Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) is one of the top environmental risks in developing countries including India, with more than a million deaths annually, predominantly through Particulate Matter (PM) exposure. The current study deals with the measurement of PM concentrations in rural households under varied fuel and kitchen-types, evaluation of the indoor air pollution (IAP) characteristics and estimation of respiratory dosage for the different subjects (women, young children and the elderly). Monitoring of particulate matter (PM) was carried out during summer, monsoon and winter season with biomass, LPG and combine of biomass and LPG being used as fuel for cooking. Furthermore, different types of indoor kitchens (with partition and without partition) and outdoor kitchens (separate enclose kitchen and open kitchen) were also considered as kitchen type along with fuel are two crucial factors contributing to IAP. Deposition fractions were calculated using Multiple Particle Path Dosimetry (MPPD) to study the deposition patterns in different parts of the human respiratory tract (HRT) - head, tracheobronchial and pulmonary for women, young children and the elderly people. Dosage of particulate matter was calculated by inputting the recorded PM measurements, a comparison made for biomass-LPG and dosage intensification due to the kitchen-type presented. While the biomass households exhibited high levels of dosage (1181.4 to 5891.7 μg) against the LPG households (89.9 to 811.2 μg), the indoor kitchen types exhibited a maximum intensification of 10.6 times than outdoor kitchens with the same fuel. This study not only establishes the IAP characteristics but also quantifies the role of fuel-type and kitchen-type in IAP. The study also indicates various measures that could be deployed to reduce dosage and thus minimize the health risks.
Keywords: Biomass combustion; Dosage; Fuel-types; Indoor air pollution; Kitchen-types; MPPD; Rural.
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