Heavy incense burning in temples promotes exposure risk from airborne PMs and carcinogenic PAHs

Chiang, Kuo-Chih; Liao, Chung‐Min

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2006.08.012

Cited by 56 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 42 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The average PAH concentration of the inside air (8,888 ± 3,598 ng/m 3 ) was approximately 19 times higher than the outdoors (468 ±156 ng/m 3 ). Incense burning is found to be a significant source of PAHs, heavy metals, particulate matters, greenhouse gases (CO2 and CH4) and VOCs [2], [11], [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Exposure to incense smoke may be associated with many adverse health effects including cancer, respiratory morbidity, central nervous system damage and lung irritation [2], [12], [13]. Numerous studies related to inhalation epidemiology have shown a positive association between ambient PMs -bound PAHs concentrations and adverse health effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In other words, an increase of unit concentration of urinary 1-OHP would lead to an approximate 32-fold increase of cancer risk for the workers of the temples [14]. Chiang and Liao [12] reported the assessment of human exposure to airborne PMs and PAHs from heavy incense burning in temples using a mechanistic-based exposure and risk models, appraised with reported empirical data. Results implicated that exposure to smoke emitted from heavy incense burning may promote lung cancer risk.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Emission of Fine Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide from Incense Burning in Shrines, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Bootdee¹,

Chantara²

2014

IJESD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-The inhalation of fine particles (PM 2.5 ) and nitrogen dioxide (NO 2 ) has been associated with health problems. Incense burning is an important indoor source of these pollutants. This research aims to measure PM 2.5 and NO 2 emitted from incense burning in shrines on special occasions and during normal periods to assess the indoor air quality changes. PM 2.5 samples were collected on Teflon filters using a mini volume air sampler set up inside the shrines, while NO 2 samples were collected by tube type passive samplers, set up both indoors and outdoors. When special events were compared with normal occasions, the mean PM 2.5 concentrations obtained from 8 and 24 hrs were significantly different (p<0.05). Moreover, their concentrations were significantly higher on Chinese New Year than on other special occasions. In the case of NO 2 , the concentrations were not different among a variety of special occasions, but were higher than the values measured during the normal periods. Moreover, NO 2 concentrations were not found to be significantly different when the indoor and the outdoor values were compared. The values of PM 2.5 and NO 2 concentrations at both shrines were highest during the Chinese New Year. The main reason for this was clearly the number of visitors, which was related with the amount of incense being burned. Concentrations of NO 2 and PM 2.5 were well correlated (r = 0.580 -0.779) in every occasion. It can be concluded that the amount of incense being burned played a significant role in pollutant emissions and the indoor air quality.Index Terms-PM 2.5 , nitrogen dioxide, incense burning, indoor air quality.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Emission of Fine Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide from Incense Burning in Shrines, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Bootdee¹,

Chantara²

2014

IJESD

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The ritual is generally practiced on the first and the fifteenth day of the Chinese lunar month. It produces non-stop heavy smoke during the long, slow, and incomplete combustion of joss paper (Lin et al, 2002;Yang et al, 2005;Chiang et al, 2006). Pollutants such as particulate matters (PM), heavy metals, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), or others may be generated in incomplete combustion processes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characteristics of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins/Dibenzofuran from Joss Paper Burned in Taiwanese Temples

Chen

Lai

et al. 2009

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Two types of furnaces (a mid-size furnace denoted as Furnace 1 and a small-size one denoted as Furnace 2) commonly used for burning joss paper, located in two temples in southern Taiwan, were selected for this study. With similar burning devices (semi-open systems), both furnaces can be used to burn joss paper with the aid of natural air supply through the inlets of furnace. In order to characterize peak emission of PCDD/Fs (usually on festival days) in the selected temples, the sampling campaigns were conducted during the festival period in September 2008. It was found that the mean total I-TEQ contents in the original (unburned) joss paper from Furnaces 1 and 2 were 1.41 and 4.51 ng I-TEQ/kg, respectively. The mean total I-TEQ content in the residue of burned joss paper from Furnace 1 (7.97 ng I-TEQ/kg) was approximately 15-fold that of Furnace 2 (0.490 ng I-TEQ/kg). OCDD was the most abundant congener in the joss paper and in the residues from burned joss paper. Moreover, the emission factor of total PCDD/Fs I-TEQ content of Furnace 1 (0.176 ng I-TEQ/g-feedstock) was one to two orders of magnitude higher than that of Furnace 2 (0.0203 I-TEQ/g-feedstock). This phenomenon is probably associated with the high chlorine content in the unburned joss paper of Furnace 1, and high exhaust temperature from burning joss paper in Furnace 1 (271°C) was possibly within a range that might highly promote de novo formation of PCDD/Fs. It is necessary for the investigated furnaces to install air pollution control devices in order to reduce the PCDD/F emission from joss paper burning.

show abstract

“…Several studies concluded that PAHs in indoor air mainly originated from incense burning in temples (Chiang and Liao, 2006;Lu et al, 2008). In our previous study, gasphase PAH (G-PAH) and P-PAH emission factors ranged from 10 to 29 and 4.5 to 6.9 μg/g-incense, respectively.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 81%

Reducing Air Pollution Emissions from Burning Incense with the Addition of Calcium Carbonate

Yang

Lin

Peng

et al. 2012

Aerosol Air Qual. Res.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A laboratory-scale study was performed to quantify the pollutant reduction effects from burning incense with the addition of CaCO 3 . Many studies have investigated the effects of burning incense on the quality of surrounding air, focusing primarily on particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). However, the reduction of PM and PAHs from burning incense has received little attention. In our past study, we investigated nine types of commercially available incense and found that incense with a higher CaCO 3 content had lower PM and PAH emissions factors. Five to thirty percent of CaCO 3 was added to Liao and Chen incense powder, which are popular incense materials. The experimental results indicate that the reductions in the emissions of PM and PAHs from burning incense increased with along with amount of CaCO 3 additive. Mean PM reductions for 5.0%, 10.0%, 20.0%, and 30.0% CaCO 3 were 11 ± 2%, 15 ± 3%, 27 ± 1%, and 41 ± 3%, respectively. Mean particle-phase PAHs (P-PAHs) reductions were 9 ± 9%, 15 ± 5%, 22 ± 1%, and 28 ± 1%, respectively, and 5 ± 6%, 21 ± 1%, 21 ± 3%, and 30 ± 2% for total benzo[a]pyrene equivalent concentration (total BaP eq ), respectively. This study was performed to quantify the reduction of PM and PAH emissions from burning incense with increasing amounts of CaCO 3 . The findings of this study may serve as a guide to producing safer and less-polluting incense.

show abstract

Heavy incense burning in temples promotes exposure risk from airborne PMs and carcinogenic PAHs

Cited by 56 publications

References 42 publications

Emission of Fine Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide from Incense Burning in Shrines, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Emission of Fine Particulate Matter and Nitrogen Dioxide from Incense Burning in Shrines, Chiang Mai, Thailand

Characteristics of Polychlorinated Dibenzo-p-dioxins/Dibenzofuran from Joss Paper Burned in Taiwanese Temples

Reducing Air Pollution Emissions from Burning Incense with the Addition of Calcium Carbonate

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About