lamps. But new research is bringing the potential health risks of exposure to kerosene combustion products to light.

Other Research

• Occurrence and exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives in a rural Chinese home through biomass fueled cooking. Ding J, Zhong J, Yang Y, Li B, Shen G, Su Y, Wang C, Li W, Shen H, Wang B, Wang R, Huang Y, Zhang Y, Cao H, Zhu Y, Simonich SL, Tao S. Environ Pollut. 2012 Oct;169:160-6. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.10.008.  Epub 2011 Dec 29.  PMID: 22209516 [Abstract Occurrence and exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and their derivatives in a rural Chinese home through biomass fueled cooking. Ding J, Zhong J, Yang Y, Li B, Shen G, Su Y, Wang C, Li W, Shen H, Wang B, Wang R, Huang Y, Zhang Y, Cao H, Zhu Y, Simonich SL, Tao S. Environ Pollut. 2012 Oct;169:160-6. doi: 10.1016/j.envpol.2011.10.008.  Epub 2011 Dec 29.  PMID: 22209516] [ Full Text (770KB)]
• Partnering parasites: evidence of synergism between heavy Schistosoma haematobium and Plasmodium species infections in Kenyan children. Florey LS, King CH, Van Dyke MK, Muchiri EM, Mungai PL, Zimmerman PA, Wilson ML. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(7):e1723. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001723. Epub 2012 Jul 24. PMID: 22848765 [Abstract Partnering parasites: evidence of synergism between heavy Schistosoma haematobium and Plasmodium species infections in Kenyan children. Florey LS, King CH, Van Dyke MK, Muchiri EM, Mungai PL, Zimmerman PA, Wilson ML. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(7):e1723. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001723. Epub 2012 Jul 24. PMID: 22848765] [Full Text Partnering parasites: evidence of synergism between heavy Schistosoma haematobium and Plasmodium species infections in Kenyan children. Florey LS, King CH, Van Dyke MK, Muchiri EM, Mungai PL, Zimmerman PA, Wilson ML. PLoS Negl Trop Dis. 2012;6(7):e1723. doi: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0001723. Epub 2012 Jul 24. PMID: 22848765]
• Characterization of fine particulate matter and associations between particulate chemical constituents and mortality in Seoul, Korea. Son JY, Lee JT, Kim KH, Jung K, Bell ML. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):872-8. Epub 2012 Mar 22 [Abstract Characterization of fine particulate matter and associations between particulate chemical constituents and mortality in Seoul, Korea. Son JY, Lee JT, Kim KH, Jung K, Bell ML. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):872-8. Epub 2012 Mar 22] [Full Text Characterization of fine particulate matter and associations between particulate chemical constituents and mortality in Seoul, Korea. Son JY, Lee JT, Kim KH, Jung K, Bell ML. Environ Health Perspect. 2012 Jun;120(6):872-8. Epub 2012 Mar 22]
• Implications of global climate change for the assessment and management of human health risks of chemicals in the natural environment.  Balbus JM, Boxall AB, Fenske RA, McKone TE, Zeise L. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2012 Nov 12. doi: 10.1002/etc.2046. PMID: 23147420 [Abstract Implications of global climate change for the assessment and management of human health risks of chemicals in the natural environment.  Balbus JM, Boxall AB, Fenske RA, McKone TE, Zeise L. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2012 Nov 12. doi: 10.1002/etc.2046. PMID: 23147420] [Full Text Implications of global climate change for the assessment and management of human health risks of chemicals in the natural environment.  Balbus JM, Boxall AB, Fenske RA, McKone TE, Zeise L. Environ Toxicol Chem. 2012 Nov 12. doi: 10.1002/etc.2046. PMID: 23147420]
• Early-life prevention of non-communicable diseases. Balbus JM, Barouki R, Birnbaum LS, Etzel RA, Gluckman PD, Grandjean P, Hancock C, Hanson MA, Heindel JJ, Hoffman K, Jensen GK, Keeling A, Neira M, Rabadán-Diehl C, Ralston J, Tang KC. Lancet. 2013 Jan 5;381(9860):3-4 [Full Text Early-life prevention of non-communicable diseases. Balbus JM, Barouki R, Birnbaum LS, Etzel RA, Gluckman PD, Grandjean P, Hancock C, Hanson MA, Heindel JJ, Hoffman K, Jensen GK, Keeling A, Neira M, Rabadán-Diehl C, Ralston J, Tang KC. Lancet. 2013 Jan 5;381(9860):3-4]

Focus on Fellows: Sascha Liberti: World-Class Training Brings Fellow from Denmark to North Carolina

• Superfund Hazardous Substance Research and Training Program

• NIH Director’s Blog: “Up in smoke? Learn more about the greatest environmental health risk you never heard of.”
• The Atlas of Health and Climate
• Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves Strategic Business Plan
• Global Health: Science and Practice Journal