Indoor air pollution kills 4.3 million annually

The World Health Organization says that 4.3 million people die annually due to indoor air pollution.

Air pollution, climate change and its adverse effects are often viewed with concern for our general environment. That’s why it may be jarring to hear that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.3 million people die throughout the world from indoor air pollution, making it the most direct way that humans are negatively affected by air pollutants.

With much of the pollution occurring by way of cooking with solid fuels over an open flame and using basic stoves, women and children have been disproportionally affected by this circumstance. Globally, nearly one third of the population relies on burning plants or coal in order to eat, resulting in harmful particulates and carbon monoxide poisoning. The indoor use of coal for cooking in China has been marked as the cause of 420,000 deaths per year.

The rise of more efficient stoves, particularly smokeless ones, has contributed to the overall rate of exposure to household air pollution has been falling in recent years, according to a study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. But the growing global population has kept the number of victims fixed at 2.8 billion people, according to a Motherboard article.

Lung cancer, asthma, pneumonia and respiratory tract infections are some of the ailments threatening those who are exposed to high levels of indoor air pollution. Furthermore, another feature that has contributed to steady number of victims is that poverty prevents millions of people from buying the updated stoves that limit carbon monoxide exposure.

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