Indoor air exposure to coal and wood combustion emissions associated with a high lung cancer rate in Xuan Wei, China
- Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA)
- Institute of Environmental Health and Engineering, Beijing (China)
Residents of Xuan Wei County in China have unusually high lung cancer mortality that cannot be attributed to tobacco use or occupational exposure. They are exposed to smoke from unvented, open pit coal or wood fires (often used for cooking and heating). The variation in lung cancer rates among communes within the county suggests that indoor combustion of smoky coal may be the prime determinant of lung cancer. To characterize the air in Xuan Wei homes, samples of air particles and semivolatile organic compounds were collected from homes located in two communes; one commune has a high rate of lung cancer, and the other has a low rate. Samples collected in the commune where the lung cancer rate is high and where smoky coal is the predominant fuel contained high concentrations of small particles with high organic content; organic extracts of these samples were mutagenic. Samples from homes in the wood-burning commune, which has a low rate of lung cancer, consisted mostly of larger particles of lower organic content and mutagenicity. The smoky coal sample was a mouse skin carcinogen and was a more potent initiator of skin tumors in comparison to the wood or smokeless coal sample.
- OSTI ID:
- 6710386
- Journal Information:
- Environment International; (USA), Vol. 15:1-6; ISSN 0160-4120
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Lung cancer and indoor exposure of unvented coal and wood combustion emissions in Xuan Wei, china
Mutagenicity, carcinogenicity, and human cancer risk from indoor exposure to coal and wood combustion in xuan wei, china
Related Subjects
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
09 BIOMASS FUELS
HOUSES
AIR POLLUTION MONITORING
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
HEALTH HAZARDS
NEOPLASMS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
AIR POLLUTION
CHINA
COAL
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURE
LUNGS
PARTICULATES
POLLUTION SOURCES
VENTILATION
WOOD FUELS
ASIA
BODY
BUILDINGS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
DISEASES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HAZARDS
MATERIALS
ORGANS
PARTICLES
POLLUTION
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
540120* - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)
560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology
010900 - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Environmental Aspects
096000 - Biomass Fuels- Health & Safety- (1990-)