Indoor air pollution in rural south Indian kitchens from biomass-fuel usage and the predicted lung deposition in women

Abstract

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) encompasses the overall air quality conditions of a built environment related to the health of those who occupy it. The current study evaluates the indoor conditions in rural kitchens where the predominant cooking fuel is biomass. Monitoring of air quality parameters such as particulate matter (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2), carbon monoxide (CO), and bioaerosols, as well as thermal comfort parameters such as temperature, relative humidity, and air velocity, was carried out during the winter season. Instruments used for the campaign include an optical particle sizer - TSI OPS 3330 (PM), an IAQ meter - TSI IAQ Calc 7545 (CO & CO2), a bioaerosol sampler - MAS 100 NT, as well as a thermal comfort meter - DeltaOhm HD 32.3. Due to the constrained space and inadequate ventilation, indoor separate kitchens were found to have PM concentrations up to 3.5 times higher than open kitchens. Similarly, kitchens using improved cookstoves showed pollutant concentrations up to 1.8 times lower than the traditional mud or concrete cookstoves commonly used in rural areas. Further, deposition fractions were calculated using Multiple Particle Path Dosimetry (MPPD) to understand the deposition patterns in different parts of the human respiratory tract (HRT) for adult women. The model predicted twice as much PM deposition in the lungs of women using traditional cookstoves in indoor separate kitchens than those who use improved cookstoves in indoor open kitchens. This study not only establishes the IAQ characteristics but also quantifies the role of stove-type and kitchen-type in it. The study also indicates the foreseeable levels of human health impact in the form of PM deposition in the respiratory tract and its exposure characteristics.