Estimating the number of low-income americans exposed to household air pollution from burning solid fuels.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Exposure to household air pollution (HAP) from inefficient biomass and coal stoves kills nearly 4 million people every year worldwide. HAP is an environmental risk associated with poverty that affects an estimated 3 billion people mostly in low- and middle-income countries.

Objectives

Our goal was to estimate the number of low-income Americans exposed to potentially health-damaging concentrations of HAP.

Methods

We mapped county-level data for the percentage of households using wood, coal, and/or coke as their primary heating fuel along with percent of the population below the federal poverty level. Using U.S. Census data and the likelihood of fugitive emissions as reported in the literature, we estimated the number of low-income Americans potentially expos

SUBMITTER: Rogalsky DK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4123020 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature