Characterization and health risk assessment of indoor dust in biomass and LPG-based households of rural Telangana, India

ABSTRACT

Indoor dust is one of the key sources contributing to indoor air pollution (IAP) in rural households. It acts as a media for various toxicants like heavy metal depositions and causes severe health risks. The present study deals with investigation of metal concentrations and morphological characteristics of indoor dust generated in varied fuel types followed by estimation of health risks for women and children in rural households in Telangana, India. Indoor floor dust samples were collected from households using biomass and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as their cooking energy during winter to evaluate the morphological and chemical characteristics in the aforementioned dust samples. A morphological (SEM-EDX) analysis revealed the presence of carbonaceous particles in biomass-based households and mineral-rich crustal sources in LPG-based households. As observed from ICP-OES analysis, there is a significant difference in mean concentrations of Al, Co, Cr, Fe, Zn, and Ni based on fuel type, except for Mn and Pb. From Pearson’s correlation analysis and principal component analysis, it was observed that the biomass households were dominated by Zn, Al, Mn, Cr, and Pb, which could have been contributed from biomass burning deposits, crustal sources, and unpaved roads, while Cr, Pb, Fe, and Mn dominated in LPG households, indicating their origin from leaded paints (Pb and Cr) and crustal sources. The health risks associated with these heavy metals to women and children were investigated using an EPA health risk model. The values from the model indicated that both non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risks were within the safe levels for both subjects. This study not only establishes chemical and morphological characteristics of indoor dust, but also quantifies the role of fuel type.

Implications: The present study provides the latest geographical evidence of chemical and morphological characterization of indoor dust particles in varied fuels; i.e, biomass- and LPG-based households and associated health risk assessment in a sub-tropical rural site in Telangana, India. Nevertheless, further research is essential from various regions across the country for more heavy metal analysis and factors impacting these levels. One of the major limitations of the present study is the analysis of few metals and measurements in only living area locations. Future studies can include soil and road dust, as well as kitchens and bedrooms, to provide more comprehensive analysis of dust compositions in varied environments.

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the China Section of the Air & Waste Management Association for the generous scholarship they received to cover the cost of page charges, and make the publication of this paper possible. The authors also thank the people of Kishan Nagar village for being very cooperative during the monitoring campaign. They also express their sincere thanks to the Sophisticated Analytical Instruments Facility (SAIF), Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India, for their support of this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplementary material

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Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

Notes on contributors

Deepthi Yaparla

Deepthi Yaparla is a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Civil Engineering, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Division, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.

S.M. Shiva Nagendra

S.M. Shiva Nagendra is a professor in the Department of Civil Engineering, Environmental and Water Resources Engineering Division, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.

Sathyanarayana N. Gummadi

Sathyanarayana N. Gummadi is a professor in the Department of Biotechnology, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, India.