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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Environmental Health and Exposome
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1540166

Characteristics of airborne particles emitted from typical indoor combustion sources

Provisionally accepted
Chen Geng Chen Geng 1Xinyuan Wu Xinyuan Wu 1Tao Wang Tao Wang 1Hongbo Fu Hongbo Fu 2*
  • 1 Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
  • 2 Collaborative Innovation Centre of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing；Institute of Eco–Chongming (SIEC), 20 Cuiniao Road, Chenjia Town, Chongming District, Shanghai, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Combustion is an important source of indoor emissions, and exposure to combustion emissions not only concerns the quality of life of individuals, but also directly affects the overall health level of society. To date, very few studies examined the size-resolved emission characteristics of airborne particulate matter (PM) emitted from indoor sources. This study examined the physicochemical characteristics of the PM emitted from typical combustion sources (mosquito coil, cigarette, candle) and evaluated their health risk. Under identical burning durations, the PM concentrations and emission factors of most metals and PAHs from combustion sources followed the trend: cigarette > mosquito coil > candle. Specifically, the peak diameters of PM number concentration were 68.5 nm for mosquito coils, 105.5 nm for cigarettes, and 201.7 nm for candles. Moreover, the emission factors of all the component of the fine fraction (PM0.056-3.2) were significantly higher than those in the coarse fraction (PM3.2-18), with the highest emission factor exhibiting within the particle range of 0.18-0.32 μm. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) from of the PM of burning mosquito coil and cigarette comprises two primary components: C1, resembling a protein-like fluorescent component, and C2, akin to a humus-like fluorescent component. The health risk assessments underscore that chromium and benzo[a]pyrene pose the most substantial carcinogenic risks among metals and PAHs, in the context of chronic exposure to the typical indoor combustion environments. Our results were firstly helpful for PM characteristics researches on combustion emissions, and also significant to public health protection, especially for people who usually spend time indoors.

    Keywords: Indoor air, Combustion emissions, Particulate Matter, size distribution, health risk

    Received: 05 Dec 2024; Accepted: 31 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Geng, Wu, Wang and Fu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Hongbo Fu, Collaborative Innovation Centre of Atmospheric Environment and Equipment Technology (CICAEET), Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Nanjing；Institute of Eco–Chongming (SIEC), 20 Cuiniao Road, Chenjia Town, Chongming District, Shanghai, Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.