Evaluation of a Heating Stove Changeout Program in the Navajo Nation: Pilot Study

Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation

Citations

Citeable URL: https://scholar.colorado.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/rj4304838

Abstract

Many homes on the Navajo Nation rely on wood and coal in old, inefficient heating stoves. An EPA-certified Navajo Hybrid Stove that can burn both wood and coal, was distributed to homes in the Navajo Nation. Collocation experiments were conducted to determine agreement among the DustTrak units and QTrak units. The correction factors and correlations for units of the same instrument were close to one; therefore, no adjustment to the data was necessary. A wood/coal smoke correction factor (W/CSCF) of 2.60 that is representative of wood/coal smoke exposure in Navajo homes was also determined for the DustTraks. This value was used to correct the DustTrak reported PM2.5 concentrations from the pilot study, which yielded mixed results, but showed decreases in both median PM2.5 and CO post-intervention. More sampling in Navajo homes should be conducted to determine a more accurate W/CSCF. Additionally, greater education efforts are necessary to achieve significant improvements in IAQ.

Creator