Majumdar, Deepanjan and Sharma, Shubham (2019) Assessment of carbon monoxide exposure in roadside food-vending shanties using coal cookstoves in Kolkata, India. Environmental Pollution, 247. pp. 431-437. ISSN 0269-7491 (P) 1873-6424 (E)

PDF - Published Version Restricted to Registered users only Download (570Kb) | Request a copy

Abstract

Roadside food-vending shanties using coal cookstoves may be an important source of carbon monoxide (CO) exposure in megacities in India. The shanties are often small, congested and poorly ventilated, and very little is known about the level of human exposure to CO. Here, we assessed the level of exposure to CO in 25 roadside food-vending shanties using coal cookstoves in Kolkata, India. Portable electrochemical CO monitors were used to measure CO concentrations during peak and non-peak customer-periods in closed (blocked from three sides) and semi-closed (blocked from two sides) shanties. Measurements were taken where customers sit indoor about 5e7 ft away from the cookstoves. The shanties' ventilation rates were measured using tracer gas concentration-decay technique. Levels of blood carboxyhaemoglobin (COHb) and exhaled CO were estimated using regression models. The 1-hr time weighted average (TWA) indoor CO exposure levels ranged from 7.8 to 18.1 ppm during peak-periods, and 0.7 e3.1 ppm during non-peak-periods. The exposure levels during peak-periods exceeded the USEPA's reference limit of 9 ppm in all cases in the closed shanties, and in 71% of cases in the semi-closed shanties. The ventilation rates ranged from 5.5 to 23.4 and 14.8 to 32.5 cubic feet per minute (cfm) per person for the closed and semi-closed shanties, respectively, indicating poor ventilation in some shanties. There was significant variation (p ¼ 0.01) in the level of indoor CO exposure between peak and non-peak periods, and between shanty types. The estimated levels of blood COHb during peak and nonpeak hours were 0.78 ± 0.7% and 0.35 ± 0.07%, respectively, that were within the normal physiological values in non-smokers.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Air Pollution; Carboxyhaemoglobin; Fuel; Health; Indoor Air; Ventilation
Subjects:	Air Quality Air Pollution Air Pollution Control
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Mr. RK Lohiya
Date Deposited:	21 Jan 2021 04:46
Last Modified:	21 Jan 2021 04:46
URI:	http://neeri.csircentral.net/id/eprint/1294

Actions (login required)

View Item