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Mutagenicity- and Pollutant-Emission Factors of Pellet-Fueled Gasifier Cookstoves: Comparison with Other Combustion Sources
WYATT CHAMPION, Sarah Warren, Ingeborg Kooter, William Preston, Todd Krantz, David DeMarini, James Jetter, ORISE, U.S. EPA
Abstract Number: 469
Working Group: Health-Related Aerosols
Abstract
Emissions from solid-fuel burning cookstoves are associated with premature mortality and climate effects. Pellet-fueled gasifier stoves have emission factors (EFs) approaching those of gas-fueled (liquid petroleum gas) stoves. However, their emissions have not been evaluated for biological effects. Here we use a new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) testing protocol to determine pollutant- and mutagenicity-EFs for a stove designed for pellet fuel—the Mimi Moto—and for two forced-draft stoves, Xunda and Philips HD4012, burning pellets of hardwood or peanut hulls. The Salmonella assay-based mutagenicity-EFs (revertants/megajouledelivered) spans three orders of magnitude and correlates positively (r=0.99; n=5) to the sum of thirty-two polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) EFs. Compared with data published previously for the Philips stove burning hardwood, the Mimi Moto/hardwood pellet combination shows total-PAH- and mutagenicity-EFs that are 99.2 and 96.6% lower, respectively and 100 and 99.8% lower, respectively, compared with those of a wood-fueled three-stone fire. The Xunda stove burning peanut hull pellets shows the highest fuel energy-based mutagenicity-EF (revertants/megajoulethermal). It is between than that of diesel exhaust, a known human carcinogen, and a natural-draft wood stove. Although the Mimi Moto burning hardwood pellets had the lowest fuel energy-based mutagenicity-EF, this value is between that of utility coal and utility wood boilers. This advanced stove/fuel combination has the potential to greatly reduce emissions in contrast to a traditional stove, but adequate ventilation is required to approach acceptable levels of indoor air quality.