Inside Out: the Household Contribution to Ambient Air Pollution
Household air pollution contributes substantially to ambient air pollution. Estimates of this contribution range between approximately 20 and 50% globally, with large spatial heterogeneity both between and within countries. Regardless of this heterogeneity — both in the prevalence of solid fuel use and in the estimates of household contributions to ambient air pollution — reducing household air pollution from solid fuel use has benefits across scales — it benefits people in homes who rely on these fuels, but also provides benefits to communities and airsheds by reducing ambient air pollution levels. Our work has focused on both top-down and bottom-up estimates of this contribution and the potential health implications of the contribution. Finally, with a group of global collaborators, we have estimated benefits associated with potential policy pathways to reduce household air pollution.
Projects
AAM-LASSI (active)
Household sources of outdoor air (inactive)
Publications
2026
Shen, G., Zhang, Y., Jiang, K., Pillarisetti, A., Meng, W., Zhong, Q., Shen, H., Cheng, H., & Tao, S. (2026). Region-specific solutions for clean cooking and heating in rural China: a cost–benefit analysis. The Lancet Planetary Health, 10(3), 101439. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lanplh.2026.101439
2023
Chowdhury, S., Pillarisetti, A., Oberholzer, A., Jetter, J., Mitchell, J., Cappuccilli, E., Aamaas, B., Aunan, K., Pozzer, A., & Alexander, D. (2023). A global review of the state of the evidence of household air pollution’s contribution to ambient fine particulate matter and their related health impacts. In Environment International (Vol. 173, p. 107835). Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2023.107835
2022
Pillarisetti, A., Ye, W., & Chowdhury, S. (2022). Indoor Air Pollution and Health: Bridging Perspectives from Developing and Developed Countries. In Annual Review of Environment and Resources (Vol. 47, Issue 1, pp. 197–229). Annual Reviews. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-environ-012220-010602
2021
Puttaswamy, N., Sreekanth, V., Pillarisetti, A., Upadhya, A.R., Saidam, S., Veerappan, B., Mukhopadhyay, K., Sambandam, S., Sutaria, R., Balakrishnan, K. (2022). Indoor and Ambient Air Pollution in Chennai, India during COVID-19 Lockdown: An Affordable Sensors Study. Aerosol Air Qual. Res. 22, 210170. https://doi.org/10.4209/aaqr.210170
2019
Rooney B, Zhao R, Wang Y, Bates KH, Pillarisetti A, Sharma S, Kundu S, Bond TC, Lam NL, Ozaltun B, Xu L, Goel V, Fleming LT, Weltman R, Meinardi S, Blake DR, Nizkorodov SA, Edwards RD, Yadav A, Arora NK, Smith KR, Seinfeld JH (2019) Impacts of household sources on air pollution at village and regional scales in India. Atmos Chem Phys 19:7719-7742.
Chowdhury S, Dey S, Guttikunda S, Pillarisetti A, Smith KR, Di Girolamo L. Indian annual ambient air quality standard is achievable by completely mitigating emissions from household sources. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Apr 2019, 201900888; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1900888116. Supporting Information.
Chowdhury S, Dey S, Di Girolamo L, Smith KR, Pillarisetti A, Lyapustin A. Tracking ambient PM2.5 build-up in Delhi national capital region during the dry season over 15 years using a high-resolution (1 km) satellite aerosol dataset. Atmospheric Environment 204: 142-150. doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2019.02.029
2018
Fleming LT, Weltman R, Yadav A, Edwards RD, Arora NK, Pillarisetti A, Meinardi S, Smith KR, Blake DR, Nizkorodov SA. 2018. Emissions from village cookstoves in Haryana, India and their potential impacts on air quality, Atmos. Chem. And Phys. 18: 15169-15182 doi.org/10.5194/acp-18-15169-2018
2017
Liao J, Zimmerman A, Chafe ZA, Pillarisetti A, Yu T, Shan M, Yang X, Li H, Liu G, Smith KR. 2017. The impact of household cooking and heating with solid fuels on ambient PM2.5 in peri-urban Beijing. Atmospheric Environment. doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2017.05.053
