Abstract
This paper presents the extent to which kitchen structures influence household exposure to firewood-induced volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The sample consisted of 69 firewood users who were conveniently sampled from Senwabarwana Villages. An Integrated Environmental Health Risk Assessment framework (IEHRA) was adopted as the research methods of the current study. The VOC samples were collected from selected priority firewood species used in the study area, namely mushu (Umbrella thorn), mohwelere (red bushwillow), moretshe (Sickle bush), motswiri (Leadwood) and mokgwa (Black monkey thorn). Four VOCs, namely benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene were analysed from each of the selected plant species. Available literature shows that these VOCs are associated with the kind of common firewood used in the study area. The outcomes of this study reveal that mushu emits the highest concentration of the four selected VOCs, followed by moretshe, mohwelere, mokgwa and motswiri, respectively. The influence of kitchen structural factors such as number and positioning of windows, fireplace or stove type, roofing material and designs, among others on the concentration and indoor dispersion of VOCs was also investigated. Behavioural practices of households during fire making such as opening or closing of doors and windows during cooking, water heating and space heating were also found to influence exposure levels. Consequently, low VOCs emitting firewood species and kitchen structural designs have been confirmed as the key drivers of firewood-induced VOC exposure.
Drinking water contamination from the thermal degradation of plastics: implications for wildfire and structure fire response
