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U.S. Department of Energy
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Impact of kerosene heater usage on indoor NO/sub 2/ exposures in 50 East Tennessee homes

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6662160

As part of a study of indoor air quality in 300 houses in Roane County, Tennessee, a special study was made on kerosene heater usage and indoor pollutant levels, with emphasis on NO/sub 2/. Owners of 45 homes with kerosene heaters deployed pairs of passive NO/sub 2/ monitors on a weekly basis for ten weeks and recorded the weekly amount of heater use. Without correcting for house-specific factors, such as air exchange rate, indoor NO/sub 2/ levels were found to increase about 0.3 ppB per h/week of homeowner-reported heater use. In the absence of heater use, NO/sub 2/ levels were about 10 ppB in houses with and without kerosene heaters. In four houses with kerosene heaters and one house without, continuous measurements were made of NO, NO/sub x/, SO/sub 2/, and CO. CO and SO/sub 2/ levels increased threefold and tenfold, respectively, when the heater was operated compared to when it was off. Mean SO/sub 2/ levels during heater operation were 57, 46, and 110 ppB in three houses with radiant heaters and 13.5 ppB in one house with a convective heater. 5 refs., 8 figs., 3 tabs.

Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA); Harvard Univ., Boston, MA (USA). School of Public Health
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
6662160
Report Number(s):
CONF-8809129-2; ON: DE88016813
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English