Indoor PM Characterization and Real-Time Assessment During Cooking in Rural Settings of Kanpur, India

Household air pollution from use of solid biomass fuels (SBF) remains one of the primary causes of health and environmental issues in developing countries. Particulate emissions from SBF combustion exhibit variable physical and chemical properties in different phases of combustion which influences the way exposure to these emissions affects human health. The present study is an attempt to measure and compare cooking time concentrations of particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁), carbon-monoxide (CO) and black carbon (BC) in the kitchen area of households dependent on three different types of biomass-based cookstoves. The variation in PM characteristics in addition to real time CO concentrations in different phases of cooking was also assessed. Observed mean concentrations of PM_2.5, CO and BC for forced draft cookstove (FDC) were 309.3 µg/m³, 4.8 ppm, 5.1 µg/m³ and forced draft mud cookstove (FDMC) was 355.2 µg/m³, 6.5 ppm and 5.3 µg/m³, respectively. Comparison with a traditional biomass cookstove showed that FDC resulted in higher reductions in PM mass concentrations (> 50%) compared to FDMC; however, BC the reduction was almost similar, i.e., 35% and 32% for FDC and FDMC, respectively. Temporal variation of PM, CO and BC were found to peak during the kindling phase (KP) for all the cookstoves followed by a decline during flaming phase (FP) and smoldering phase (SF). The total particle number concentration (PNC) for all combustion phases was 45.6 and 62.3% lower in FDC and FDMC, respectively, compared to TCS. However, fraction of PNC in total PM was higher in FDC and FDMC compared of TCS. Based on a ranking method which involved both technical and non-technical (such as ease of use) stove performance parameters showed user inclination more toward FDMC.