Abstract

ALVIS GUZMAN, Nelson  and  DE LA HOZ RESTREPO, Fernando. Home air pollution and respiratory illnesses (low sharp respiratory infection, COPD, lung cancer and asthma): evidences of association. rev.fac.med. [online]. 2008, vol.56, n.1, pp.54-64. ISSN 0120-0011.

Background. A literature review was carried out on studies done on the relationship between exposure to indoor air pollution (smoke from coal, wood and animal detritus) and respiratory diseases. Objective. Identifying the adverse effects on the respiratory system that have been studied in the literature, the tendencies of the investigation in this field during the last decade and the recommendations to prevent the caused damages by this exposition, a review of the scientific literature between 1993 he was carried out and 2005. Materials and methods. Literature databases, MEDLINE and LILACS, were thoroughly searched using "indoor air pollution" as key words. The search had in account potential pitfalls arising from synonymous and homonymous. Other words using during the search included: "respiratory disease", "firewood and respiratory diseases", "wood smoke" and "firewood smoke". Results: Overall, 574 papers were retrieved from the search being 71% of them original research and 15% review papers. Most of the articles came from developed countries and China while Latin-American studies were very scarce. The strongest associations were found between indoor air pollution and lower respiratory infection in children less than 5 years old, pulmonary chronic illness in women under 30 years old and lung cancer among women within the same age group. Conclusion: The reviewed studies suggest that the effect of the indoor air pollution is higher among the youngest substantially contributing to the burden of respiratory disease among those under 30's.

Keywords : air pollution; respiratory tract diseases; respiratory tract infections; smoke; biomass; lung neoplasms.

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