Indoor Fuel Exposure and the Lung in Both Developing and Developed Countries: An Update

Almost 3 billion people worldwide burn solid fuels indoors. Despite the large population at risk worldwide, the effect of exposure to indoor solid fuel smoke has not been adequately studied. Indoor air pollution from solid fuel use is strongly associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, acute respiratory tract infections, and lung cancer, and weakly associated with asthma, tuberculosis, and interstitial lung disease. Tobacco use further potentiates the development of respiratory disease among subjects exposed to solid fuel smoke. There is a need to perform additional interventional studies in this field.