Nairobi, Nov. 24 -- At least 23,000 Kenyans die yearly from household air pollution from cooking with fossil fuels such as kerosene, firewood, crop waste and animal dung.

The Kenya Medical Research Institute (Kemri) has warned about the high amounts of pollutants produced by cooking with kerosene and biomass.

These include harmful chemicals, gasses, and substances poisonous to the body and respirable particulate matter.

"Cooking with these fuels has been calculated to be like burning 100 cigarettes each hour, resulting in HAP [household air pollution] levels more than 100 times World Health Organisation safe levels," said Kemri Director-General Prof Sam Kariuki.

Research shows that HAP causes lung cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary...