Indoor Air Quality at Rural and Urban Sites in Pakistan

Abstract

In the developing world, the vast majority of people rely on solid biomass fuels for cooking and heating which results in poor indoor air quality. The present study determined indoor air quality in some rural and urban areas of Pakistan. Measurements were made of particulate mass (PM10, PM2.5 and PM1), number concentration and bioaerosols in different micro environments. PM10 concentrations of up to 8,555 μg/m 3 were observed inside the kitchens where biofuels were used as energy source. Cleaning and smoking was identified as a major source of indoor particulate pollution and concentrations of more than more than 2,000 μg/m 3 were recorded in the living room during these activities. Indoor number concentrations in Lahore were typically greater than those observed outdoors in European cites. At a rural site the highest Colony Forming Units (CFUs) were in the 0.5 μm-2 μm size fraction, while at the urban location CFUs were dominant for 2 μm-16 μm. It was observed that CFUs(Colony Forming Units) counts were higher inside living rooms than kitchens. It is important to note that women and children were exposed to extremely high levels of particulates during cooking. Overall, indoor air quality in Pakistan was poor and there is a dire need to take a serious step to combat with it.

Assessment of Airborne Microflora in the Indoor Micro-Environments of Residential Houses of Lahore, Pakistan

“…In Pakistan there are very few studies encompassing bioaerosol levels in residential settings. Studies carried out by Colbeck et al (2008) and Nasir et al (2012) observed concentrations in residential settings of Pakistan to be higher than those reported here, except maximum indoor bacterial concentration-those were comparable to our maximum bacterial levels recorded in living rooms. They also found that 55 to 93 % of the bacteria and fungi observed were respirable and could penetrate into the respiratory system.…”

“…The Swedish and Singaporean standards set the limit for bacteria to be not more than 500 cfu m -3 and 300 cfu m -3 for fungi. Keeping in mind these limits, it is evident that the observed microbial levels in this study were elevated as was also observed by Colbeck et al (2008) and Nasir et al (2012). Although the respiratory health of the occupants was evaluated through direct questioning and no serious health issue except dust allergy was observed, monitoring of indoor air quality is necessary to assess the exposure risk of the occupants.…”

“…Other studies conducted in indoor environments in Pakistan have also reported concentrations to be higher than the prescribed limits (Siddiqui et al, 2005a, b;Akhtar et al, 2007;Colbeck et al, 2008;Siddiqui et al, 2008;Siddiqui et al, 2009;Colbeck et al, 2010b;Janjua et al, 2012;Nasir et al, 2013).…”

“…While there are some studies on particulate matter indoors in Pakistan, bioaerosols have not been extensively investigated. Colbeck et al (2008) and Nasir et al (2012) have documented bioaerosol levels in rural and urban residential settings but apart from these, no other study was found. The current paper is an attempt to provide an insight into the various levels of bioaerosols and PM 2.5 , in the indoor micro-environments in urban residential settings.…”

Seasonal variation of fine particulate matter in residential micro–environments of Lahore, Pakistan

“…In another study, Siddiqui et al (2005b) observed that exposure of mothers to smoke from wood burning resulted in low birth weight of children. Colbeck et al (2008Colbeck et al ( , 2010 observed PM10 levels as high as 8 555 g/m 3 due to biomass burning with cleaning and smoking resulting in concentrations up to 2 000 g/m 3 . Akhtar et al (2007) observed a strong link between prevalence of chronic bronchitis in women and exposure to emissions from biomass burning during cooking.…”