Household Energy in Rural China: Particles, Impacts and Interventions
Documenting particulate exposures and correlating them with health outcomes present challenges in the lab and in the field. While the evidence of harm associated with particulate exposure is compelling, the specific cause and effect relations remain elusive. Strategies for interventions in rural households may appear straightforward, but on the ground, implementation is technically, socio-politically and culturally complex.
This talk reports on two studies involving household energy in rural China. One study is lab based; the issues of measuring and analyzing the emissions from domestic coal burning, and correlating those with epidemiologic data will be discussed. The second study is field based, involving the replacement of biomass and coal burning with a producer gas for home cooking. The challenges and the science and policy implications associated with this type of intervention will be reviewed.