Cooking/Window Opening and Associated Increases of Indoor PM2.5 and NO2 Concentrations of Children’s Houses in Kaohsiung, Taiwan

Yu-Chuan Yen,Kristina Mena,Pei-Shih Chen,Chun-Yuh Yang,Yu-Ting Cheng

doi:10.3390/app9204306

Abstract

High concentrations of air pollutants and increased morbidity and mortality rates are found in industrial areas, especially for the susceptible group, children; however, most studies use atmospheric dispersion modeling to estimate household air pollutants. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the indoor air quality, e.g., CO, CO2, NO2, SO2, O3, particulate matter with aerodynamic diameter less than 2.5 μm (PM2.5), and their influence factors in children’s homes in an industrial city. Children in the “general school”, “traffic school”, and “industrial school” were randomly and proportionally selected. Air pollutants were sampled for 24 h in the living rooms and on the balcony of their houses and questionnaires of time–microenvironment–activity-diary were recorded. The indoor CO concentration of the traffic area was significantly higher than that of the industrial area and the general area. In regard to the effects of window opening, household NO2 and PM2.5 concentrations during window opening periods were significantly higher than of the reference periods. For the influence of cooking, indoor CO2, NO2, and PM2.5 levels during the cooking periods were significantly higher than that of the reference periods. The indoor air quality of children in industrial cities were affected by residential areas and household activities.

Highlights

According to the Environmental White Paper of Taiwan Environmental Protection Agency (TaiwanEPA), the annual average concentrations of ambient carbon monoxide (CO), NO2, SO2, and O3 in 2008 were 0.47 ppm, 16.90 ppb, 4.35 ppb, and 29.09 ppb, respectively
When indoor air pollutants were paired with outdoors within the same home, we found that the 24-hour average concentrations of indoor CO, CO2, and NO2 were significantly higher than the 24-hour average of outdoors concentrations, whereas, outdoor O3 and PM2.5 concentrations were significantly higher than indoor concentrations
We found compared area with and industrial area, the general area a higher of window opening, cooking,opening, and airtraffic area and industrial area, thehad general areapercentage had a higher percentage of window conditioning a lower percentagea of residents

Summary

Introduction

EPA), the annual average concentrations of ambient CO, NO2 , SO2 , and O3 in 2008 were 0.47 ppm, 16.90 ppb, 4.35 ppb, and 29.09 ppb, respectively. The Kaohsiung–Pingtung area was the worse polluted area in Taiwan and accounted for 5.93% of station-days of the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) > 100. High concentrations of air pollutants and increased morbidity and mortality rates are found, depending on the types of industrial activities and exposure concentrations in residential areas [1,2]. Children are more susceptible to the health effects of air pollution than adults due to not having full development of their pulmonary metabolic capacity [3]. Long-term exposure of air pollution may affect children’s lung development [4]. Most of the studies revealed that ambient pollution such as particulate

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