Total suspended particulate matter and toxic elements indoors during cooking with yak dung

Many herders in the Tibetan Plateau still inherit the traditional lifestyle, including living in tents and burning yak dung for fuel. This short correspondence reports a pilot study on indoor air quality in the nomadic tents in the Nam Co region, inland Tibetan Plateau. The results showed very high concentrations of total suspended particles (TSP), averaging at 4.45 mg m−3 during the cooking/heating period (with daily value of 3.16 mg m−3). Elevated concentrations of toxic element Cd, As and Pb were also found within the tents, averaging 3.16 μg m−3, 35.00 μg m−3, and 81.39 μg m−3 for a day, respectively, which were not only far higher than those of WHO indoor air quality guidelines, but also more than 104–106 times higher than the outdoor air level in the Nam Co area. The study raises serious concerns over the health of Tibetan herders following their long-term exposure to the tent air.