In-kitchen aerosol exposure in twelve cities across the globe

Prashant Kumar; Sarkawt Hama; Rana Alaa Abbass; Thiago Nogueira; Veronika S Brand; Huai-Wen Wu; Francis Olawale Abulude; Adedeji A Adelodun; Partibha Anand; Maria de Fatima Andrade; William Apondo; Araya Asfaw; Kosar Hama Aziz; Shi-Jie Cao; Ahmed El-Gendy; Gopika Indu; Anderson Gwanyebit Kehbila; Matthias Ketzel; Mukesh Khare; Sri Harsha Kota; Tesfaye Mamo; Steve Manyozo; Jenny Martinez; Aonghus McNabola; Lidia Morawska; Fryad Mustafa; Adamson S Muula; Samiha Nahian; Adelaide Cassia Nardocci; William Nelson; Aiwerasia V Ngowi; George Njoroge; Yris Olaya; Khalid Omer; Philip Osano; Md Riad Sarkar Pavel; Abdus Salam; Erik Luan Costa Santos; Cynthia Sitati; S M Shiva Nagendra

doi:10.1016/j.envint.2022.107155

In-kitchen aerosol exposure in twelve cities across the globe

Environ Int. 2022 Apr:162:107155. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107155. Epub 2022 Mar 9.

Authors

Prashant Kumar¹, Sarkawt Hama², Rana Alaa Abbass², Thiago Nogueira³, Veronika S Brand³, Huai-Wen Wu⁴, Francis Olawale Abulude⁵, Adedeji A Adelodun⁶, Partibha Anand⁷, Maria de Fatima Andrade⁸, William Apondo⁹, Araya Asfaw¹⁰, Kosar Hama Aziz¹¹, Shi-Jie Cao⁴, Ahmed El-Gendy¹², Gopika Indu¹³, Anderson Gwanyebit Kehbila⁹, Matthias Ketzel¹⁴, Mukesh Khare⁷, Sri Harsha Kota⁷, Tesfaye Mamo¹⁰, Steve Manyozo¹⁵, Jenny Martinez¹⁶, Aonghus McNabola¹⁷, Lidia Morawska¹⁸, Fryad Mustafa¹¹, Adamson S Muula¹⁵, Samiha Nahian¹⁹, Adelaide Cassia Nardocci²⁰, William Nelson²¹, Aiwerasia V Ngowi²¹, George Njoroge⁹, Yris Olaya¹⁶, Khalid Omer¹¹, Philip Osano⁹, Md Riad Sarkar Pavel¹⁹, Abdus Salam¹⁹, Erik Luan Costa Santos²⁰, Cynthia Sitati⁹, S M Shiva Nagendra¹³

Affiliations

¹ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland; School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, China. Electronic address: p.kumar@surrey.ac.uk.
² Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom.
³ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas - Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas - IAG, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁴ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing, China.
⁵ Science and Education Development Institute, Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria.
⁶ Department of Marine Science and Technology, The Federal University of Technology Akure, 340001, Nigeria.
⁷ Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India.
⁸ Departamento de Ciências Atmosféricas - Instituto de Astronomia, Geofísica e Ciências Atmosféricas - IAG, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁹ Stockholm Environment Institute, Nairobi, Kenya.
¹⁰ Physics Department, Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia.
¹¹ Department of Chemistry, College of Science, University of Sulaimani, Kurdistan Region, Iraq.
¹² Department of Construction Engineering, School of Sciences and Engineering, The American University in Cairo, New Cairo 11835, Egypt.
¹³ Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.
¹⁴ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Department of Environmental Science, Aarhus University, Roskilde, Denmark.
¹⁵ Kamuzu University of Health Sciences, Malawi.
¹⁶ Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia.
¹⁷ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; Department of Civil, Structural & Environmental Engineering, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland.
¹⁸ Global Centre for Clean Air Research (GCARE), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, Surrey, United Kingdom; International Laboratory for Air Quality and Health, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia.
¹⁹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh.
²⁰ Department of Environmental Health - School of Public Health - University of São Paulo, Brazil.
²¹ Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Tanzania.

PMID: 35278800
DOI: 10.1016/j.envint.2022.107155

Abstract

Poor ventilation and polluting cooking fuels in low-income homes cause high exposure, yet relevant global studies are limited. We assessed exposure to in-kitchen particulate matter (PM_2.5 and PM₁₀) employing similar instrumentation in 60 low-income homes across 12 cities: Dhaka (Bangladesh); Chennai (India); Nanjing (China); Medellín (Colombia); São Paulo (Brazil); Cairo (Egypt); Sulaymaniyah (Iraq); Addis Ababa (Ethiopia); Akure (Nigeria); Blantyre (Malawi); Dar-es-Salaam (Tanzania) and Nairobi (Kenya). Exposure profiles of kitchen occupants showed that fuel, kitchen volume, cooking type and ventilation were the most prominent factors affecting in-kitchen exposure. Different cuisines resulted in varying cooking durations and disproportional exposures. Occupants in Dhaka, Nanjing, Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi spent > 40% of their cooking time frying (the highest particle emitting cooking activity) compared with ∼ 68% of time spent boiling/stewing in Cairo, Sulaymaniyah and Akure. The highest average PM_2.5 (PM₁₀) concentrations were in Dhaka 185 ± 48 (220 ± 58) μg m^-3 owing to small kitchen volume, extensive frying and prolonged cooking compared with the lowest in Medellín 10 ± 3 (14 ± 2) μg m^-3. Dual ventilation (mechanical and natural) in Chennai, Cairo and Sulaymaniyah reduced average in-kitchen PM_2.5 and PM₁₀ by 2.3- and 1.8-times compared with natural ventilation (open doors) in Addis Ababa, Dar-es-Salam and Nairobi. Using charcoal during cooking (Addis Ababa, Blantyre and Nairobi) increased PM_2.5 levels by 1.3- and 3.1-times compared with using natural gas (Nanjing, Medellin and Cairo) and LPG (Chennai, Sao Paulo and Sulaymaniyah), respectively. Smaller-volume kitchens (<15 m³; Dhaka and Nanjing) increased cooking exposure compared with their larger-volume counterparts (Medellin, Cairo and Sulaymaniyah). Potential exposure doses were highest for Asian, followed by African, Middle-eastern and South American homes. We recommend increased cooking exhaust extraction, cleaner fuels, awareness on improved cooking practices and minimising passive occupancy in kitchens to mitigate harmful cooking emissions.

Keywords: CArE-Homes Project; Cooking emissions; Health risk; In-home aerosol exposure; Lower-middle income countries.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Aerosols
Air Pollutants* / analysis
Air Pollution, Indoor* / analysis
Bangladesh
Brazil
Cities
Cooking
Environmental Monitoring / methods
Ethiopia
India
Kenya
Particulate Matter / analysis

Substances

Aerosols
Air Pollutants
Particulate Matter