Globally,over three billion people rely on traditional solid fuels for cooking and heating,leading to significant household air pollution and critical public health concerns.While transitioning to clean energy carrier...Globally,over three billion people rely on traditional solid fuels for cooking and heating,leading to significant household air pollution and critical public health concerns.While transitioning to clean energy carriers faces challenges of accessibility and affordabilitydespecially among low-income,rural populationsdalternative strategies like kitchen layout modifications and the use of ventilation fans may effectively reduce exposure to pollutants.Here,we analyze factors influencing the adoption of separated kitchens and mechanical ventilation and evaluate changes in human exposure to PM2.5 under different kitchen renovation scenarios by conducting a nationwide survey of household kitchen characteristics in rural China.We found that although 82%of rural households have kitchens separated from other rooms,only 34%use mechanical ventilation.The adoption of ventilation fans is significantly influenced by income and education levels.We estimate that widespread implementation of ventilation fans and separated kitchen designs could prevent approximately 67400 premature deaths annually,resulting in a health benefit of about USD 19 billion per yeardsubstantially exceeding the costs involved.These findings suggest that cost-effective kitchen renovations offer enormous potential for substantial health benefits and present a practical solution compared to the challenges of clean energy transitions in rural areas.展开更多
基金Funding for this work was partially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(42371077)the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China(2023YFE0112900).
文摘Globally,over three billion people rely on traditional solid fuels for cooking and heating,leading to significant household air pollution and critical public health concerns.While transitioning to clean energy carriers faces challenges of accessibility and affordabilitydespecially among low-income,rural populationsdalternative strategies like kitchen layout modifications and the use of ventilation fans may effectively reduce exposure to pollutants.Here,we analyze factors influencing the adoption of separated kitchens and mechanical ventilation and evaluate changes in human exposure to PM2.5 under different kitchen renovation scenarios by conducting a nationwide survey of household kitchen characteristics in rural China.We found that although 82%of rural households have kitchens separated from other rooms,only 34%use mechanical ventilation.The adoption of ventilation fans is significantly influenced by income and education levels.We estimate that widespread implementation of ventilation fans and separated kitchen designs could prevent approximately 67400 premature deaths annually,resulting in a health benefit of about USD 19 billion per yeardsubstantially exceeding the costs involved.These findings suggest that cost-effective kitchen renovations offer enormous potential for substantial health benefits and present a practical solution compared to the challenges of clean energy transitions in rural areas.
