Influence of kitchen structures on household exposure to firewood-induced volatile organic compounds in Senwabarwana vil
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Influence of kitchen structures on household exposure to firewood-induced volatile organic compounds in Senwabarwana villages Khomotso Semenya 1
&
Fannie Machete 1
Received: 22 March 2019 / Accepted: 7 July 2020 # The Author(s) 2020
Abstract This paper presents the extent to which kitchen structures influence household exposure to firewood-induced volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sample consisted of 69 firewood users who were conveniently sampled from Senwabarwana Villages. An Integrated Environmental Health Risk Assessment framework (IEHRA) was adopted as the research methods of the current study. The VOC samples were collected from selected priority firewood species used in the study area, namely mushu (Umbrella thorn), mohwelere (red bushwillow), moretshe (Sickle bush), motswiri (Leadwood) and mokgwa (Black monkey thorn). Four VOCs, namely benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were analysed from each of the selected plant species. Available literature shows that these VOCs are associated with the kind of common firewood used in the study area. The outcomes of this study reveal that mushu emits the highest concentration of the four selected VOCs, followed by moretshe, mohwelere, mokgwa and motswiri, respectively. The influence of kitchen structural factors such as number and positioning of windows, fireplace or stove type, roofing material and designs, among others on the concentration and indoor dispersion of VOCs was also investigated. Behavioural practices of households during fire making such as opening or closing of doors and windows during cooking, water heating and space heating were also found to influence exposure levels. Consequently, low VOCs emitting firewood species and kitchen structural designs have been confirmed as the key drivers of firewood-induced VOC exposure. Keywords Integrated Environmental Health Risk Assessment framework . Firewood emissions . Ill health . Kitchen structures, volatile organic pollutants
Introduction The combustion of firewood for cooking in poorly ventilated kitchens with open fire is of a great concern because it exposes occupants to indoor air pollutants. Firewood smoke contains a complex mixture of pollutants such as particulate matter, inorganic gases (e.g. carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and sulphur dioxides), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which have the potential to harm the environment and human health (Nielsen et al. 2008; Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https://doi.org/10.1007/s11869-020-00872-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Khomotso Semenya [email protected] 1
College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, University of South Africa, Science Campus, Florida Park, Roodepoort, Republic of South Africa
Williams et al. 2012). Many studies have been conducted on the monitoring of both individual gaseous pollutant (e.g. carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides) and particulate air pollutant (Kapwata
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