Description
Biomass fuel includes wood, charcoal, twigs, dried grass, crop residues, and animal dung cakes used in about 50% of all households worldwide. Biomass smoke is a risk factor for COPD comparable to active smoking. Other health effects associated with biomass smoke are low birth weight, respiratory infections, and lung cancer. The concentration of particulate matter <10 microns in diameter (PM10) in homes burning biomass fuel is 10-70 times greater than the ambient levels of some of the most polluted cities in the world. [PMID 20605806] "Indoor emissions from household combustion of coal are carcinogenic to humans (Group 1)." [IARC Monographs: Volume 95: Household Use of Solid Fuels and High-temperature Frying]