Abstract
Methods/design: We recruited 477 participants (mean age 58 years, 72% women) from three (two rural [Gansu/Henan] and one urban [Suzhou]) study areas in the China Kadoorie Biobank, based on their previously reported fuel use patterns. A time-resolved monitor (PATS+CO) was used to measure continuously for 120-hour the concentration of fine particulate matter (PM2.5) at personal and household (kitchen and living room) levels in warm (May-September 2017) and cool (November 2017–January 2018) seasons, along with questionnaires on participants’ characteristics (e.g. socio-demographic, and fuel use) and time-activity (48-hour). Parallel local ambient monitoring of particulate matter (PM1, PM2.5 and PM10) and gaseous pollutants (CO, ozone, nitrogen oxides) was conducted using regularly-calibrated devices. The air pollution exposure data were compared by study sites and seasons.
Findings: Overall 76% reported cooking at least weekly (regular-cooks), and 48% (urban 1%, rural 65%) used solid fuels (wood/coal) for cooking. Winter heating was more common in rural sites than in urban site (74–91% vs 17% daily), and mainly involved solid fuels. Mixed use of clean and solid fuels was common for cooking in rural areas (38%) but not for heating (0%). Overall, the measured mean PM2.5 levels were 2–3 fold higher in the cool than warm season, and in rural (e.g. kitchen: Gansuwarm_season = 142.3 µg/m3; Gansucool_season = 508.1 µg/m3; Henanwarm_season = 77.5 µg/m3; Henancool_season = 222.3 µg/m3) than urban sites (Suzhouwarm_season = 41.6 µg/m3; Suzhoucool_season = 81.6 µg/m3). The levels recorded tended to be the highest in kitchens, followed by personal, living room and outdoor. Time-resolved data show prominent peaks consistently recorded in the kitchen at typical cooking times, and sustained elevated PM2.5 levels (> 100 µg/m3) were observed in rural areas where use of solid fuels for heating was common.
Discussion: Personal air pollution exposure can be readily assessed using a low-cost time-resolved monitor in different settings, which, in combination with other personal and health outcome data, will enable reliable assessment of the long-term health effects of HAP/AAP exposures in general populations.
Original language | English |
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Article number | 106217 |
Number of pages | 11 |
Journal | Environment international |
Volume | 146 |
Early online date | 28 Oct 2020 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - Jan 2021 |
Bibliographical note
This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).Funder
The present study was supported by the UK Medical Research Council: Global Challenges Research Fund – Foundation Award (MR/P025080/1). KHC is a recipient of the Nuffield Department of Population Health Early Career Research Fellowship. The CKB baseline survey and the first re-survey were supported by the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong. The long-term follow-up has been supported by Wellcome grants to Oxford University (212946/Z/18/Z, 202922/Z/16/Z, 104085/Z/14/Z, 088158/Z/09/Z) and grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0900500, 2016YFC0900501, 2016YFC0900504, 2016YFC1303904) and from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91843302, 91846303, 81390540, 81390541, 81390544). The UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00017/1,MC_UU_12026/2 MC_U137686851), Cancer Research UK (C16077/A29186; C500/A16896) and the British Heart Foundation (CH/1996001/9454), provide core funding to the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit at Oxford University for the project. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.Funding
The present study was supported by the UK Medical Research Council: Global Challenges Research Fund – Foundation Award (MR/P025080/1). KHC is a recipient of the Nuffield Department of Population Health Early Career Research Fellowship. The CKB baseline survey and the first re-survey were supported by the Kadoorie Charitable Foundation in Hong Kong. The long-term follow-up has been supported by Wellcome grants to Oxford University (212946/Z/18/Z, 202922/Z/16/Z, 104085/Z/14/Z, 088158/Z/09/Z) and grants from the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFC0900500, 2016YFC0900501, 2016YFC0900504, 2016YFC1303904) and from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (91843302, 91846303, 81390540, 81390541, 81390544). The UK Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00017/1,MC_UU_12026/2 MC_U137686851), Cancer Research UK (C16077/A29186; C500/A16896) and the British Heart Foundation (CH/1996001/9454), provide core funding to the Clinical Trial Service Unit and Epidemiological Studies Unit at Oxford University for the project. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis and interpretation, writing of the report, or the decision to submit the article for publication.
Funders | Funder number |
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Medical Research Council | MR/P025080/1, MC_UU_00017/1, MC_UU_12026/2, MC_U137686851 |
Wellcome Trust | 212946/Z/18/Z, 202922/Z/16/Z, 104085/Z/14/Z, 088158/Z/09/Z |
National Key Research and Development Program of China | 2016YFC0900500, 2016YFC0900501, 2016YFC0900504, 2016YFC1303904 |
National Natural Science Foundation of China | 91843302, 91846303, 81390540, 81390541, 81390544 |
Cancer Research UK | C16077/A29186, C500/A16896 |
British Heart Foundation | CH/1996001/9454 |
Keywords
- Exposure assessment
- Household air pollution
- Ambient air pollution
- Solid fuels
- Time-activity
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Environmental Science