Characterization and problems of indoor pollution due to cooking stove smoke

Abstract

Findings from the five groups of matched houses, each using either cattle dung, wood, coal, kerosene or liquid petroleum gas (LPG) as cooking fuels are presented with emphasis on cross comparison of indoor pollution levels during the cooking period. The houses using LPG were considered as controls. The characterization of pollution was made by measurements of total suspended particulates (TSP), carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, formaldehyde, sulfur dioxide and particle sizing of TSP, which were further analysed for the evaluation of levels of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). A correlation between the pollutants as a function of fuel type has also been looked for. The study revealed that 50–80% of the TSP emissions from biomass and coal-burning cooking stoves were in a respirable fraction of ≤2 μm size and that a large amount of the PAHs (> 75%) belonged to this fraction only. Air quality biomass-using houses was the worst among the users of the five aforementioned fuels and levels were relatively high. The findings stress that a conserted effort towards a solution should be made as a large fraction of the world's population regularly uses biomass as a prime domestic fuel. The problems associated with cooking stoves in India and immediate research needs are outlined.