Science Inventory

Mutagenicity- and Pollutant-Emission Factors of Pellet-Fueled Gasifier Cookstoves: Comparison with Other Combustion Sources

Citation:

Champion, W., S. Warren, I. Kooter, W. Preston, Todd Krantz, D. DeMarini, AND J. Jetter. Mutagenicity- and Pollutant-Emission Factors of Pellet-Fueled Gasifier Cookstoves: Comparison with Other Combustion Sources. SCIENCE OF THE TOTAL ENVIRONMENT. Elsevier BV, AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, 739(October 15 2020):139488, (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.139488

Impact/Purpose:

Cookstove emissions affect more than 1 billion people (mostly women) around the world, and this work reflects results with the latest state-of-the-art cookstove. The impact of the results will be considered by international organizations, such as WHO, as they make decisions regarding the promotion and use of such cookstoves.

Description:

Emissions from solid-fuel burning cookstoves are associated with 3 to 4 million premature deaths annually and contribute significantly to climate-forcing. Pellet-fueled gasifier stoves have some emission factors (EFs) approaching those of gas-fuel stoves; however, their emissions have not been evaluated for their biological effects. Here we used a new International Organization for Standardization (ISO) testing protocol to determine pollutant- and mutagenicity-EFs for a stove designed for pellet fuel, the Mimi Moto, and for two other forced-draft stoves, Xunda and Philips HD4012, burning pellets of hardwood or peanut hulls. The Salmonella assay-based mutagenicity-EFs (revertants/megajouledelivered) spanned three orders of magnitude and correlated highly (r = 0.99) with the EFs of the sum of 32 particle-phase polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The Mimi Moto/hardwood pellet combination had total-PAH- and mutagenicity-EFs 99.2 and 96.6% lower, respectively, compared to those of the Philips stove burning non-pelletized hardwood, and 100 and 99.8% lower, respectively, compared to those of a wood three-stone fire. The Xunda burning peanut hull pellets had the highest energy-based mutagenicity-EF (revertants/megajoulethermal) of the pellet stove/fuel combinations tested, which was greater than that of diesel exhaust, a known human carcinogen, and was between that of open burning of oil and a wood three-stone fire. The Mimi Moto burning hardwood pellets had the lowest energy-based mutagenicity-EF, which was between that of utility coal and utility wood boilers. Thus, without adequate ventilation even this advanced stove/fuel combination could result in poor indoor air quality.