Indoor air exposure to coal and wood combustion emissions associated with a high lung cancer rate in Xuan Wei, 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 the 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.
- Research Organization:
- Environmental Protection Agency, Research Triangle Park, NC (USA). Health Effects Research Lab.
- OSTI ID:
- 6676187
- Report Number(s):
- PB-90-245929/XAB; EPA-600/J-89/403
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Pub. in Environment International, Vol. 15, 315-320(Nov 1989)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
63 RADIATION, THERMAL, AND OTHER ENVIRON. POLLUTANT EFFECTS ON LIVING ORGS. AND BIOL. MAT.
CHINA
INDOOR AIR POLLUTION
LUNGS
NEOPLASMS
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
CARCINOGENESIS
COAL
COMBUSTION
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
EPIDEMIOLOGY
HOUSES
MAN
MICE
MORTALITY
MUTAGENESIS
SMOKES
WOOD
AEROSOLS
AIR POLLUTION
ANIMALS
ASIA
BODY
BUILDINGS
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COLLOIDS
DISEASES
DISPERSIONS
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MAMMALS
MATERIALS
ORGANS
OXIDATION
PATHOGENESIS
POLLUTION
PRIMATES
RESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS
RESIDUES
RESPIRATORY SYSTEM
RODENTS
SOLS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
VERTEBRATES
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Lignite
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560300 - Chemicals Metabolism & Toxicology