Grantee Research Project Results

2014 Progress Report: Impacts of Household Sources on Outdoor Pollution at Village and Regional Scales in India

EPA Grant Number: R835425
Title: Impacts of Household Sources on Outdoor Pollution at Village and Regional Scales in India
Investigators: Smith, Kirk R. , Bond, Tami C. , Edwards, Rufus D. , Seinfeld, John , Arora, Narendra
Institution: University of California - Berkeley , The INCLEN trust , University of California - Irvine , California Institute of Technology
Current Institution: University of California - Berkeley , California Institute of Technology , The INCLEN trust , University of California - Irvine
EPA Project Officer: Keating, Terry
Project Period: April 1, 2014 through March 31, 2017 (Extended to March 31, 2019)
Project Period Covered by this Report: April 1, 2014 through March 31,2015
Project Amount: $1,495,454
RFA: Measurements and Modeling for Quantifying Air Quality and Climatic Impacts of Residential Biomass or Coal Combustion for Cooking, Heating, and Lighting (2012) RFA Text | Recipients Lists
Research Category: Air Quality and Air Toxics , Climate Change , Tribal Environmental Health Research , Air

Objective:

Aim I. Determine what fraction of the two major health-damaging outdoor air pollution species (particulate matter (PM_2.5/PM₁₀) and ozone (O₃)) are attributable to household sources in India.

Derive improved emissions inventories from household combustion based on additional measurements in India.
Model primary and secondary PM and O₃ production from newly updated emissions databases to obtain a range of estimates.
Determine major sources of uncertainty in these estimates and recommend the most critical measurements or modeling needed to reduce them.

Aim II. Characterize the "neighborhood" PM pollution due to household combustion in two typical villages in the continental climate regime that characterizes central India

Over a year, instrument two villages in Haryana to separate local from "imported" ambient PM pollution. We also will include personal measurements of the household members and near-house ambient measurements done simultaneously.
Develop models describing the situation in those villages. In particular, what portion of household exposures is due to local and imported neighborhood pollution?

Aim III. Based on the results of the first two aims, recommend conditions to increase the chance for clean fuel/combustion interventions to be most effective in reducing total health-damaging human exposures based on population distributions, fuel-use surveys, and historical meteorological patterns, including frequency of ground-level inversions. Additionally, to estimate the range of human exposures in northern India potentially due to neighborhood pollution from households.

Progress Summary:

Year 1 activities of this award included setting up the fieldwork infrastructure, refining the air pollution monitoring methods, and conducting trainings in India. There has been progress on implementation, including the development of an aerial Particle and Temperature Sensor (PATS) prototype and establishment of ambient monitoring stations using the E-Sampler, which are entirely maintained by trained field staff by our local partner, INCLEN Trust International.

Future Activities:

Year 2 of this research grant will encompass the implementation of all of the field activities described in the project proposal:

Continued monitoring of ambient PM_2.5 and meteorological monitoring with E-Sampler.
Rapid survey and background data in two villages.
Aerial PATS flights through the villages. Twice per week during winter, twice per month prior to winter.
Stove use monitoring (SUMs). Use of iButtons to monitor time and temperature to asses use of stoves in the household (both the intervention stove and multiple traditional stove).
Emissions sampling. Six weeks of stove emissions sampling in households in collaboration with the UC Irvine field team.
Household air pollution monitoring and personal exposure assessment in 40 randomly selected households.

Journal Articles:

No journal articles submitted with this report: View all 11 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

Household air pollution, monitoring, emissions

Relevant Websites:

Research Projects - Kirk R. Smith | Professor of Global Environmental Health | University of California, Berkeley Exit

Progress and Final Reports:

Original Abstract

The perspectives, information and conclusions conveyed in research project abstracts, progress reports, final reports, journal abstracts and journal publications convey the viewpoints of the principal investigator and may not represent the views and policies of ORD and EPA. Conclusions drawn by the principal investigators have not been reviewed by the Agency.