Woodfuel use survey and Benzo-(a)-Pyrene determination from woodfuel burning in the low-income households of Cebu City, Philippines | |
| Author | Jarabis, Ramir L. |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.EV-97-20 |
| Subject(s) | Wood--Philippines--Cebu--Combustion Fuelwood--Philippines--Cebu--Burning |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Engineering |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | Indoor air pollution from wood combustion has been recognized as an environmental health risk affecting hundreds of millions of people all over the world today. One such prominent indoor air pollutant is Benzo-[a]-Pyrene (or BaP), a Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (P AH) accounting for most of the health effects normally associated with woodfuel burning. In Cebu City, Philippines woodfuel is used by 35 % of the households primarily for cooking. The initial phase of the study evaluated the results of the woodfuel use survey conducted between February to April, 1997 in 40 households comprising 21 barangays in Cebu City, Philippines. Mean woodfuel consumption of the households was 3.0 kg/day for a mean household size of 4.10. Generally, it was found out that this quantity contributed a significant portion of the total household energy use of the said sector. Factors influencing this phenomenon were household size and household income. The second phase dealt with laboratory determination of BaP from the particulate, vapor and ash emissions from burning of woodfuel samples gathered from the households in Cebu City, Philippines. The results indicated a mean BaP concentration level of 3,200 ng/m3 of stack gas emitted from woodfuel burning. This translated to 1.65 mg BaP/kg woodfuel. In the laboratory condition adapted, BaP existed only in the respirable suspended particulate (SPM) phase. With a mean household size of 4.10 members, and a mean cooking frequency of 3 times a day, the estimated per capita exposure rate for SPM and BaP inside the households were in the order of 4.87 mg SPM/person-hr and 0.44 mg BaP/person-h.r. These findings clearly indicate an alarming health risk to the Cebu City household residents considering that under the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) classification, BaP and other P AHs are considered as priority toxic substances. These results, therefore, would provide a basis for Cebu City local government, particularly its health department, to initiate policies and programs geared towards the control and regulation of the distribution and use of woodfuel in the household sector of Cebu City, Philippines. |
| Year | 1997 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Energy and Climate Change (Former title: Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Change (DEECC)) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Environmental Engineering and Management (EV) |
| Chairperson(s) | Ishibashi, Yoshinobu;Nguyen, Thi Kim Oanh |
| Examination Committee(s) | Pacudan, Romeo B. |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Her Majesty Queen Sirikit, Thailand; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Eng.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1997 |