Socioeconomic and Demographic Associations with Wintertime Air Pollution Exposures at Household, Community, and District Scales in Rural Beijing, China

Abstract

The Chinese government implemented a national household energy transition program that replaced residential coal heating stoves with electricity-powered heat pumps for space heating in northern China. As part of a baseline assessment of the program, this study investigated variability in personal air pollution exposures within villages and between villages and evaluated exposure patterns by sociodemographic factors. We randomly recruited 446 participants in 50 villages in four districts in rural Beijing and measured 24 h personal exposures to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and black carbon (BC). The geometric mean personal exposure to PM2.5 and BC was 72 and 2.5 μg/m3, respectively. The variability in PM2.5 and BC exposures was greater within villages than between villages. Study participants who used traditional stoves as their dominant source of space heating were exposed to the highest levels of PM2.5 and BC. Wealthier households tended to burn more coal for space heating, whereas less wealthy households used more biomass. PM2.5 and BC exposures were almost uniformly distributed by socioeconomic status. Future work that combines these results with PM2.5 chemical composition analysis will shed light on whether air pollution source contributors (e.g., industrial, traffic, and household solid fuel burning) follow similar distributions.

Field measurements of indoor and community air quality in rural Beijing before, during, and after the COVID ‐19 lockdown

“…Ten out of 30 villages had completed a household energy transition from coal heating stoves to electricity‐powered heat pumps. Although households in these 10 villages replaced their coal stoves with electricity‐powered heat pumps, some of them kept their kangs , which are traditional biomass‐burning cooking and heating stoves commonly used indoors in northern China 10 …”

“…This study was ancillary to the Beijing Household Energy Transition (BHET) study, a longitudinal evaluation of the air pollution and human health impacts of household energy transition. Details on the BHET study design and household recruitment are described elsewhere 10 . Briefly, between December 2018 and January 2019, we recruited 977 households in 50 villages from four districts across Beijing.…”

“…Households in 10 out of 30 villages relied on electricity and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) (clean energy) for space heating and cooking, and the others mainly used coal and biomass (solid fuel). Most residents in these villages were farmer or did agriculture‐related work 10 …”

“…Details on the BHET study design and household recruitment are described elsewhere. 10 Briefly, between December 2018 and January 2019, we recruited 977 households in 50 villages from four districts across Beijing.…”

“…Although households in these 10 villages replaced their coal stoves with electricity-powered heat pumps, some of them kept their kangs, which are traditional biomass-burning cooking and heating stoves commonly used indoors in northern China. 10 Half of the study homes (57%) exclusively used solid fuels (coal, wood, and straw) for space heating in winter, and 26% used solid fuels in combination with clean energy (electricity) (Table 1). Less than 20% of homes exclusively used clean energy for space heating.…”