AAAR 36th Annual Conference October 16 - October 20, 2017 Raleigh Convention Center Raleigh, North Carolina, USA
Abstract View
Household and Ambient Contributions to Particulate Matter Exposures in Rural Households Using Traditional and Semi-Gasifier Stoves in the Tibetan Plateau
ALEXANDRA LAI, Ellison Carter, Sierra Clark, Shan Ming, Kun Ni, Niu Hongjiang, Xudong Yang, Jill Baumgartner, James Schauer, University of Wisconsin-Madison
Abstract Number: 415 Working Group: Indoor Aerosols
Abstract Household combustion of solid fuels (i.e. biomass and coal) creates high levels of air pollution including fine particulate matter (PM2.5), which is linked to numerous adverse health outcomes. Globally, nearly three billion people still rely on solid fuels for cooking and heating. More efficient stoves and fuels have been widely promoted to reduce household air pollution, but with varying results and little data on the chemical composition of PM from traditional and improved stoves and/or fuels. Cellular bioassays and epidemiological studies provide evidence that PM composition may influence its biological effects, suggesting that changes in both PM mass and composition should be considered in evaluations of intervention studies. Chemical speciation data can illustrate changes in composition (as well as amount) of PM from improved cookstoves, as well as elucidate the relative contributions of indoor versus outdoor sources on personal exposures.
Here we quantify these chemical effects in PM2.5 samples collected before and after the introduction of a semi-gasifier cookstove that burns pelletized biomass in the eastern Tibetan Plateau (Sichuan, China). Seasonal measurements of ambient (24-h), household (48-h), and cooks’ personal exposure (48-h) PM2.5 were conducted in 204 households, in both summer and winter. Mass and black carbon (BC) were measured for all samples, and water-soluble organic carbon (WSOC) and water-soluble ions for selected individual samples. Samples were composited seasonally for analysis of elemental composition and source-specific organic molecular markers. Laboratory emissions testing was also conducted for both traditional and semi-gasifier heating and cookstoves, and parallel chemical analyses conducted.
Comparing personal exposure sample composition with household and ambient samples collected concurrently, household air pollution appears to be the dominant contributor to baseline personal exposures in terms of both components and total mass. In laboratory emissions testing, traditional stoves emitted almost entirely organic matter and elemental carbon, while semi-gasifier stoves emitted almost no carbonaceous material, and more inorganic ions. Results will be presented that quantify changes in composition of personal particular matter exposures following the introduction of improved cookstoves.