Indoor Air Pollution in a Zone of Extreme Poverty of Metropolitan Santiago, Chile

Abstract

Few studies have been done on indoor air pollution in areas of extreme poverty in developing countries. In such countries, for economic reasons, people use solid fuel for cooking and heating fuels which by incomplete combustion generate high levels of toxic pollutants. These represent an important risk factor for human health. We have investigated the levels of carbon monoxide (CO), sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ), respirable particulate matter (PM 10 ), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and mutagenicity in the PM 5 fraction, as well as temperature and humidity, in the interior of 24 houses in La Pintana, Santiago. In addition, we have conducted a survey about symptoms, signs and respiratory diseases possibly associated with socio-economic factors in the area.The survey showed that in children younger than 2 years, most respiratory diseases occur during winter (75%), the most frequent complaint being bronchitis (62%) and obstructive bronchitis (50%). The higher pollutant concentrations were observed during heating hours, in houses that used coal (mean PM 10 250 μg.m -3 , CO 42 ppm, SO 2 192 ppb) or firewood (mean PM 10 489 μg.m -3 , CO 57 ppm, SO 2 295 ppb). PAHs were detected in all houses and we concluded that they came from inside the house and not from outdoor infiltration.Coal, firewood and cigarette smoke were important sources of mutagenic and carcinogenic PAHs, whereas kerosene and gas contributed mainly to the non-carcinogenic PAH fraction. In the houses studied, the population was exposed to levels of toxic pollutants that are much higher than those found outdoors in the highly polluted city of Santiago. In addition, overcrowding, excessive indoor humidity, very low indoor temperatures when the heating system was turned off, the presence of domestic animals, cats and dogs indoors and general lack of hygiene (with attendant bacteria and fungi) are risk factors to explain the high incidence of respiratory diseases in children.

Effect of Gas and Kerosene Space Heaters on Indoor Air Quality: A Study in Homes of Santiago, Chile

“…Much higher concentrations for several PAHs were only found at the kerosene homes, with higher concentrations for phenanthrene, fluoranthene, benzo[k]fluoranthene, indeno [1,2,3-cd] pyrene, and benzo[ghi]perylene among others. High concentrations of these compounds attributed to kerosene heaters have been observed in previous field studies in Chile 51 and in the United States 52 as well as in laboratory experiments. 25,53 Some other compounds were found at the other home types (coronene, dibenzo[a,e]perylene and picene), which can be attributable to cooking activities.…”

Fully automatic exposed and in‐syringe dynamic single‐drop microextraction with online agitation for the determination of polycyclic musks in surface waters of the Pearl River Estuary and South China Sea

“…The basic extraction modes for SDME include static and dynamic modes. It was generally considered that the mass transfer of target compounds from donor phase into acceptor phase by dynamic extraction mode within 30 to 90 dynamic cycles was faster than static mode . For dynamic SDME, it is not only the donor phase, but also the acceptor phase that is in motion.…”

Energy assessment of wood-frame vertical envelope solutions applied in educational establishments of southern Chile

“…There is a lack of solutions for thermal bridges and leaks, especially in wooden buildings (Bobadilla et al, 2014), resulting in a high heating demand (Nawawi & Khalil, 2008). This demand is often met with heating systems that release great amounts of humidity and contaminants into the environment, systems like natural gas, paraffin and lumber (Adonis & Gil, 2001). Thus, the indoor humidity levels and other elements exceed the recommended values (A.S.H.R.…”