Contribution of wood combustion to indoor air pollution as measured by mutagenicity in Salmonella and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon concentration

Journal Article · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984 · Environ. Mutagen.; (United States)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/em.2860060203· OSTI ID:6664852

Alfheim, I; Ramdahl, T

Samples of airborne particles have been collected in the same room when the room was heated by electricity and when heating was done by woodburning. These samples were compared with respect to mutagenic activity and concentration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH). The effects of the various heating conditions were examined in the presence and absence of tobacco smoking. Whereas wood heating in an airtight stove was found to cause only minor changes in the concentration of PAH and no measurable increase of mutagenic activity of the indoor air, both these parameters increased considerably when wood was burned in an open fireplace, yielding PAH concentrations comparable to those of ambient urban air. Relatively high concentrations of moderately polar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon derivatives were also found in the indoor air when wood was burned in an open fireplace. Woodburning in the closed stove did, however, result in increased concentrations of mutagenic compounds and PAH on particles sampled in the vicinity of the house. The effects of wood burning in an open fireplace on the mutagenic activity of indoor air could still be considered moderate when compared to those resulting from tobacco smoking in the room. The extracts of particles collected when moderate smoking occurred were several times more mutagenic than samples from urban air collected close to streets with heavy traffic when measured in the Salmonella assay with strain TA98 with metabolic activation.

• Research Organization: Central Inst. for Industrial Research, Oslo, Norway
• OSTI ID: 6664852
• Journal Information: Environ. Mutagen.; (United States), Journal Name: Environ. Mutagen.; (United States) Vol. 6:2; ISSN ENMUD
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

500200* -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AEROSOLS
AIR
AIR POLLUTION
APPLIANCES
AROMATICS
BACTERIA
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLLOIDS
COMBUSTION
COMPARATIVE EVALUATIONS
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
FLUIDS
FUELS
GASES
HAZARDS
HEALTH HAZARDS
HYDROCARBONS
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
METABOLIC ACTIVATION
MICROORGANISMS
MUTAGEN SCREENING
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDATION
PARTICLES
PARTICULATES
POLLUTION
POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS
RESIDUES
SALMONELLA
SCREENING
SMOKES
SOLS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
TOBACCO SMOKES
WOOD BURNING APPLIANCES
WOOD FUELS