Title: | Indoor air pollution from the household combustion of coal: Tempo-spatial distribution of gaseous pollutants and semi-quantification of source contribution |
Address: | "MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. MOE Laboratory for Earth Surface Processes, College of Urban and Environmental Sciences, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. Electronic address: hefac@umich.edu" |
DOI: | 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163502 |
ISSN/ISBN: | 1879-1026 (Electronic) 0048-9697 (Linking) |
Abstract: | "Coal is a widely used solid fuel for cooking and heating activities in rural households, whose incomplete combustion in inefficient household stoves releases a range of gaseous pollutants. To evaluate the impact of coal combustion on indoor air quality, this study comprehensively investigated the indoor air pollution of typical gaseous pollutants, including formaldehyde (HCHO), carbon dioxide (CO(2)), carbon monoxide (CO), total volatile organic compounds (TVOC), and methane (CH(4)), during coal combustion process in rural households using online monitoring with high tempo-spatial resolution. The indoor concentrations of gaseous pollutants were considerably elevated during the coal combustion period, with the indoor concentrations being significantly higher than those in courtyard air. The levels of several gaseous pollutants (CO(2), CO, TVOC, and CH(4)) in indoor air were much higher during the flaming phase than the de-volatilization and smoldering phases, while HCHO peaked in the de-volatilization phase. The gaseous pollutant concentrations mostly decreased from the room ceiling to the ground level, while their horizontal distribution was relatively uniform within the room. It was estimated that coal combustion accounted for about 71 %, 92 %, 63 %, 59 %, and 21 % of total exposure to indoor CO(2), CO, TVOC, CH(4), and HCHO, respectively. Improved stove combined with clean fuel could effectively lower the concentrations of CO(2), CO, TVOC, and CH(4) in indoor air and reduce the contributions of coal combustion to these gaseous pollutants by about 21-68 %. These findings help better understand the indoor air pollution resulting from residential coal combustion and could guide the development of intervention programs to improve indoor air quality in rural households of northern China" |
Keywords: | Fuel-stove combination Indoor air pollution Online monitoring Residential coal combustion Source contribution; |
Notes: | "PubMed-not-MEDLINEQin, Lifan Zhai, Mengkun Cheng, Hefa eng Netherlands 2023/04/20 Sci Total Environ. 2023 Jul 15; 882:163502. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163502. Epub 2023 Apr 18" |