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Cooking with Fire: The Mutagenicity- and PAH-Emission Factors of Solid-Fuel Cookstoves
Citation:
DeMarini, D. Cooking with Fire: The Mutagenicity- and PAH-Emission Factors of Solid-Fuel Cookstoves. 10th Congress of the Latin American Society of Mutagenesis, Teratogenesis, and Carcinogenesis, Monevideo, N/A, URUGUAY, October 13 - 16, 2016.
Impact/Purpose:
This study is the first to couple a bioassay to the engineering and chemistry parameters measured from the emissions of various types of cookstoves. The results, which show that the emissions from even the best cookstove evaluated (a forced-draft stove)had a mutagenicity-emission factor similar to that of diesel exhaust. Thus, in the absence of adequate ventilation, such a stove is not safe for public health. These data will be of interest to the ACE program and the Cookstove Alliance, which partners with the U.S. EPA on this issue. The paper of this work (with the identical abstract) is in press in Environmental Health Perspectives.
Description:
Emissions from solid fuels used for cooking cause ~4 million premature deaths per year. Advanced solid-fuel cookstoves are a potential solution, but they should be assessed by appropriate performance indicators, including biological effects. We evaluated two categories of solid-fuel cookstoves for 8 pollutant- and 4 mutagenicity-emission factors, correlated the mutagenicity-emission factors, and compared them to those of other combustion emissions. We burned red oak in a 3-stone fire (TSF), a natural-draft stove (NDS), and a forced-draft stove (FDS); we combusted propane as a liquified petroleum gas control fuel. We determined emission factors based on useful energy (megajoules delivered, MJd) for carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx), black carbon, methane, total hydrocarbons, 32 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, PM2.5, levoglucosan (a wood-smoke marker), and mutagenicity in Salmonella. Other than NOx the emission factors per MJd correlated highly among each other (r2 ≥ 0.92); NOx correlated 0.58-0.76 with the other emission factors. Excluding NOx, the NDS and FDS reduced the emission factors on average 68 and 92%, respectively, relative to the TSF. Nonetheless, the mutagenicity-emission factor based on fuel energy used (MJthermal) for the most efficient stove (FDS) was intermediate to that of a large diesel bus engine and a small diesel generator. Both mutagenicity- and pollutant-emission factors may be informative for characterizing cookstove performance. However, mutagenicity-emission factors may be especially useful for characterizing potential health effects, and should be evaluated in relation to health outcomes in future research. A FDS operated as intended by the manufacturer is safer than a TSF, but without adequate ventilation, it still results in poor indoor air quality. [Abstract does not necessarily reflect the policy of the US EPA.]