Emission of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons and Particulate Matter from Domestic Combustion of Selected Fuels

Abstract

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and particulate matter (PM) emission were monitored for three common fuel-stove systems in Southeast Asia, namely, Eucalyptus wood sticks open burning, charcoal stove, and coal briquette stove. Smoke samples were taken isokinetically from the flue pipe of a hood and analyzed for PAH using HPLC/FLD and UV. Wood fuel burning produced the highest emission of 18 PAH and 11 genotoxic PAH in terms of the emission factor on energy basis (mg/MJ), emission rate, and pollutant concentration in smoke, while the charcoal produced the least. On a fuel-weight basis, wood fuel produced almost the same emission factor of the total of 18 PAH (110 mg/kg) as coal briquettes but twice as much as genotoxic PAH, 13.4 vs 6.5 mg/kg. The wood fuel high burning rate, however, resulted in the highest total 18 PAH emission rate (208 mg/h) and concentration (957 μg/m3), leading to a high exposure to toxic pollutants. The PM emission factor in milligrams per kilogram of fuel was 51, 36, and 7 for the wood, charcoal, and coal briquettes, respectively. The largest fraction of PAH in PM was found for wood fuel burning smoke. The average daily cooking of a household of 2−3 releases 40 mg of genotoxic PAH from wood fuel, 9 mg from coal briquettes, and 3.3 mg from charcoal burning. The charcoal fuel stove was identified as the cleanest system, not taking into account the pollutant emission during charcoal production.