[The domestic inhalation of the smoke from firewood and of other biological materials. A risk for the development of respiratory diseases].

A high proportion of the world population, especially in developing countries, is exposed to indoor pollutants produced by inefficient biomass stoves. The levels of pollutants, including toxins and carcinogens in the kitchen are usually very high. This potential pathogenic exposure has been scarcely studied. The exposure to biomass smoke has been associated to chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow obstruction in adults and to acute respiratory infections in children. At the National Institute of Pulmonary Diseases in Mexico, we have observed the entire spectrum of diseases associated with tobacco in people who never smoked and who were exposed to wood smoke. Women exposed to wood smoke had a five-fold risk of chronic bronchitis and chronic airflow obstruction, as compared to the non-exposed, according to a recent case-control study done at our Institute. The indoor levels of suspended particles smaller than 10 microns were frequently above 1,000 micrograms/m3 in a rural community in the state of Mexico. This information supports a causal role for biomass smoke for the genesis of several respiratory diseases, representing a potentially public health problem.