Emissions from village cookstoves in Haryana, India and their potential impacts on air quality

Abstract. Air quality in rural India is impacted by residential cooking and heating with biomass fuels. In this study, emissions of CO, CO2, and 76 volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5) were quantified to better understand the relationship between cook fire emissions and ambient ozone and secondary organic aerosol formation. Cooking was carried out by a local cook and traditional dishes were prepared on locally built chulha or angithi cookstoves using brushwood or dung fuels. Cook fire emissions were collected throughout the cooking event in a Kynar bag (VOCs) and on PTFE filters (PM2.5). Gas samples were transferred from a Kynar bag to previously evacuated stainless steel canisters and analyzed using gas chromatography coupled to flame ionization, electron capture, and mass spectrometry detectors. Filter samples were weighed to calculate PM2.5 emission factors. Dung fuels and angithi cookstoves resulted in significantly higher emissions of most VOCs (p