Estufa Dos por Tres stoves help eliminate smoke and soot in homes.

  • Smoke in the house most affects women and children.
  • Ladies and their kitchen.
  • I like the cleanliness of the kitchen, the reduction of smoke in the home, the reduction of wood consumption and the consistent heat of the stove. – Doña Falseno
  • Wood emits 26 hazardous pollutants when it burns.
  • "Before you needed to use 3 cargas of wood, now we use only 1 carga of wood and there is less illness in my family." Doña Calles
  • Hazardous to health? You bet.
  • Whatever chimney is on this stove isn't doing the job.
  • This greasy, sooty ceiling is the result of years of smoky cooking.
  • After taking this photo, we left coughing.
  • Women love the new cleanliness of their kitchen with the Dos por Tres.

Laboratory tests show that the Dos por Tres stove reduces poisonous Carbon Monoxide and Particulate Emissions inside the home by 79% and Methane by 94% as compared to traditional stoves (McCarty, N.).

For the families living in 770,000 homes in Honduras, an improved stove is a potential life saver.

In Proyecto Mirador's rural project locations, nearly 100% of households use indoor wood burning stoves.  Smoke and particulate matter are a serious health risk, especially to women and children who spend the most time near the stove. When wood burns, it emits 26 hazardous air pollutants including carbon monoxide, ammonia, and methane as well as fine respirable particles of less than 2.5 microns (µ) that penetrate deep into the lungs.

These particulates compromise the body’s defense systems and its ability to filter and remove toxic particles. The U.S EPA suggests limiting exposure to 150 micrograms per M3to just once in 100 days, and only outdoors (Nacher, L., et. al., Critical Review of the Health Effects of Woodsmoke, 2005, p 57). Particulate matter can reach 20 times this amount every day inside poor Honduran homes. Peaks during cooking may be as high as 10,000 micrograms.

In 2000, WHO ranked indoor air pollution (IAP) created by burning solid fuel as one of the top 10 health risks in the world. It reports that globally 1.5 million people (predominately women and children) die each year from respiratory infections and cancer from indoor cooking stove smoke. Further, the WHO reports that IAP kills more people each year than malaria, and causes almost as many deaths as unsafe water and sanitation. Smoke has also been thought to be a factor in the development of asthma, cataracts (the leading cause of blindness worldwide), low birth weight, and adverse pregnancies (Smoke, the Killer in the Kitchen, Warwick, H. & Doig, A, 2004).

Rural Hondurans are particularly at risk from IAP because they do not have adequate access to clean fuels and are dependent on substandard stoves for cooking.

  • Carbon Monoxide and Particulate Matter Emissions to Complete WBT
  • La Estufa 2x3 vs. a traditional stove.  Note the clear reduction in CO (carbon monoxide) and particulate matter emissions. (WBT stands for Water Boiling Test and measures the amount of gas and particulate matter emitted in the time it takes to boil 1 L of water.

Proyecto Mirador is honored to be a member of the Partnership for Clean Indoor Air (PCIA) and the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves.

PCIA's 343 partners contribute their resources and expertise to reduce smoke exposure from cooking and heating practices in households around the world.   More than half the world's population—3 billion people cook food and heat their homes by burning coal and biomass resulting in indoor air pollution levels 20 to 100 times allowable WHO Guidelines. To address this enormous challenge, committed organizations joined forces at the World Summit on Sustainable Development to launch the PCIA.  Already partners have helped 1.4 million households adopt clean cooking and heating practices.  The research, resources, media, and stove testing areas of their website are valuable resources and provide more information on the dangers of IAP.