The Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) consists of more than 350 public and private sector organizations working in 115 countries around the world to improve health, livelihood and quality of life through reduced exposure to indoor air pollution from burning solid fuels for cooking and heating. More than half of the world’s population—three billion people—cook their food and heat their homes by burning coal and biomass, including wood, dung, and crop residues, over open fires or rudimentary, unvented stoves. Indoor burning of solid fuels releases dangerous particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and other toxic pollutants; leads to indoor air pollution levels that are 20 to 100 times greater than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) air quality guidelines; and releases greenhouse gases and black carbon into the air. WHO estimates that 1.6 million people die prematurely each year from exposure to indoor cooking smoke. In fact, indoor air pollution from household energy is the fourth ranked health risk in less developed countries, after malnutrition, unsafe sex, and unsafe water. Current PCIA activities include: supporting scale-up projects, catalyzing stove performance standards, revising stove testing protocols, conducting lab and field testing of stoves, improving stove performance, carbon financing assistance, disseminating knowledge and best practices (website, bulletins, webinars), and planning for largest gathering of household energy and health experts at the 5th Biennial PCIA Forum which will be held in February 2011 in Peru.

Primary Contact: Ms. Brenda Doroski
Position: Coordinator
Secondary Contact: Mr. John Mitchell

Postal Address:
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW, 6609JWashington, DC 20460
Phone: 1-202-343-9764
Fax: 1-202-343-2393
Email #1: doroski.brenda(at)epa.gov
Email #2: mitchell.brenda(at)epa.gov
Website: www.PCIAonline.org