Microenvironmental modelling of air pollutants in Ghana

The study applies microenvironmental modelling in Accra, Ghana, to determine personal PM2.5 exposure. It finds that charcoal cooking significantly increases exposure for women and children compared to LPG, with residential cooking accounting for over 60% of total exposure in charcoal-using households.

• The study represents the first use of a microenvironmental modelling approach in a sub-Saharan African city, specifically Accra, Ghana, to estimate personal PM2.5 exposures for population groups divided by age and gender.
• Cooking with charcoal leads to significantly higher home PM2.5 concentrations and higher personal exposure for children and adult females compared to adult males. In households using charcoal, residential cooking contributes more than 60% of total personal PM2.5 exposure for children and females, whereas this drops to less than 10% in households using liquified petroleum gas (LPG), with the rest coming from outdoor sources.
• Personal PM2.5 exposure estimates are most sensitive to three specific parameters: charcoal emission rates, kitchen volume, and the air exchange rate between indoor and outdoor environments.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2020). Microenvironmental modelling of air pollutants in Ghana. https://www.sei.org/publications/microenvironmental-modelling-air-pollutants-in-ghana/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Microenvironmental modelling of air pollutants in Ghana. 2020. https://www.sei.org/publications/microenvironmental-modelling-air-pollutants-in-ghana/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Microenvironmental modelling of air pollutants in Ghana |date=15 March 2020 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/microenvironmental-modelling-air-pollutants-in-ghana/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2020microenvironmental, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Microenvironmental modelling of air pollutants in Ghana}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2020}, month = mar, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/microenvironmental-modelling-air-pollutants-in-ghana/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }