WHO Household Multiple Emission Sources (HOMES) Model

The WHO Household Multiple Emissions Sources (HOMES) model predicts indoor concentrations and personal exposures of air pollutants associated with combusting fuels for cooking, lighting, heating and other household energy needs. The HOMES model incorporates emission rates and usage times of indoor sources; a room’s ventilation rate and volume; the fraction of emissions from the sources that enter the room (which can be important for chimney stoves); and the background/ambient concentration of pollution. The model estimates kitchen concentrations and personal exposures and associated relative risks by applying assumptions about:

1.  the ratio of room concentrations to personal exposure of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) or the amount of time an individual spends in the kitchen, and;
2. the integrated exposure-response functions used to estimate the relative risk of acute lower respiratory infection (ALRI) based on exposure to PM2.5.