Carcinogenic effects of indoor black carbon and particulate matters (PM2.5 and PM10) in rural households of India

Biomass is one of the prime domestic energy sources in the kitchens and about 60% of households are still using biomass and kerosene for cooking in India. These traditional cooking practices are incompetent as the use of biomass in traditional cookstove produces an enormous amount of carbonaceous aerosols that lead to indoor and outdoor air pollution. Emissions of various pollutants like black carbon (BC), PM₁₀ and PM₂.₅ from burning of biomass cause serious health impacts like respiratory illness, lung cancer, watering of eyes, coughing, asthma and heart problems especially in women due to higher rate of inhalation of these fine particulate matters during the cooking period. Quantification of BC, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ emissions from a different type of biomass in various types of kitchen arrangements and its associated impacts are poorly examined in India. Hence, daily concentrations of BC, PM₂.₅ and PM₁₀ were monitored from different types of biomass user’s households during January 2018 to December 2019 to assess indoor air quality by using aethalometer and nephelometer (pDR-1500) in three districts (Sitapur, Patna and Murshidabad) of Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) where approximately, 96% of rural families rely on biomass cooking. The highest mass concentrations were observed in biomass user’s households and cow-dung cake users due to low calorific value. About 30.13% of PM₁₀ and 35.89% of PM₂.₅ data exceeded the national ambient air quality standard on a daily basis in biomass user’s households. A cancer risk assessment was also conducted in terms of mass concentration of these pollutants. The lifespan danger from exposure to BC was 4.33 × 10⁻⁷ in indoor for non-ventilated kitchens, 2.63 × 10⁻⁷ in indoor for ventilated kitchens, 3.98 × 10⁻⁷ in outdoor for separated kitchen, 3.22 × 10⁻⁷ for semi-open kitchen and 1.78 × 10⁻⁷ for open kitchen. The vulnerability assessment for cancer mortality under exposure of pollution was estimated to be highest for the age group of more than 50 years whereas lowest for the age group of 0–4 years for all kinds of kitchens in the study area.