The development of the Methodology to Estimate and Verify Averted Mortality and Disability Adjusted Life Years (ADALYs) from Cleaner Household Air was strongly informed by decades of evidence and experience from household air pollution exposure monitoring and epidemiological studies, a proposed methodology for quantifying a salable health product from household cooking interventions based on field work in Laos, and the World Health Organization Indoor Air Quality Guidelines.
This methodology uses exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) as the best indicator of household air pollution. PM2.5 causes negative health impacts, such as cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and lung cancer, all of which can end in premature death. It is considered to be the dominant contributor to the overall burden of disease from air pollution, no-matter what the source.
Measurements of pollution in particular places, such as the kitchen, serve as a proxy for exposure to PM2.5 and are therefore not a good representation of the actual risk. This methodology focuses on directly measuring personal exposure of householders to particulate matter, thereby enabling the accurate prediction of morbidity and mortality rates caused by household air pollution. In turn, project developers are able to quantify and verify the Averted Disability Adjusted Life Years (ADALYs) - a measure of reductions in years lost due to ill-health, disability or premature death - by reducing household exposure to particulate matter via the use of interventions, such as improved cookstoves, solar cookers, safe water supply and treatment, and other technologies.
Gold Standard is currently developing Gold Standard for the Global Goals: a new standard that allows for the consolidation of existing Gold Standard scopes and for the quantification of multiple impacts based on the Sustainable Development Goals. As such the development of an ADALYs methodology in the context of cookstoves is considered a key priority for road-testing our new standard. Further information regarding Gold Standard for the Global Goals can be found on the our website.
