Abstract
The combustion of solid fuels, including coal and biomass, is a main anthropogenic source of atmospheric particulate matter (PM). The hidden costs have been underestimated due to lack of consideration of the toxicity of PM. Here we report the unequal toxicity of inhalable PM emitted from energy use in the residential sector and coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). The incomplete burning of solid fuels in household stoves generates much higher concentrations of carbonaceous matter, resulting in more than one order of magnitude greater toxicity than that from CFPPs. When compared with CFPPs, the residential sector consumed only a tenth of solid fuels in mainland China in 2017, but it contributed about 200-fold higher of the population-weighted toxic potency-adjusted PM2.5 exposure risk. We suggest that PM2.5-related toxicity should be considered when making air pollution emission control strategies, and incomplete combustion sources should receive more policy attention to reduce exposure risks.
Highlights
The combustion of solid fuels has been recognized as the main anthropogenic emission source of particulate matter (PM) that elicits adverse effects on air quality and human health[1,2,3,4]
The emission factors (EFs) of PM2.5 from household combustion are approximately 264 to 324 times higher than those from coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) that meet the strictest ultralow emission (ULE) standards in China (Fig. 1a)
The observed PM2.5 EFs from residential combustion are consistent with those reported in previous studies[19,20,24,25], including the PM2.5 EFs obtained from nationwide field emission measurements conducted in rural China recently[26]
Summary
The combustion of solid fuels has been recognized as the main anthropogenic emission source of particulate matter (PM) that elicits adverse effects on air quality and human health[1,2,3,4]. Solid fuels, including coal and biomass, have been widely used for direct energy usage in industrial and residential sectors worldwide[5,6]. As one of the largest consumers of solid fuels, the industrial sector and coal-fired power plants (CFPPs) have received far more attention. This study proposes toxic potency-adjusted control of air pollution via considering toxicities of source-oriented PM, taking solid fuel combustion in the residential and power plant sectors as an example. The quantitative assessment of PM toxicities, based on the developed air benefit and cost and attainment assessment system (ABaCAS) emission inventory and the weather research and forecasting model-community multiscale air quality (WRF-CMAQ) model, provides further insight into revealing hidden risks from source-oriented PM and devising air pollution emission control strategies. Field measurements and analytical approaches are detailed in Methods and Supplementary Note
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