Geographical, Spatial, and Temporal Distributions of Multiple Indoor Air Pollutants in Four Chinese Provinces

Abstract

Exposure to indoor air pollution from household energy use depends on fuel, stove, housing characteristics, and stove use behavior. We monitored three important indoor air pollutants-respirable particles (RPM), carbon monoxide (CO), and sulfur dioxide (SO2)-for a total of 457 household-days in four poor provinces in China (Gansu, 129 household-days; Guizhou, 127 household-days; Inner Mongolia, 65 household-days; and Shaanxi, 136 household-days), in two time intervals during the heating season to investigate spatial and temporal patterns of pollution. The two provinces where biomass is the primary fuel (Inner Mongolia and Gansu) had the highest RPM concentrations (719 microg/m3 in the single cooking/living/bedroom in Inner Mongolia in December and 351-661 microg/m3 in different rooms and months in Gansu); lower RPM concentration were observed in the primarily coal-burning provinces of Guizhou and Shaanxi (202-352 microg/m3 and 187-361 microg/m3 in different rooms and months in Guizhou and Shaanxi, respectively). Inner Mongolia and Gansu also had higher CO concentrations (7.4 ppm in the single cooking/living/bedroom in Inner Mongolia in December and 4.8-11.3 ppm in different rooms and months in Gansu). Among the two primarily coal-burning provinces, Guizhou had lower concentrations of CO than Shaanxi (1.2-1.8 ppm in Guizhou vs 2.0-13.3 ppm in different rooms and months in Shaanxi). In the two coal-burning provinces, SO2 concentrations were substantially higher in Shaanxi than in Guizhou. Relative concentrations in different rooms and provinces indicate that in the northern provinces heating is an important source of exposure to indoor pollutants from energy use. Day-to-day variability of concentrations within individual households, although substantial, was smaller than variation across households. The implications of the findings for designing environmental health interventions in each province are discussed.

Particle size distribution and air pollution patterns in three urban environments in Xi’an, China

“…Differences in indoor and outdoor air quality among various rooms in rural Chinese households have been reported, with the most severe pollution often occurring in kitchens (Jiang and Bell 2008). Another research monitored three important indoor air pollutants: respirable particles, CO and SO 2 , in four poor provinces in China and came to the conclusion of distributions of multiple indoor air pollutants (Jin et al 2005). Similar researches were also done in other countries.…”

Indoor Emissions of Carbonaceous Aerosol and Other Air Pollutants from Household Fuel Burning in Southwest China

“…"Daily average" and "1-h peak" concentrations of CO were 5.7 and 14.0 ppm for wood and 6.0 and 10.3 ppm for coal, respectively. Jin et al (2005) measured that daily CO concentration from coal burning in Guizhou ranged from 1.0 to 2.1 ppm in both cooking room and bedroom. further presented that daily CO concentrations from coal burning in Guizhou were 3.2 ppm in the cooking room and 4.1 ppm in the bedroom, respectively.…”

“…Indoor emissions from household fuel burning were carried out in some rural areas in China (Sinton et al, 2004;He et al, 2005;Jin et al, 2005;Fischer et al, 2007). However, these studies scarcely have reported time-resolved concentrations of indoor air pollutants, which may be valuable in improving exposure assessment (Fischer et al, 2007).…”

A Study on Emission Characteristics of Air Pollutants from the use of Solid Fuel

“…물 등 주요 오염원이기도 하다 (Shuxiao et al, 2009;Yan et al, 2006;Guo et al, 2006Guo et al, , 2004Bates, 2005;Jin et al, 2005;Tonooka et al, 2001). N a p h t h a l e n e A c e n a p h t h y l e n e A c e n a p h t h e n e F l u o r e n e P h e n a n t h r e n e A n t h r a c e n e F l u o r a n t h e n e P y r e n e B e n z ( a ) a n t h r a c e n e C h r y s e n e B e n z o ( b ) fl u o r a n t h e n e B e n z o ( k ) fl u o r a n t h e n e B e n z o ( a ) p y r e n e I n d e n o ( 1 , 2 , 3 -c d ) p y r e n e D i b e n z ( a , h ) a n t h r a c e n e B e n z o ( g , h , i ) p e r y l e n e …”