{"title":"尼泊尔喜马拉雅地区单细胞房屋室内空气质量评价及暴露分析","authors":"Indira Parajuli","doi":"10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121554","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the Himalayan region of Nepal, the majority of households are single-cell houses (SCH) where families cook, heat, sleep, and perform daily activities in a single shared space. Firewood and other biomass fuels are commonly used for cooking and heating, especially during cold seasons. This combustion process releases harmful pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), and fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub>), significantly degrading indoor air quality (IAQ) and posing serious health risks to residents. This study aims to assess indoor air quality and evaluate pollutant exposure and associated health risks among occupants of SCHs.</div><div>Continuous real-time monitoring of IAQ parameters was conducted for 24 h over five consecutive days in each house under varying ventilation conditions. CO and PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub> concentrations were found to be 25.11 ± 14.24 ppm and 793.8 ± 117.36 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively—exceeding international health guidelines by up to 3.6 times for CO and 32 times for PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub>. Residents are exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations for up to 14 h daily due to extended fire use for both cooking and heating. Inhalation exposure modeling revealed average daily pollutant intakes of 248.59 mg of CO and 6849.74 μg of PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub> per person. The Air Quality Index (AQI) across monitoring scenarios ranged from 150 to 430, indicating unhealthy to hazardous levels.</div><div>These findings highlight the urgent need for improved ventilation systems and cleaner cooking technologies to mitigate indoor air pollution and reduce health risks in firewood-dependent households in cold regions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":250,"journal":{"name":"Atmospheric Environment","volume":"362 ","pages":"Article 121554"},"PeriodicalIF":3.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-09-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Assessment of indoor air quality and exposure analysis of single cell houses of the Himalayan region of Nepal\",\"authors\":\"Indira Parajuli\",\"doi\":\"10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121554\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<div><div>In the Himalayan region of Nepal, the majority of households are single-cell houses (SCH) where families cook, heat, sleep, and perform daily activities in a single shared space. Firewood and other biomass fuels are commonly used for cooking and heating, especially during cold seasons. This combustion process releases harmful pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), and fine particulate matter (PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub>), significantly degrading indoor air quality (IAQ) and posing serious health risks to residents. This study aims to assess indoor air quality and evaluate pollutant exposure and associated health risks among occupants of SCHs.</div><div>Continuous real-time monitoring of IAQ parameters was conducted for 24 h over five consecutive days in each house under varying ventilation conditions. CO and PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub> concentrations were found to be 25.11 ± 14.24 ppm and 793.8 ± 117.36 μg/m<sup>3</sup>, respectively—exceeding international health guidelines by up to 3.6 times for CO and 32 times for PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub>. Residents are exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations for up to 14 h daily due to extended fire use for both cooking and heating. Inhalation exposure modeling revealed average daily pollutant intakes of 248.59 mg of CO and 6849.74 μg of PM<sub>2</sub>.<sub>5</sub> per person. The Air Quality Index (AQI) across monitoring scenarios ranged from 150 to 430, indicating unhealthy to hazardous levels.</div><div>These findings highlight the urgent need for improved ventilation systems and cleaner cooking technologies to mitigate indoor air pollution and reduce health risks in firewood-dependent households in cold regions.</div></div>\",\"PeriodicalId\":250,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Atmospheric Environment\",\"volume\":\"362 \",\"pages\":\"Article 121554\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":3.7000,\"publicationDate\":\"2025-09-19\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Atmospheric Environment\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"93\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231025005291\",\"RegionNum\":2,\"RegionCategory\":\"环境科学与生态学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Atmospheric Environment","FirstCategoryId":"93","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231025005291","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"环境科学与生态学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
Assessment of indoor air quality and exposure analysis of single cell houses of the Himalayan region of Nepal
In the Himalayan region of Nepal, the majority of households are single-cell houses (SCH) where families cook, heat, sleep, and perform daily activities in a single shared space. Firewood and other biomass fuels are commonly used for cooking and heating, especially during cold seasons. This combustion process releases harmful pollutants, such as carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (CO2), and fine particulate matter (PM2.5), significantly degrading indoor air quality (IAQ) and posing serious health risks to residents. This study aims to assess indoor air quality and evaluate pollutant exposure and associated health risks among occupants of SCHs.
Continuous real-time monitoring of IAQ parameters was conducted for 24 h over five consecutive days in each house under varying ventilation conditions. CO and PM2.5 concentrations were found to be 25.11 ± 14.24 ppm and 793.8 ± 117.36 μg/m3, respectively—exceeding international health guidelines by up to 3.6 times for CO and 32 times for PM2.5. Residents are exposed to elevated pollutant concentrations for up to 14 h daily due to extended fire use for both cooking and heating. Inhalation exposure modeling revealed average daily pollutant intakes of 248.59 mg of CO and 6849.74 μg of PM2.5 per person. The Air Quality Index (AQI) across monitoring scenarios ranged from 150 to 430, indicating unhealthy to hazardous levels.
These findings highlight the urgent need for improved ventilation systems and cleaner cooking technologies to mitigate indoor air pollution and reduce health risks in firewood-dependent households in cold regions.
期刊介绍:
Atmospheric Environment has an open access mirror journal Atmospheric Environment: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review.
Atmospheric Environment is the international journal for scientists in different disciplines related to atmospheric composition and its impacts. The journal publishes scientific articles with atmospheric relevance of emissions and depositions of gaseous and particulate compounds, chemical processes and physical effects in the atmosphere, as well as impacts of the changing atmospheric composition on human health, air quality, climate change, and ecosystems.